A Gentle Return To The Body And Breath

This gentle guided meditation invites you to slow down and reconnect with your body through breath awareness.

Together, we bring attention to the sensations of breathing, beginning at the nose, and softly noticing the rise and fall of the chest and stomach.

This practice can support grounding, nervous system regulation, and a moment of quiet presence in your day.

Transcript

Before we begin this mindfulness practice I want you to find a space for the next 10 minutes that is just for you, Where you can relax, Where you can ground yourself and you won't be distracted. You can choose whether you want to sit on a chair or the floor on a pillow or perhaps you'd feel most comfortable lying down. You can even bring a pillow or a blanket into the practice if that helps you relax. Just know if you do choose to lie down you might find yourself falling asleep and that's okay too if that's the intention today. I also want to let you know that at any moment if you decide you want to stop or you don't want to engage in this mindfulness activity anymore that's perfectly okay too, You're in complete control. So once you're comfortable and ready I just want to invite you to close your eyes if that feels safe for you to do so. If not you can totally leave them open and just find a spot to focus on gently around you. We're just going to do a brief body check-in. You don't have to stay with the body for long but just to help bring us into this present moment and into the body. So let's just focus on the feet. How are they feeling? The legs, Your thighs, Your stomach, Your chest, Your neck, Your face, Your head. How's your body feeling? And it's okay if there's no sensation as well. I'm just going to gently bring the attention to the mind. Is your mind wandering with thoughts of what you're going to do after this mindfulness practice, That never-ending to-do list? Or is it reflecting on the day and chattering away things that happened? If you notice that your mind is wandering throughout this practice know that is perfectly normal. It's what the mind is meant to do. The beauty of mindfulness is that it gives us an opportunity to come back to the present moment again and again. We catch our minds wandering. We're going to do a breath check-in now. Where do you feel your breath most strongly? Do you feel it in your nose? The cool air coming in and out? Or perhaps you breathe more through your mouth? Do you feel it in your chest? The inhale and exhale as it rises and it disappears again? Or do you feel it in your belly? There's no right or wrongs. It's just there keeping you alive. We're going to focus now on doing some more focused breathing. We're going to do four rounds. We're going to breathe into each one of these centers. So you want to focus on doing four rounds with the nose, Four rounds with your stomach, Four rounds with your chest and then four rounds of just breathing. Okay, So to begin I want you to just focus, Bring your awareness to your nose. I'm going to breathe in and out. And in and out. And in. Just let your breath return back to normal rhythm for the next few rounds. And we're going to go to the chest next. Sometimes people like to lay a hand on their chest as it helps them focus their attention towards their chest and the breath rising up and down. So we're going to breathe in to the chest and out. And in and out. And out. Out. I'm just going to let the breath return back to its normal rhythm. I'm just going to move now to the breath in the stomach. So I'm going to do the same thing, Perhaps moving your hand to your stomach. Just focusing on the breath in this area. So I'm going to breathe in to the stomach. And out. And in. And in. And out. And out. We're just going to let our breath resume back to its normal pace. And we're just going to do one final round of focused breathing. We're not going to focus particularly in any part of the body. I mean you're welcome to if that feels supportive. We're just going to focus on what the breath feels like in the whole body. So we're just going to breathe in and out. I'm just going to let the breath resume its natural pace again for the next few rounds before we finish up. It might be good just to see if you're noticing any shifts in your body. Does it feel more spacious, More relaxed after breathing? It might not feel any different and that's okay too. The purpose of mindfulness is to bring awareness into what's real in the present moment. You don't want to force emotion or force anything that's false. Just being mindful of what's here right now in the present moment. And when you're ready, We're just going to gently bring ourselves back into this present moment again. I'm just going to take a final deep breath in and out. You might want to wriggle your toes and your fingers just to help your body wake up again. If you don't have your eyes, If you have your eyes shut, Just gently open them. Just reorientating the mind back in. It might be good to thank yourself for showing up and practicing today. When you're ready, We'll just close this practice now. Thank you for joining me.