This meditation is mindfulness of breathing.
When we bring our attention to our breath,
We practice the first foundation of mindfulness,
Mindfulness of the body.
Being aware of a body connects us to the present.
Our body and all its actions exist in this moment.
We sit in the present.
We feel the contact between our body and the chair or cushion we're sitting on in the present.
The sounds we hear in our environment are happening in the present,
And we breathe in the present.
There are different ways to practice mindfulness of the body.
Bringing your attention to the breath is the easiest way to connect.
We are always breathing,
No matter what the situation we find ourselves in.
So for the next 20 minutes or so,
We'll focus on our breath.
So as you find a comfortable way to sit,
Adjust your posture so that you're relaxed,
But sitting upright.
In meditation,
We sit in a dignified way to honor ourselves and our practice.
You can do this meditation with your eyes open or your eyes closed,
Whichever is more comfortable for you.
If your eyes are open,
You can lower and soften your gaze.
You can rest your hands in your lap or hanging on your sides or on your legs,
Whichever is comfortable.
Just bring your attention to the full sensation of sitting.
Allow your breathing to be natural.
There's no reason to force it,
No reason to change it.
Just let your breath be as it is.
Your body knows how to breathe.
And we'll scan our body from top down,
Looking for areas of tension or stress.
You can soften your eyes,
Relax your jaw,
Let your shoulders fall away from your ears,
Relax your hands,
The muscles in your legs.
And then notice the way your chest and your abdomen rise and fall with your breath.
Do you feel tight in your chest or abdomen?
Sometimes we forget that we hold tension and stress here.
So if you do feel tight,
Allow yourself to soften,
Allow yourself to relax in your posture.
Notice how your body feels as you sit,
The way your arms or legs feel in this position.
Acknowledge that your mind is thinking,
The thoughts come and go.
There's sounds all around you.
You can possibly see things,
Colors,
Shapes,
Even with your eyes closed,
Even if you can't make it out,
You're seeing.
There's a taste to this moment,
A smell.
So much happens when we sit and we tend to forget that our body is experienced each moment,
Each breath.
Acknowledge that you are sitting and you are breathing.
Now bring your attention to the sensation of breathing and just let all of the sensations and experiences fall away.
Find a place where you feel your breath coming and going the most easiest.
For some it's through the nostrils,
For others it's the rise and fall of your chest or abdomen.
Find a spot that you can bring your attention and focus,
Where you notice yourself or you can feel yourself breathing.
Find a space where you believe there's something going on inside.
As you breathe in,
Know that you're breathing in.
And as you breathe out,
Know that you're breathing out.
For some,
It might be easier to track your breath or to focus by saying in as you inhale and out as you exhale.
Or if you're paying attention to the rise and fall of your chest,
Rising and falling.
Another way to watch and pay attention to your breath is from counting from one to ten.
Breathing in,
Breathing out,
One.
Breathing in,
Breathing out,
Two.
All the way up to ten.
And when you reach ten,
You count back down.
Breathing in,
Breathing out,
Nine.
Breathing in,
Breathing out,
Eight.
All the way back to one.
And then you count back up to ten.
If you lose concentration,
That's alright.
Start back at one and count again.
No matter which method you choose,
Or maybe one of your own creation,
Always know that as you breathe in,
You're breathing in.
And as you breathe out,
You are breathing out.
As you meditate,
You'll find that your mind and your attention wanders from thought to a plan to another thought,
From the past to the present.
Even the most experienced meditators find themselves losing focus from time to time.
There's nothing wrong with it.
It happens.
It's just that our mind hasn't been trained to focus on a single logic.
With time,
You'll be able to sustain longer durations of focus.
But every time you find yourself wandering,
Just recognize that you've wandered off.
You can say,
I'm having a thought.
This is the future.
I'm thinking about the past.
Whatever works for you to acknowledge that you've lost focus.
And then bring yourself gently back to the breath.
That is the art of our practice.
Noticing when we've lost focus,
When we've wandered off,
And reminding ourselves to come back to the breath again and again and again.
That is the art of our practice.
That is the art of our practice.
That is the art of our practice.
That is the art of our practice.
Breathing in,
I am breathing in.
Air is entering my body.
Breathing out,
I am breathing out.
Air is leaving my body.
If your attention wanders,
Acknowledge it and bring it back.
That is the art of our practice.
As you sit in meditation,
Remember to bring some compassion and kindness to your practice.
Your attention will wander.
It's just what the mind does,
Especially as you train it.
Don't take it personally.
It's not your fault.
You're not doing anything wrong.
The fact that you recognize that your mind wanders or you've lost attention and you bring it back means you're meditating.
There is no wrong way to do this.
Just be patient and kind with yourself in the practice.
There's no reason to judge or criticize yourself.
Simply recognize that your mind has wandered and return to the breath.
Breathing in,
I am breathing in.
And breathing out,
I am breathing out.
And breathing out,
I am breathing in.
And breathing out,
I am breathing in.
And breathing out,
I am breathing in.
And breathing out,
I am breathing in.
And breathing out,
I am breathing in.
And breathing out,
I am breathing in.
And breathing out,
I am breathing in.
And breathing out,
I am breathing in.
And breathing out,
I am breathing in.
And breathing out,
I am breathing in.
And breathing out,
I am breathing in.
And breathing out,
I am breathing in.
And breathing out,
I am breathing in.
Thank you for listening to this meditation.
I appreciate you spending time with me as I practice and as you practice.
That's two accomplishments right there.
The script for this meditation was adapted from the Refuge Recovery Mindfulness of Breathing script.
It's a meditation I've used countless times in my own practice and in guiding group meditations.
I hope you enjoyed it.
