Hi,
My name is Zee.
Today I'm going to be guiding you through a short breath meditation.
The breath is important because it helps us connect to the present moment.
Each breath is happening right now,
And it serves as an accessible point of awareness for us.
The breath is a bridge between our mind and our body.
And as we develop this awareness of the breath,
You might be able to notice more subtle sensations or feelings,
And really that interplay between mental and physical aspects of your being.
And not only does it help us create mind-body connection,
But also bring us back to the present moment,
But it also creates a calming effect.
So when we have deep intentional breathing,
It activates our parasympathetic nervous system.
And this promotes relaxation,
And it also reduces stress.
So when we train our breath,
We are giving ourselves a foundation for mindfulness.
And this is something that we can carry with us throughout our days,
Especially in those moments where we may really need it.
Moments of stress or frustration.
So join me as we dive into a loaded breath meditation.
Begin by finding a comfortable meditation posture.
Hands can rest palms up or palms down,
Or just gently in your lap.
And when you found that comfortable place,
Go ahead and close down those eyes.
Beginning with a body scan,
Starting at the top of your head.
Imagine if somebody is pouring warm water over your head,
And every body part that water touches relaxes just a little bit more.
And your forehead begins to soften.
Your ears relax.
The area around your eye softens.
Your cheeks drop,
Relaxing through the jaw.
Leaving your mouth slightly parted with your tongue resting at the back of your teeth.
Relaxing the tension in your neck.
Letting those shoulders sink a little closer to the earth.
Relax your shoulder blades.
Pull up a little bit taller through the spine stacking each vertebrae,
One on top of the other and reaching the crown of your head towards the sky.
Put your awareness on your lower back and let that soften just a little bit more.
Relax the area in your hips.
Release the tension in your upper thighs.
Soften the area around your knees.
Relaxing your calves and your shins.
Relaxing the ankles.
And lastly,
Letting go of any tension on the top of the feet,
The bottom of the feet,
Right down to the tips of your toes.
Take this opportunity to make any micro adjustments that you need in order to park your body so you can dive a little deeper into your mind.
We're going to take a few breaths here.
Inhaling through the nose.
Holding at the top.
And exhale,
Open mouth.
Inhale through the nose.
Hold at the top.
Open mouth,
Exhale.
And one more,
Through the nose.
Hold at the top.
Open mouth,
Exhale through.
Let your breathing return to a normal rhythm.
We're going to begin with 10 rounds of breathing.
As you inhale in your mind,
You can say,
Inhale.
And as you exhale in your mind,
You can count one.
And counting from one to 10,
Trying to keep your focus on the object,
Which is the breath.
And if you get to 10,
Start back again at one.
If your mind begins to wander without any judgment about the thoughts that are crossing your mind,
Come back to the breath.
Now take your awareness to the breath and the sensations that you feel at the very tip of your nose.
What are the temperature of the air do you feel on your inhale and your exhale?
Do you notice the cool feeling as you inhale?
And the warmth of an exhale?
Next,
Bring your awareness to the back of your throat.
What kind of physical sensations are you experiencing here with each in and out breath?
Letting that awareness travel into your chest.
Noticing the physical changes of where your awareness is every time you breathe.
Can you notice the expanding of your ribcage in the front and the contracting in your back as you exhale?
Do you notice how your abdomen feels against your arms?
Now take your awareness into your belly and notice the physical sensations with each breath.
Observe as detailed as you can,
What kind of sensations you're feeling.
And now pick the place in your body where you feel the breath most prominently.
Whether that be the tip of the nose,
The back of the throat,
The chest,
Or your belly.
Hone in on that place.
And with every inhale,
Notice the beginning,
Middle,
And end of each inhale.
And as you exhale,
Notice the beginning,
Middle,
And end of each exhale.
And if you notice any thoughts coming in,
Again,
Just observe them,
No judgment.
You are taking this time to train your mind to experience a world with less stress,
Less frustration,
Less suffering.
Being able to anchor yourself in the present moment gives you a better opportunity to show up in your life the way that you want to.
This goodness that you are cultivating by training your mind is such an important quality to have.
And so as we come to a close in our meditation,
I like to finish with what we call a dedication,
Where we take all of the goodness that we've just done by taking this time and training our minds and giving that goodness away.
Bring to mind somebody that you know that might be struggling or experiencing challenging times.
And take all of this goodness that you are doing by training your mind and give it away to them.
Just imagine how they might feel when they accept this gift,
When they feel the goodness that you feel when you take the time to train your mind.
You can see how being generous with our practice can help heal other people.
Now gently bring your awareness back into your body and gently add some movement to your fingers and toes,
Maybe just wiggling them a little bit.
And when you're ready,
Go ahead and open those eyes.
Thank you so much for joining me today in this quick breath meditation.
And I hope that you remember to take some of this with you throughout your day.
And you can come back to this breath at any moment of any day and help train yourself to be a little bit more present in your life.
