Sitting up nice and tall in a chair or on a cushion,
That's fine.
Or if you prefer to lie down to experience your meditation,
That is okay as well.
But the goal is to try to get the spine to be nice and elongated.
When the spine is long,
It gives our rib cage space to expand.
Our rib cage being able to expand gives our diaphragm space to move.
Our diaphragm being able to move gives us a clear path to breathing,
Which is the goal ultimately for us to be able to breathe efficiently and to breathe effectively.
Maybe allow the shoulders to relax down the back.
Then begin to settle the mind and allow what I like to call the baggage of the day.
I'm going to set that aside for the next few minutes as we make time to work on our meditation practice,
To work on our focus practice.
As a reminder,
As you're going through your practice,
At any point in time,
If your mind starts to wander or drift,
That's okay.
Think of that as our opportunity for self-compassion.
Because part of building our focus is actually when we become unfocused.
It's the opposite of what we might think.
It's when you become unfocused that you recognize and you redirect,
And the muscle continues to grow.
Keep that in mind as you work through your practice.
Now we will let our focus begin to notice our connection,
Our touch to the seat underneath us.
Feel the support of our feet connected to the earth.
Maybe our back resting against the chair that's supporting it.
Or if you're lying down,
Feel the points of connection of your body on the surface beneath you.
Notice the air on your skin or the touch of your clothing against your skin.
The subtle sensation.
Observing what is most present to your attention and to your awareness.
Now allow your attention to begin to notice any sounds in your general area.
Maybe in the room that you're in,
Maybe outside.
Try to let your focus open wide to notice the sounds that might be furthest away from you.
Find that the mind is wandering at any time.
Just bring it back to the task of witnessing what is most present.
Now start to bring the sound a bit closer.
Rather than have it expand out.
What's the most subtle sound near you that you can hear?
Now we will allow our focus to shift from our senses of touch and sound.
To begin to notice our breathing.
Softly allowing our mind to witness the breath as it is,
The body breathing itself.
And objectively just watch your breath normally enters and exits your body.
And to remain curious about the breath.
How does it physically present in your body?
How much air do you need to fill full on your inhale?
When the breath reaches the top of its natural pause.
Air begins to release in the exhale.
And on your next exhale,
Can you let it be soft?
Gentle,
Smooth.
Feeling the pause at the bottom of the breath.
For this dance of breathing continues.
And now we will allow our focus to shift from our senses of touch to our senses of touch.
Breath is a reminder that our life that often appears to be separate is in fact a connected union.
Just like our breath can often appear to be continuous.
There are stages and parts and pieces that connect it.
Continue following the breath.
Feeling the mind and where it goes.
Only redirecting as needed.
And now we will allow our focus to shift from our senses of touch to our senses of touch.
And now we will allow our focus to shift from our senses of touch to our senses of touch.
And now we will allow our focus to shift from our senses of touch to our senses of touch.
Can you start to slow down your exhales?
Any amount to extend them just a bit further.
And now we will allow our focus to shift from our senses of touch to our senses of touch.
And now we will allow our focus to shift from our senses of touch to our senses of touch.
And now we will allow our focus to shift from our senses of touch to our senses of touch.
Can you slowly and gently start to release your focus from watching the breath come in and watching the breath go out?
Allow the body to resume breathing itself and let your attention widen.
Allow your mind to sit in this space and observe whatever comes in front of you.
Slowly watching the thoughts change and go.
Notice the sensations you feel in your body.
Any subtle shifts.
The attention changes from moment to moment.
And now we will allow our focus to shift from our senses of touch to our senses of touch.
And now we will allow our focus to shift from our senses of touch to our senses of touch.
And now we will allow our focus to shift from our senses of touch to our senses of touch.
And now we will allow our focus to shift from our senses of touch to our senses of touch.
And now we will allow our focus to shift from our senses of touch to our senses of touch.
Start to allow your focus to come back to the physical body.
Notice any changes in your posture.
Any softness or potential tension that may have built up.
Maybe let that go,
Start to wiggle the toes,
Move the fingers.
You close the eyes for practice and gently begin to open them.
And to return back to your fully awakened state.
Taking a soft breath to relax and let go of the practice.
The breath is considered one of many types of anchors that are available to you in meditation.
And an anchor is nothing more than a focal point.
That's one of the things that for me,
It took me a while to understand.
I thought like you could only focus on your breath and like that was the only thing you could do.
But as your practice evolves,
You'll come to learn that you can focus on pretty much anything.
You can focus on a word.
That would be a mantra meditation.
You can focus on sound.
There's lots of different avenues of focus.
