Breeze Bathing

This is an outdoor mindfulness practice best suited to a warm day with a gentle breeze. Enjoy!

Transcript

Welcome,

I'm Catherine G Lucas,

Or welcome back if you've already been listening to some of these mindfulness audios.

So the practice I've got for you today is something I've called Breeze Bathing,

A little twist on sunbathing.

I think it's fair to say that this is a spring or summer practice,

Maybe autumn,

Not really winter,

Because you don't really want a gale force wind for this practice.

A nice gentle breeze is ideal.

And you're going to want to be outside somewhere.

So I'm actually lying on a bench with a cushion underneath me.

So get yourself comfortable somewhere.

Preferably lying down,

But it doesn't have to be.

And then make sure that you've got some skin that is bare,

So that you can actually feel the breeze on your skin.

So it could be just your face,

But actually today is a lovely sunny warm day,

So I've actually got my arms and legs exposed.

So let's just take a moment to arrive.

Letting go of whatever activities we've been doing,

Any busyness of the day.

Just breathing in and breathing out.

Giving ourselves permission to be fully here.

In this moment,

In this place.

And we can feel our weight sinking down,

Especially if you are lying down.

Just letting go of your weight.

And feeling the connection with the ground,

With the earth beneath you.

It's the whole planet,

The whole earth,

Supporting us in this moment.

And then whether you're sitting or lying,

Just noticing the points of contact between you and the surface,

The ground,

Whatever you're lying or sitting on.

So maybe noticing the back of your head,

The back of your shoulders,

The length of your back,

The buttocks.

If you're sitting,

Maybe particularly noticing your sitting bones.

And then maybe the backs of your legs,

Or if you've got your knees bent up like I have,

And particularly feeling the soles of your feet.

Bare feet is rather lovely if it's warm enough for you.

So yeah,

Just noticing the surface,

The texture underneath your bare feet.

And let's just follow the breath,

Follow the movements and sensations of the breath through the body for a few moments.

So breathing in,

Feeling the rise of the belly.

Breathing out,

Feeling the belly subsiding.

Maybe noticing the movement in your upper torso as well.

The lungs filling,

The chest expanding.

And then the lungs emptying and the chest releasing.

So just following a few cycles of the breath.

Feeling all those sensations,

All the movements,

Myriad movements.

And then when you're ready,

Turning your attention to your skin,

To your bare skin.

Just really honing in on one particular part of your body where you've got bare skin.

Noticing any sensations there.

Maybe the warmth of the sun.

Just starting to notice the breeze.

So if it's quite a gentle breeze,

These are going to be very delicate sensations.

And depending on how frequently the breeze is blowing,

This is going to be a practice of watching and waiting.

A practice of being receptive.

And when the breeze comes,

Feeling it ripple over your skin,

Ripple along your body.

And the breeze comes and goes very much like our thoughts,

Like our feelings.

You can just allow them to come and let them go.

This is very much about being receptive.

Just allowing the breeze to come.

And then when it does,

Just allowing it to pass.

Just noticing how delicate sensations are.

Or sometimes if the breeze comes in a little flurry,

The sensations are a bit stronger,

Maybe a bit cooler.

And all the while,

The body is breathing itself.

You've got these undulations,

These waves of the breath moving through the body,

Like the breeze moving across the skin.

And noticing the movement of the breeze,

It kind of moves around the skin in little eddies,

In little flurries.

It's not one clean brush stroke.

It's more of a dance.

A delicious dance.

So we're just being with the breeze,

Breathing with the breeze.

And really giving ourselves the time and space to notice these delicate sensations.

Just how delicious they can be when we give ourselves the time and the space.

Feeling the change of temperature with each little flurry.

And surrendering our whole being to the breeze.

There's nothing that we need to do right now.

Nowhere we need to go.

And you can carry this practice on as long as you want.

And when you're ready,

We can start gently wrapping up,

Becoming more aware of our surroundings.

Keeping your eyes,

If you've had them closed.

Maybe having a little bit of a stretch.

So I hope you've enjoyed this practice today as much as I have.

It's one that you can come back to again and again.

So go well,

And I look forward to sharing more of these lovely practices with you.

Bye for now.

Reviews

Absolutely excellent. Meditating lying in a hot bath with window wide open to the February winter breeze (strong winds outside) flutterating through and over me...flickering the candles....beautiful thank you 🙏

Edit: 14/04/2023
Wow Catherine the bathwater has frozen over several times since then hahaha! 😆

Yes I have plenty of blossom in the garden plum and cherry...

Thank you for your reply.

Blessings John 🙏

I come back to this lovely practice time and time again! Thank you

Lovely. I may on the grass in my garden and felt the gentle breeze against my skin. A very relaxing time out. Thank you

I'm very glad I came across this breeze meditation, just what I needed, thank you! Needed a break from work, came out in my garden, sat on the lounge and looked up a meditation for outdoors, because I wanted some help with grounding myself in the present moment and letting go for few mins of everything else.

Excellent outdoor meditation with a soothing, positive voice!

Layed on the beach for this one and I was perfect for a late morning break

Awesome. Just done this meditation sat on a canal towpath in Tipton in glorious sunshine accompanied by a gentle breeze. Just perfect. Namaste 🙏

Omg I love this one.. I love taking breaks outside through out my day. This is perfect for anywhere on a warm breezy day.

Beautiful practice in my hammock! Thanks!

So soothing, listened to it in a hammock when really hot and breezy! :-)

A lovely short practice, ideal for taking time out in the middle of a nice day outside, to refresh and refocus. Thank you!

I actually listened at night on my bed. Just was intrigued with the title. Works anywhere I guess thought sure it's more meaningful when you're outdoors. You shared delicious, inspiring images and concepts like the planet earth supporting our bodies. Lovely. Thanks very much. Namaste.

Thank you so much! I practiced this while watching sunset over a lake. It was delicious!

Thank you so much spent some very welcome time with the breeze

Lovely little respite for this bright and sweetly breezy day. Thank you.

Lovely. Outdoor meditation is my preferred meditation. Luckily, I live in Southern California, so I can indulge in this practice all year long.

Oh, thank you for your Voice, calm and quite.