Hello and welcome.
My name is Kerry Bethan.
Today's meditation will be a simple anchor practice where the mind,
Your awareness,
Is brought back to the present moment using your breath.
Like a ship drifting on the ocean surface,
Your mind may wander to the past,
To the future.
But just as an anchor keeps the ship from getting lost at sea,
The breath keeps you grounded in the now.
Enclosing the eyes,
Beginning to take in a few deep breaths.
Arriving in presence with each deep inhale,
Letting go as you exhale.
As the breath begins to settle into its natural rhythm,
Feel your body connected to wherever you're seated.
Feel your legs and feet grounded.
Take a moment to scan through the body from head to toe,
Pressing for any areas of physical tension,
And then with the breath to support you,
See if you can guide the body to soften.
As you inhale,
Send your breath to those areas,
And as you exhale,
Releasing,
Letting go.
Relax the shoulders.
Release the arms.
Soften the belly.
And as the body settles,
You may start to notice the mind.
And whenever you do notice yourself getting lost in the sea of thinking,
Take a moment to pause,
To recognize that this is a thought.
Gently label thinking,
Thinking.
The moment you recognize thoughts in this way,
You're no longer attached to the story.
And in the space of your pause,
There is choice.
Choose to let go of the thought,
Unhook from the story,
Watch it roll by like a wave on the ocean,
And then place the awareness back on the breath.
Your breath brings you back into your body,
To the present moment.
The breath is the bridge back to now.
Place your full attention on your breath.
Feel the inflow and outflow at the nose.
Notice the sensation,
Sound,
The temperature.
Notice how the inhale is different from the exhale.
With childlike curiosity,
Allow your awareness to follow the arc of each breath.
Feel the way the body moves with the breath,
The chest and abdomen rising and falling,
Rising and falling.
And whenever you notice yourself lost in thought,
Notice where your mind went without any judgment.
Feel thinking and come back to the breath.
Each new breath is a gentle invitation to start again,
To come back to the present moment,
To come home to yourself.
The past is gone,
The future is yet to come,
All we have is now.
Practice coming home to the breath with your full awareness.
Just breathe,
Not trying to control the breath,
But simply witness.
Every breath is different,
Each moment new.
With the next inhale,
Follow the breath down to the heart center,
And see if you can feel the heart beating within your chest,
The rhythm,
The pulse.
When you witness the connection of breath to each beat,
Present to life moving through you and within you,
Breath by breath.
Deepening your breaths now as you begin to gently guide yourself out of practice,
As you keep the eyes closed,
Become aware of your surroundings,
Aware of your body,
Aware of your presence.
And whenever you're ready,
Opening the eyes.
From my heart to yours,
Thank you.
Namaste.
