Welcome to the magic of breath awareness meditation.
This is Anne Baker from Essence Health.
And I invite you to find a comfortable place to sit or lay down.
Your spine should be straight,
Back supported.
And make sure you will have no distractions for the next few minutes.
I also invite you to set an intention to just be still and pay attention to your breath for the next few minutes.
So why is it magic?
Because just focusing your awareness on the breath calms the nervous system.
And it shifts your mental and emotional state from fear and anxiety to calm and peace.
So we'll begin by just noticing your breath the way you're breathing right now.
Are you breathing fast or slow?
Is your breath more up in your chest or do you feel it more originating at the belly?
Notice the breath coming in through the nostrils.
Does the temperature change as the air comes in?
And bring your awareness down to your belly.
Just witnessing the rising and falling of the belly with the breath.
And if your mind wanders,
Just bring it back to the breath and the belly.
Simply being aware of the breath helps to calm the mind.
But sometimes it's helpful to count.
Count the breath.
So you can count each breath.
At the inhale,
Number is one.
Two all the way up to ten.
And then you can count backwards from ten all the way down to one.
And you can use your fingers to keep track.
Switching,
So pressing the index finger to your thumb at one,
The middle finger to the thumb at two,
And so on.
So we'll count eight breaths this way,
Beginning with the index finger and the thumb pressing at one.
Inhale,
Slow exhale.
Switching fingers.
Slowing your inhale down.
Deepening your exhale.
So we'll count eight breaths this way.
I invite you to rest your hands in your lap or at your side.
And we'll just spend a few moments in silence,
Observing the breath,
Allowing yourself to just be still.
Okay,
It's the end of our meditation.
I want you to slowly wiggle your toes.
Take a deeper breath.
And slowly open your eyes and set the intention to come back to this breath awareness.
Frequently throughout your day,
You can set a timer on your phone.
Just bring your awareness back as soon as you feel stress building in your mind or your body.
Thank you for joining me and have a wonderful rest of your day.
.
