Breathing Meditation or Mindfulness of the Breath.
This meditation is a practice that all spiritual traditions practice in one form or another.
It helps build our concentration and through it we can slowly but surely quieten our very active minds or enliven our very sleepy minds.
To begin this meditation,
I want you to check in with your posture,
Making sure that your body and spine are comfortable and relaxed.
Check that your head is directly on your shoulders,
Your shoulders are squarely over your hips,
Your arms are relaxed.
Just briefly doing a check in with the body before we begin the breathing meditation.
Mindfulness of breathing,
We're going to be observing and watching the breath.
I want you to imagine a little golden triangle at the tip of your nose.
I want you to gather your mind,
Gather your awareness and bring it to the object of meditation which is the breath.
Single pointedly,
I want you to watch as the breath enters and exits the body.
I want you to watch the breath as it enters your nostrils slowly.
Is the breath cool as it enters or is it warm?
I want you to be curious about your breath.
Breathing in and exhaling out with awareness and observation,
Putting mindfulness at your right and your left nostril and watching as the air and energy of the air is ingested into your being.
The breath is our teacher.
It's with us every moment of every day.
Mindfulness of breathing helps us slow down and quieten the mind,
The monkey mind.
The mind will want to dart around changing channels as we focus single pointedly on the tip of our nose,
The golden triangle,
The mind will eventually relax.
It will slow down.
Your mind will wander and when it does,
I want you to make a note.
You can even put a little yellow sticky note up and write on the note wandering or thinking.
The mind has a tendency to race into the future,
To plan,
To wonder,
To question or reverts to the past in regret or remorse.
If we focus on the breath,
Inhaling in,
In the present moment,
We can taste freedom.
We can taste the nature of reality.
Breathing in and exhaling out,
Watching the breath mindfully,
Curiously.
This is an analogy that we use.
It is as if you have two security guards sitting outside a bank vault watching every action,
Every person coming and going out of the bank vault.
Similarly,
We watch all that comes into the nostrils and that gets exhaled out with vigilance,
Diligence,
Perseverance.
The mind is like a puppy dog or an untrained horse.
You must gently but firmly always bring the mind back to the breath or the object of meditation when the mind goes wandering.
Like a puppy dog,
You say no and you gently but firmly bring the mind back to the golden triangle,
To the ingesting of white light,
Breathing in the goodness,
The source of energy.
The mind also can get very heavy and lazy.
This is another tendency.
When this happens,
You can imagine an amazingly brilliant sun in front of your eyes waking you up.
You may need to open your eyes.
You may need to pick a point three feet in front of you and half open your eyes if you're too sleepy.
You can rub the back of your neck.
You may even need to splash water on your face if you're too sleepy,
But generally being aware that the mind is sleepy will be enough to wake it back up.
Breathing in and exhaling out,
Ingesting the majesty,
The energy of love on the back of the breath,
Bringing it into your body,
Allowing it to circulate all through your sinus passages,
Down your throat,
Into your lungs.
On the in-breath,
You can imagine your belly extends outward.
You're breathing into the bottom of your spine and as you exhale out,
You exhale out from the bottom of your spine.
You imagine your belly is pushing all the way to the back of your spine.
Breathing in goodness,
Joy,
Hope.
Breathing out negative feelings,
Sadness,
Anxiousness,
Attachment,
Letting them go,
Letting them go.
Make note when the mind wanders.
Make note,
Observe,
And then bring the mind back.
Use the witness part of your mind to bring yourself back to the breath.
It is in the present that you will experience your higher power,
A God of your understanding,
And you will deeply connect with a sense of self,
A larger sense of who you really are.
Simply by observing and experiencing the breath.
If your mind continues to be overly active,
You can count your breath,
Breathing in and exhaling out as one,
Breathing in and exhaling as two.
You can count to 21.
If you lose count,
Begin again.
Always beginning.
Don't get discouraged.
Know that breathing and this technique is practiced by all traditions.
Breathing meditation is the foundation.
It is the anchor into the body.
Breathing in light,
Breathing in love,
Relaxing the body.
Check in with your posture.
Make sure that your chin is tucked in,
You're relaxed,
And you're not getting discouraged.
Remember,
You cannot run a marathon the first time you lace up your running shoes.
You must build the muscles.
Similarly with the mind,
Slowly,
Slowly,
We are able to concentrate more fully the more we practice.
Breathing in,
Exhaling out.
Breathing in the light,
The light of higher consciousness,
The light of peace,
Of tranquility.
You can exhale out,
Doubt,
Fear,
Insecurity,
Let them go on the back of the breath,
Relaxing into your body.
You are safe in your body.
Feel it.
Feel the breath circulating all through every part of your being,
Imagining every cell of your body is energized,
Receiving new information,
Light.
The breath is food for the mind.
Breathe it in,
Ingest it,
Enjoy the breath,
And exhale out any remaining negativities.
Breathing in,
Bringing your awareness back to the tip of your nose,
The golden triangle like the security guards at the bank vault.
Observe,
Be aware,
Back again and again.
Relaxing the body,
Relaxing the mind,
The sensation of the breath.
Feel the coolness,
Feel the warmth,
Feel the energy,
The majesty,
The strength you're ingesting.
Breathing in the light,
Breathing in serenity and joy,
Breathing in love,
Self-love,
Acceptance,
Beauty,
And give thanks.
You've given yourself a gift by being present to yourself.
You've given yourself this time,
Congratulate yourself.
Be in the present.
Be with your breath.
