Welcome.
My name is Carolyn-Ann Budgell.
I'm a Lululemon Ambassador and I teach meditation and yoga for everyone.
In this meditation,
We will explore mindfulness and specifically,
Mindful breathing.
There is a common misconception that when you sit down to meditate,
You must stop all of your thoughts.
Rather,
We will explore meditation as an opportunity to focus the mind on more helpful thoughts and more aware thoughts.
So grab your cushion or a block,
Find a comfortable way to sit,
Close your eyes,
And let's dive in.
Become aware of your breathing.
When we take time out from our day to sit in meditation or just find time to pause,
It's important that we ask ourselves how we're feeling in order to be aware of what we're bringing into the meditation.
So conduct a little scan from your head down to your toes.
Notice all the things that you're feeling right now.
Notice if your thoughts are busy.
Notice if maybe you already feel alert.
Just take in all the things that are going on for you right now.
And the more conscious we become of what we're experiencing,
The more mindful we really are.
In many different Buddhist schools of meditation or lineages,
Mindfulness is practiced when we sit down to meditate.
And there are many things that we can be mindful about.
We can repeat a mantra internally.
We can sense for all the sounds around us.
We can focus our eyes on the flame of a candle in front of us.
We can be mindful of visualizations in our minds.
But in all Buddhist traditions,
The most common form of mindfulness is breath.
Your breath is the tool that you always have with you,
That you can focus on.
Just let your inhale merge with your exhale.
And allow your exhale to merge with your inhale.
So your breathing is never forced and always very relaxing.
Soften in your low abdomen.
So you're kind of breathing how an infant would breathe,
These low belly breaths.
Rest your inner gaze into your spinal column.
Your spine is the central channel of energy in your body that houses so much intelligence.
Be mindful of the base of your spine right up to the back of your neck.
Lengthen your spine,
Sitting taller and taller.
Lean slightly back to align your shoulders over your hips.
And now with this upright position and this aligned posture,
Keep your inner focus into your spine and observe if there's any pain in your body or any areas in the torso or the hips that feel numb or dark.
Into those tight or painful spaces,
Breathe a little brighter,
Breathe a little deeper.
Wake up your whole body with breath to this moment right now.
Remembering that it's very natural for our minds to try and distract us because that's what the mind is accustomed to doing.
The mind is well trained to think.
So just be mindful of those thoughts and keep focusing back on your breath.
Softness as you inhale,
Relaxing as you exhale.
Relax.
Now sense for where your breath feels most prominent in your body.
Maybe you're very aware of your breath at the tip of your nose,
Both nostrils,
Maybe a coolness on the inhale and a warmth as you exhale.
Maybe a lift of the chest as you breathe.
Perhaps you envision your inhale flowing up your spine from the base up to the shoulders,
And perhaps you envision the exhale flowing down your spinal column.
Rest your focus for a couple minutes on wherever you most strongly connect to your breath in your body.
Knowing that our thoughts will always try to take us out of the moment and hook us.
And mindfulness is called a practice because we're constantly encouraged to practice coming back to the breath.
Come back to the breath over and over.
Relax.
Observe if the inhales are long and deep.
Observe if your breath is a little more shallow.
Being very conscious of where you feel your breath most in your body is a great technique,
A great practice of mindfulness.
And so is the use of an inner mantra that you can repeat silently to yourself.
Thich Nhat Hanh is a highly esteemed Buddhist monk who offers a really simple and really relaxing mantra to help focus our minds on our breath.
And we'll work with that right now for our last couple minutes sitting together.
Think to yourself as you inhale,
I know I'm inhaling.
And think as you exhale,
I smile softly.
Think I know I'm inhaling or I feel my inhale.
And on the exhale,
I smile softly.
Often when we focus in a mindfulness practice like this,
Our face really tenses up because we're trying so hard to concentrate.
As much as possible,
We want to bring in softness and gentleness.
Reminding ourselves it's okay to relax and really it's important that we learn how to relax.
So keep working with that.
Think I know I'm inhaling or I feel my inhale.
And on the exhale,
I smile softly.
I know I'm inhaling.
And on the exhale,
I smile softly.
In this simple practice of mindfulness on the breath,
We've kept a very light and gentle focus on the breath and how it feels in the body.
In order to bring in more presence and more conscious thought patterns.
Acknowledge yourself for taking this time.
And remember that every little moment you can pause and take a deep breath is beneficial towards your nervous system.
And towards how you feel and interact in the world.
It just takes a couple deep breaths.
And you can practice this anywhere,
Anytime.
No amount of time is too short.
Namaste.
