In this meditation,
I'm going to be guiding you through all four stages of the mindfulness of breathing.
And I'd like you to begin with your eyes open.
Begin by being aware of your surroundings.
And let your eyes be still and lightly focused on an imaginary spot ahead of you.
Not staring hard,
But letting your eyes be lightly and gently focused.
And you can be aware of the whole expanse of your field of vision.
You can be aware of everything you see,
Right up to the very edge of your visual field.
And keeping your eyes lightly focused on that imaginary spot,
You can start to become more aware of what you're seeing at the periphery of your vision.
And as you do this,
As you become more aware of what's at the very edge of your visual field,
Then you may well begin to notice that your mind becomes calmer.
That your thinking begins to quiet down.
And you can take this experience deeper by continuing to expand the sense of your awareness until it's as if you're seeing all the way round behind you,
Developing 360 degree vision.
And although I'm not suggesting that you really can see behind you,
You can compensate for this with your other senses,
With your hearing,
Your sense of space.
And you can have a feeling that you're seeing all around you.
And as you develop this sense of 360 degree vision,
You may already be noticing your mind becoming even stiller.
And then you can let your eyelids gently close and let your awareness turn naturally inwards.
Being aware of your body,
Letting your awareness begin a journey,
A voyage of exploration through your body.
Beginning perhaps with the parts of your body that are in contact with the floor.
Letting that contact have a grounding,
Stabilizing effect on your mind.
And expanding your awareness from those points of contact into the rest of your body.
And as you become aware of each muscle,
Of each group of muscles,
You can let go.
Let them relax and soften.
Letting your feet relax,
Your legs,
Your hips.
Being aware of your back,
Of your spine.
And letting it be relaxed and responsive.
Letting your spine move freely with the movements in your body caused by your breathing.
Noticing your shoulders rising with every in-breath.
Relaxing every time you breathe out.
And as you begin to relax more deeply,
You may start to notice certain sensations in your hands and your fingers.
Noticing the muscles on the back of your neck,
The muscles supporting your skull.
And letting them lengthen and soften.
The back of your neck long and relaxed and open.
Your chin very slightly and comfortably tucked in.
Your head balanced effortlessly on top of your spine.
Your jaw relaxed.
Your eyes soft behind closed eyelids.
Your brow free from tension,
Soft,
Relaxed.
And then become aware of all of the experiences in your body,
Continuing to relax,
Letting go of any tensions.
And while you're being aware of your body,
In the midst of all of these experiences,
You can notice the sensations of your breathing.
Letting your breath be relaxed and natural.
Your body expanding on each in-breath.
And as you release on the out-breath,
Your body relaxing.
So every time you exhale,
There's a natural sense of relaxation throughout your body.
Every muscle relaxing and letting go.
So be aware of that natural phase of relaxation and let it go a little deeper with every out-breath.
So with every exhalation,
You can sense a wave of relaxation sweeping downward through your body.
Sweeping away tensions,
Leaving your body relaxed and helping to calm your mind.
And the more you notice this wave of relaxation,
The deeper your calmness becomes.
And continuing to follow the sensations of your breathing,
You can begin the first stage of the practice by counting at the end of each out-breath.
Breathing in and out,
Counting one.
In and out,
Counting two.
In,
Out,
Three.
And so on until you reach ten.
And once you get to ten,
You can start over again at one.
So over and over again,
Counting after each out-breath until you reach ten.
If you realize that your mind has wandered,
Then patiently and kindly bring your attention back to your breathing.
Noticing the physical changes and sensations of your breathing.
Placing the numbers firmly but gently.
And so on until you reach ten.
Over and over again,
Bringing your awareness back to your breathing,
Back to your center.
And so on until you reach ten.
And as you move into the second stage of the practice,
You can let go of the counting for a few breaths.
Just experiencing the flow of your breathing.
Continuing to let your body relax.
And then you can begin counting again.
This time placing a number gently,
Firmly before each in-breath.
Again counting from one to ten.
And so on until you reach ten.
Every time you become aware that your attention has wandered,
Bringing it back to the physical sensations of your breathing.
As each breath flows in,
You may notice a sense of your body opening.
Expanding,
Filling with energy and vitality.
And the more you continue to count your in-breaths,
The more you may notice a sense of growing alertness and vitality.
And so on until you reach ten.
And moving into the third stage of the practice,
You can let go of the counting altogether.
And simply experience your breathing flowing in and flowing out.
Appreciating the uniqueness of each breath.
Particularly noticing the still quiet moments,
Those moments of transition when an in-breath is turning into an out-breath.
And when an out-breath is turning into an in-breath.
Letting the momentum of your awareness carry you through those still quiet points,
Helping you to keep a continuous awareness of the cycle of your breathing.
Letting your breathing be relaxed and natural.
Noticing your body opening with each in-breath.
Noticing your body relaxing with each out-breath.
Maintaining an awareness of this alternating pattern of expansion and energy on the in-breath and relaxation and calmness on the out-breath.
From time to time thoughts arise and you let go of them,
Coming back to the rhythm of your breathing.
And then moving from the third stage to the fourth stage.
You can begin gradually to move your awareness to the first place you feel your breath entering and leaving your body.
This may be on the upper lip or the rims of your nostrils or perhaps in your nasal passages.
Simply being aware of the first place that you can feel the breath.
Being aware of those subtle sensations.
Letting your breath be very light and natural.
Making a gentle and patient effort to notice those sensations where the air is first entering and leaving your body.
Allowing yourself to become fascinated by the breath.
Noticing the intriguing delicacy of those sensations.
The coolness of the in-breath,
The warm gentle touch of the out-breath.
And then you can begin to expand the sphere of your awareness from the place where the breath first enters and leaves your body.
So that you're becoming aware of the whole of your breathing.
Then letting your awareness flow into every part of your body.
Continuing to let go and relax.
Being open and receptive to any changes that have taken place in your emotions.
Noticing whatever degree of contentment that you've developed.
Noticing and appreciating any increase in calmness or concentration.
Then letting your awareness expand yet further.
Becoming more aware of the outside world.
Being aware of the space around you,
Of the sounds,
The air touching your skin.
Being aware of the light through your eyelids and beginning in your own time to move your body.
To open your eyes and bringing your awareness with a feeling of contentment and refreshment.
Fully into the outside world.
