Welcome to Breathing Space for meditation,
Storytelling,
And poetry.
I'd like to invite you to use this series of meditation and readings from different storybooks and poetry books to find your own breathing space when you feel it is right for you.
I will start how we normally start,
Which is just to bring ourselves into the room.
And I'd like to invite you to just tune into your sensory awareness,
Starting with your sight,
What you can see.
So look around your room and see if you can pick five things that you could see anything at all.
Just noticing the colors,
Textures,
Size.
And after you've found five things,
I'd like you to tune into your sense of touch,
What you can feel.
And I want you to identify four things you might be able to feel now where you are.
That may be the temperature in the room.
You may notice the clothing on your back or in your body,
Whatever you can feel right now.
Your feet in contact with the floor.
Four things.
I'd invite you now to see if you can hear three things.
Might be outside.
Could be your own heartbeat.
And after you've found three things you could hear,
I'd like to invite you to identify two things that you can smell.
Could be a lingering scent in the room.
Two things.
And then one thing that you can taste if you have a lingering taste.
Just one thing.
If your eyes aren't already closed,
I'd like to invite you to do that now and I'll start the meditation.
It'll be a 10-minute meditation denoted by a bell to begin with and a bell to end.
So wherever you are,
However you're sat,
Get yourself into a definite posture,
Whatever that is for you.
Relaxing your body.
And then having an alert mind and a spine that is reasonably erect and at attention for the meditation.
Just be aware of anything that is present right now for you.
What's your sort of internal pattern right now at this moment?
Any thoughts or feelings,
Just gently turning the attention inwards.
As you do that,
You may begin to notice the natural rhythm of your breath.
What is your breathing like right now?
Not changing anything at all.
Bringing a gentle awareness to the natural flow of the breath.
You may begin to notice a slight change of the breath now as you pay attention.
Noticing on the inhalation,
Noticing what happens when you inhale.
You may notice the breath entering the nostrils.
As you exhale,
Notice the breath leaving the nostrils.
On your next in breath,
Notice any sensations around the nose as you breathe in.
Is the air warmer,
Cooler?
As you exhale,
Notice any difference in the temperature of the breath.
Notice if the breath is tickling the top lip or any gentle sensation you might feel as you take your next breath in.
Following the natural rhythm of the breath now.
You may begin to notice your body rising and falling with each breath.
Bringing the breath into the nose and all the way into the body,
Filling the lungs with air.
Notice the body contracting as the air leaves the body to start a new cycle of breath.
Following the breath into the body,
You may notice your stomach expanding to allow room for your lungs to inflate.
You may notice it contracting and squeezing the air out of your body.
As your attention to your breathing rhythm begins to expand from the centre of the chest,
Start to notice anything that might be present now,
Anything in the body at all.
As you breathe in,
You're consciously expanding your awareness throughout the entire body,
Gradually beginning to encapsulate the whole body in your attention.
Just present for you in your body right now.
Pure choiceless awareness.
You might feel tension lurking somewhere in the body.
You might feel parts of the body beginning to relax.
You may feel your body in contact with the surface.
Whatever comes up for you,
Gently casting your awareness to whatever that might be.
Feeling the body,
Living organism moving with each breath you take.
You might find your mind beginning to wander.
That is exactly what the mind does.
Just gently escort the mind back to the breath.
Feeling the body relaxing with each breath.
Deepening and noticing whatever changes are there.
Feeling that at any time,
Anywhere you go,
You always have the breath with you.
Okay,
I'm just going to read a short poem and then I will invite some reflection.
This poem is called Love After Love by Derek Walker.
The time will come when,
With elation,
You will greet yourself arriving at your own door in your own mirror and each will smile at the other's welcome and say,
Sit here,
Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was yourself.
Give it wine,
Give bread,
Give back your heart to itself,
To the stranger who has loved you all your life,
Whom you ignored for another,
Who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,
The photographs,
The desperate notes.
Peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit,
Feast on your life.
I'd like to invite you now to reflect on the meditation or the stories or poetry that you may have heard.
When reflecting on the meditation,
Bring a gaze of non-judgment to your experience.
If you had difficulty during the meditation,
Whether it was pain,
Discomfort or a flitting mind,
Just appreciate that.
And if it was a great meditation,
If you deem it as a pleasant experience,
Just appreciate that equally as well.
Any thoughts or ideas to contemplate on from the storytelling and poetry,
I'd like to encourage you to take that with you for the rest of the day.
And I look forward to seeing you in the next breathing space.
