This meditation is a breath-centered practice where we'll be exploring a smoother breath.
And so this practice might be particularly useful if you're feeling mentally scattered or a little bit tired.
Maybe you're feeling overwhelmed emotionally or physically.
This practice harnesses the power of our breath to send signals to our nervous system that it's time to slow down,
To tune in,
And to rest.
To begin the practice,
Simply draw your awareness into your breath.
All you have to do is notice the rise of the inhale and the fall of the exhale.
As you notice your breath,
Start to notice how it feels right here to be breathing.
So you might notice where in your body you can feel your breath,
Whether it's at the base of the belly or the tip of the nostrils.
Maybe it's along the length of the throat or across the chest.
You might also notice the rhythm of the breath,
Its pace,
Its speed,
The texture of the breath,
The points where it's catching,
The jagged edges,
The soft edges.
Just taking a moment to notice your breath.
And as you feel into your breath,
The invitation is to notice how might it feel right now to breathe just a little bit smoother,
Inviting in this sense of steadiness,
Of softness to your breath.
Perhaps beginning to smooth out the edges of each inhale and each exhale.
This might mean that you're slowing down the pace of the breath ever so slightly.
Maybe you're allowing the breath to grow a little bit in length and in depth,
Allowing the belly to be soft as it feels,
And then allowing the exhale to release gently out the nose or out the mouth.
You might also notice here that at the top of the inhale and at the bottom of the exhale,
There's this little pause,
A holding.
The invitation for today is to see if you can smooth out the edges of that pause,
Of that halt.
Perhaps softening the transition between inhale and exhale so that the breath feels less like two separate moving parts and more like one flowing motion.
It might feel useful here to imagine the breath as a wave,
Picturing a wave rolling into the shore and then drawing back out.
Each inhale,
This wave of breath,
This wave of water,
Gently rolls in across the sand and across the rocks.
And each exhale breath,
This wave slowly draws back out.
This steady,
Constant flow.
Smooth water,
Smooth breath.
Rise and fall.
In and out.
And just like the ocean,
Which smooths out rocks and stones and pieces of sea glass,
You might imagine here that your breath has that same capacity.
That just like each wave of water can slowly,
In its own way,
In its own time,
Gradually smooth out the edges of rocks,
Your breath could perhaps smooth out the edges of your body.
Perhaps imagining here that you're sending that wave of breath through your body.
Imagining that your breath is smoothing out the edges of the shoulders,
The face and jaw,
Releasing across the eyebrows,
Softening through the belly.
Each wave of breath,
Gradually,
Gradually,
Inviting in this sense of softening,
This sense of smoothing out the edges.
No need to get rid of any particular sensations.
Rather just inviting softness around any sensations that might be present right now.
Smoothing out the edges of those sensations.
And we'll stay with this smooth breath for just a few more rounds.
When you're ready to release this practice,
Gently allow your breath to return to your natural rhythm,
However that might look or feel right now.
And know that you can always come back to this practice of smoothing out the breath.
That you can always come back to this ocean of breath within.
Thank you for joining me today,
And I'll see you next time.
