Hi,
This is Catherine Cook-Kouton,
The author of Embodiment and the Treatment of Eating Disorders,
The Body as a Resource in Recovery.
I'll be reading from script 9.
5,
Awareness of Breath and Heartbeat Meditation.
Find a comfortable position with your feet grounded on the floor and your sitting bones firmly grounded on a chair.
Pressing down into the floor and down into your sitting bones,
Engage your core and extend through the crown of your head,
Allowing your shoulders to soften and to gently rest on your back.
Soften your face and if you'd like,
Soften your gaze or close your eyes.
If you choose to have your eyes open,
Find a neutral anchor and rest your eyes on it,
Something in the room,
An object on the table that can just help you settle.
As you practice this meditation,
Your awareness might turn to your thoughts or an outside noise.
If this happens,
Simply notice and then bring your awareness back to my voice and back to your breath and back to your heartbeat.
Place one hand over your heart and another hand over your belly and bring your awareness to your breath.
You might add the narrative,
Breathing in,
I know I am breathing in and breathing out,
I know I am breathing out.
Continuously bring your awareness to your breath and repeat your inhalation and exhalation,
Tickling four more times.
Slowly,
Release the words,
Breathing in,
I know I am breathing in and breathing out,
I know I am breathing out.
And simply focus on your breathing.
In at your nose,
Closing your mouth and breathing just through your nose.
Notice the air as it passes through your nostrils and into your body.
You might notice the temperature of the air as it comes into your body and the temperature and the humidity of the air as it leaves.
Breathing here,
Noticing the sensations of the breath as it moves through your nose.
Now,
Follow the air as it moves into your body.
You might feel it pass through your throat and into your lungs.
Consider that you might feel something here and you might not.
Simply notice.
Now,
Move your awareness to your lungs,
Your chest and your belly as the air moves into them on the inhalation and leaves them on the exhalation.
You might notice an expansion at your chest and across the belly on the inhalations.
And you might notice the sensation of air as it fills and leaves your lungs.
You might notice subtle movements under your hands as your chest and belly rise and fall with your breath.
Breathe here and notice the lungs,
The chest and your belly.
As you breathe,
Slowly bring your awareness to your heart.
You can use both your internal awareness and the sensations you might notice under your hand that is on your chest.
It might help to slow and quiet your breath a bit so you can really tune into the beating of the heart.
You might notice something both inside you,
Deep in your chest and you might notice something through the palm of your hand.
You might notice only the inside sensations or only the sense of your heart beating under your hand.
You might not feel anything.
You just simply breathe and notice.
The practicing is in the noticing.
If you are able to feel your heartbeat,
See if you can whisper to yourself slowly,
Counting each heartbeat all the way up to 10.
Be sure to keep breathing even as you focus.
Pause,
Counting slowly to 10.
If you aren't noticing your heartbeat,
Simply count your inhalations and exhalations,
Allowing for the possibility of feeling your heartbeat as you breathe.
Good.
Now take a deep breath in and a big breath out.
If you'd like,
Release your hands to your lap or the arms of your chair and allow your breath to move naturally in and out.
Leave here for five more breaths.
Slowly bring your awareness back to your room.
By gradually opening your eyes if they are closed and then anchor your awareness onto something in the room,
Bringing yourself back out here.
As you breathe,
Slowly broaden your awareness to the room with your feet and sitting bones grounded.
Another big breath in and a big letting go.
Thank you for your practice.
