So first,
Take a moment to settle in.
You can choose to sit cross-legged,
You can choose to sit in a chair,
Or if you're very energized you can choose to lie down.
And whatever you do,
Don't hesitate to take an extra 30 seconds or so to make sure that you're really at ease.
We don't want the body to get in the way of our practice.
And once you find,
Let's say,
The ideal posture for now,
I'd like you to stay as settled as possible.
You're going to play with the mindfulness of breath,
Mindfulness of body.
First,
I'd like you to make an intention for our time together.
It could be an intention of being open.
It could be,
I am flexible.
I am open.
Or it could be something around groundedness.
I am stable.
I am grounded.
Or it could be about focus.
Anyway,
Whatever it is,
Just making that conscious choice,
Nurturing this specific intention.
And now I would like you to take three big deep breaths in and out for me to sort of energize and purge stale air out of the body.
So exhaling all of your air out,
Take a deep breath in through the nose and release with a big sigh out.
Take a deep breath in through the nose and release.
And make the third one the deepest breath of the day,
All the way to the top of the lungs and release completely.
And with that third exhale,
Let yourself settle in.
Settle in to the seat or the posture that you've chosen.
I'd like you to start with focusing your attention on the tip of your nose,
Right at the tip of the nostrils.
And as a curious observer,
You're going to observe the sensations of the breath coming into the body,
Starting right there,
Right where it starts,
The journey,
The cycle of your breath.
At first,
It may feel very subtle and very hard to notice,
But it gets better as we go.
So let yourself sharpen your focus.
Imagine that your attention is like a flashlight and you're shining it right at the tip of your nose.
Now what can you feel?
Do you notice the coolness of the air coming in?
This depends on where you are,
Of course.
The warmer the air,
Sometimes the harder it is to find sensations as it enters the body.
And you can dial the breath up if you want to really make these sensations a little bit more obvious.
So don't hesitate to elongate the breath a little,
Making it deeper and fuller,
But keep your attention right at the nostrils or even,
If you'd like,
Move inside the nose.
And notice what you can sense.
What is there to feel?
Can you follow the breath further?
So from the tip of the nostrils into the nose and further into the body,
How far can you follow the journey of your inhale?
And can you notice the moment where it transforms?
The moment that is the start of the exhale.
Observe on your own for the next few breath cycles.
How far can you follow the breath?
You don't have to continue to exaggerate or elongate your in-breath,
You can let it rest and be as natural as it can be.
Though I'm sure you've noticed that as soon as you start to observe the breath,
It's no longer the same,
Not quite as natural as when it arises and subsides without attention.
So being present for these tiny moments,
Just that one breath.
You don't need to lean forward.
Towards the next one,
We just stay right there.
What can you sense?
How far can you follow the sensations of the breath?
Now I'd like you to widen your attention so instead of a flashlight,
You can imagine that now this light is encompassing your whole body.
And as you take your next inhale and exhale,
Start to pay attention to where else the breath is creating ripples of sensations.
It could be in the upper body,
In particular around the heart area,
The chest,
The ribs.
Now notice if it's hard for you to concentrate and if your mind has gone off somewhere and that you followed a shiny thought,
That's okay.
That's the practice of mindfulness.
It's only when we notice that we've left where we were that we can make the choice to come back and recommit and start over.
And if you have to do it a thousand times,
That's okay.
So exploring where else in the body can you find movements related or generated from your in-breath and out-breath.
What can you sense?
And if you're like me,
Perhaps if you've done a lot of yoga,
You're also very aware of the movements of the breath in the back body.
The movements of the back ribs,
The movements that go all the way up to the shoulder blades.
Full rib cage,
The belly.
Noticing what happens as you continue to explore and follow how far you can stay with your breath.
Watching the breath is almost like taking a journey.
You can take that journey around the body and you can inquire,
Can I feel any change in my hands as I breathe in,
As I breathe out?
Can you feel your breath in your limbs,
In your seat,
Around the pelvic area,
The sit bones?
Can you feel the sensations of the breath travel all the way down to the tip of your toes?
And perhaps you can't,
And this sounds all very silly and complicated,
But you can just stay here,
Make the inquiry,
What can I sense?
Keep your attention on your whole breathing body right now.
Feeling the dance of aliveness.
And perhaps you can feel your whole body breathing.
Somehow.
Just simply watching,
Not judging,
Not telling a story,
But making time for you to feel this incredible experience.
Your living and breathing body.
If at any point there's any pain or a distressing thought,
You can always direct your attention back to something smaller,
Like just sensing the breath at the nostrils,
Backing off.
Or you can also take a deeper breath in and out and try to breathe and release around the pain.
When you practice mindfulness of breath,
Make it easy for yourself.
Making it easy starts by not judging yourself,
Not saying,
Oh,
I did well or I didn't do well.
Make it easy and imagine that your time practicing mindfulness meditation is like a holiday.
Let it be like the most ideal holiday.
When we go on holiday,
We want to relax and feel energized and refreshed.
Some of us want to quiet down.
So as you watch your breath,
Let it be so simple.
A place that you can access at any time throughout the day.
Of course,
It's sometimes harder if you get a cold.
Get what you need.
Let it be like a holiday.
Whatever it is that you need to feel,
Let this connection to the breath be your go-to place whenever you need it.
And I will leave you with this quote from Jon Kabat-Zinn.
The little things,
The little moments,
They aren't little.
Thank you so much for practicing with me.
Namaste.
