Hello,
My name is Andrew.
Now get comfortable in your posture.
That could be sitting in a chair with your legs uncrossed and your feet on the floor.
Cross legged,
Sitting down,
Or it could be kneeling down,
Whatever's most comfortable for you.
Keeping your back upright and relaxed.
We need to keep the back upright for one reason is to help us to stay alert.
We don't want to be falling asleep.
Secondly,
If we lean forward,
We constrict our breath.
And third,
It helps the energy to rise up the spine.
Now turn your attention from the external world inside your body.
If you wish,
And if it's helpful,
Take two deep breaths through the nose,
Out through the mouth or out through the nose,
Whatever's comfortable for you,
Just to settle down.
Now bring your gentle attention to the breath.
The breath is very common in meditation,
Not only because we use it to help us to calm down the body and the mind,
But also because the breath is always with us now.
It's always in the present.
It's never in the past.
And it's never in the future.
Now let's be with that.
Be with the breath,
Observing.
It's with you now,
Always now.
When we are aware of the breath,
We are not controlling the breath.
In pramayama,
We control the breath,
But with breath awareness,
We are just watching the breath,
Without labeling,
Without judging,
And without changing or controlling.
If you are aware that you're controlling your breath just a little,
Let go of that control and slowly be aware that the breath doesn't need your help to breathe.
The body breathes by itself,
And just watch that.
Observe at this moment.
Your breath may be fast,
Slow,
Deep or shallow,
Just watch the natural rhythm as it is now,
Without changing it,
Without controlling it.
When the mind goes into the past or future,
Bring your attention back to the awareness of the breath,
As it comes in,
And as it goes out.
And thoughts will come,
Maybe lots of thoughts.
This is natural,
And we should never try to stop the natural flow of thoughts.
Just be aware of the breath as it comes in and as it comes out,
Naturally.
Just be aware of the breath as it comes in and as it comes out.
If it's slow,
It's slow,
If it's fast,
It's fast,
If it's deep,
It's deep,
If it's shallow,
It's shallow.
Never change it,
Never try to control it.
The body breathes by itself,
It doesn't need your help,
You simply watch it,
As it is.
Now,
We're going to come to a close to this meditation,
So bring your awareness back to the room where you are now.
And when you're ready,
In your own time,
You can open your eyes.
Thank you for joining me in this meditation today.
If you can,
Try to do this meditation two to three times a day,
To support you throughout the day.
Thank you.
