For this simple breath and body awareness meditation,
You can sit up nice and tall with your feet firmly planted on the floor or cross-legged,
Whatever is most comfortable for you.
Your hands can rest on your knees or in your lap,
Facing down or facing up,
Whatever you like.
You can begin by taking nice,
Long,
Deep breaths in and out of your nose.
All the breaths will be in and out of your nose if that's comfortable for you.
As you breathe nice and deep,
Elongating your inhale and your exhale,
Allow these to be cleansing,
Nourishing breaths,
Signaling to your body and your mind that this is the perfect time to let go of any stress,
Any worry,
Anything no longer serving you.
This is the perfect time to connect with your body,
Your mind,
And your spirit,
Knowing that you're in the right place at the right time,
Doing just what you need to do for yourself.
You can allow your breath to return to its natural rhythm,
Moving in and out as if it were on autopilot,
Not really having to think about it at all.
And we'll take a moment now to relax your body from head to toe because when your body is nice and relaxed,
It's easier for your mind to follow.
As I mentioned a part of your body,
You can rest your attention there for a moment and simply focus on relaxing that part of you.
Starting with your scalp,
Feeling it let go and relax,
Allowing your forehead to relax,
Inviting the muscles around and behind your eyes to relax.
Feel your cheeks let go.
Notice how it feels to let your mouth relax and your jaw and even your tongue.
As you exhale,
You can feel your shoulders drop away from your ears.
It feels so good,
So stay there for an extra moment.
On your next exhale,
Really feel your shoulders let go.
Notice any stress or tension just melt away.
Your arms hang heavy and your fingertips rest on your knees or in your lap.
Your chest is filled with a sense of calm and your belly is nice and soft,
Filled with a sense of peace.
Your upper back is relaxed,
Your lower back.
Your hips sink into the chair or the cushion supporting you and your legs relax all the way from hip to toe,
First the right,
Then the left.
Your body is completely relaxed.
And let's now deepen the connection to your breath and your body.
I invite you to notice the sensations of the body as you breathe,
Starting with the feeling of the breath moving in and out of your nose.
You may notice that as you breathe in through your nose,
The air feels cool and as you breathe out,
It feels warmer.
Focus on that sensation for a moment,
That coolness and that warmth.
And now you can drop down to your rib cage and notice the expansion and contraction of your rib cage as you breathe.
As you inhale,
You notice your rib cage expanding and as you exhale,
You feel it contracting.
Notice that expansion and contraction as your focus for a moment.
And then you can drop down into your belly and really notice the rise and fall of your belly as you breathe.
I like to imagine that I'm blowing up a balloon in my belly as I inhale.
So I feel my belly rise as if that balloon is getting bigger and when I exhale,
I'm letting all the air out of the balloon.
I'm filling that balloon up and then I'm letting all the air out.
If it helps you focus,
You can place a hand under your belly button on your belly and feel it rise and fall,
Thinking about that balloon filling up and emptying completely.
And You can let that go.
And now we'll use our breath as our focus.
We're going to match our inhale and our exhale.
So as you take a comfortable breath in,
I invite you to count to three silently in your head.
And as you exhale,
You'll match that count of three.
So silently counting to three as you breathe in.
And three as you breathe out.
In for three.
And out for three.
And out for three.
If at any point you feel distracted or your mind is wandering with compassion,
Simply return to matching your inhale and exhale.
Breathing in for a count of three and out for a count of three.
And you can let the matching go.
I'm going to ring the bell to close the meditation,
But it's important to come out of meditation slowly.
So I invite you to sit with your eyes closed and join the stillness and the peace for another minute.
You can use this time to set an intention for the rest of your day,
To think of a few things you're grateful for,
To say your own quiet prayer,
Whatever feels good to you.
Or simply just relax with your eyes closed.
And just relax with your eyes closed.
And you can now start to wiggle your fingers and your toes.
Give yourself a nice stretch.
Move in any way that feels good to you.
And when you feel ready,
You can slowly open your eyes,
First with a downward gaze and then all the way.
