So let's start by finding a comfortable position.
So sitting in an alert and a relaxed position and knowing that it's okay to move at any time during this meditation.
So I invite you now to close your eyes or you can leave your eyes open with a soft gaze in front of you on the floor.
We will start off by taking a few deliberate deep breaths.
Breathing in and breathing out.
Breathing in and breathing out.
As we allow our bodies to become still,
Let's become aware of the breath as it enters the body and when it leaves the body.
As we're breathing in we can feel the cool air coming in through the nostrils,
The lungs and the chest and the stomach expanding.
And as we breathe out we can feel the warm air leaving the nostrils and the body relaxing and softening a little.
Take one more full breath in and full breath out.
And now allowing the breath to return to its natural rhythm.
Noticing that we don't have to do anything or make any effort to breathe,
The body knows exactly what to do.
Now you can place your attention where wherever the sensation of the breath is most vivid for you.
So if you feel the breath in the stomach then place your attention there.
It might be more prominent in the nostrils or the top lip,
The throat,
Maybe the chest.
So wherever you can feel it most,
Placing your attention there as the breath rolls in and the breath rolls out.
But today I'm going to introduce you to a simple way to help concentrate the mind.
So when the mind is busy it sometimes helps to occupy our thinking mind with something simple.
So what we can do is we can count along with our breath.
So on the next inhale we silently say in our minds one and then the next exhale we silently say two and on the next inhale we say three.
On the next exhale we say four all the way up to ten.
And when we get to ten we simply start again with one.
And if you get lost or distracted on the way and you forget where you're up to you just start again at one on the inhale.
Once the mind feels focused you can stop the counting and you can simply return to the breath.
So feeling into the sensations of the breath as the breath rolls in and feeling into the sensations of the breath as the breath rolls out.
And when the mind gets distracted when it gets carried away on a train of thought so thinking about the day or planning the week ahead or checking off our to-do lists we gently and we quietly come back to the breath.
So we shouldn't feel frustrated or disappointed when we drift off in thought it's perfectly normal.
It's the brain's job to keep busy thinking so just come back to the breath and pick up where you left off.
Breathing in and breathing out.
We've been stuck in autopilot for so long that we've gotten used to being dragged around by our thoughts and our emotions.
We have to build our mental muscle in the same way that we build up our muscles in the gym so doing those daily reps constantly coming back to the breath over and over and over it helps to build up our mind.
With each out breath letting the body become heavier sinking deeper into the chair or into the floor.
We're breathing in and out.
We're breathing in and out.
We're breathing in and out.
We're breathing in and out.
We're breathing in and out.
We're breathing in and out.
The more you bring awareness to your way of thinking the more it becomes a habit and the easier you'll find it will be to bring yourself back to the present moment.
Open your eyes to the new challenge coming your way.
Inside you are moving from a full swing motion into a full whip.
That in itself is the pattern of inner core sentient 16 more and μ λ§ getting along with your body.
Keeping our eyes closed.
Bringing our attention now to sounds in the room.
Attention to sounds outside the room.
And choosing to bring our attention back to the body now.
So feeling the body once again connected to the ground or connected to the chair.
And just noticing how the body's feeling right now.
Does it feel differently in any way?
Is there any spaciousness in the body and the mind?
Now over time you're going to begin noticing when you've fallen into autopilot.
And you'll be able to skillfully bring yourself back to the present.
To whatever it is that you're doing at the time.
In the same way that you've practiced bringing yourself back to the breath with meditation.
And wiggling our fingers and toes.
And opening your eyes if you haven't already done so.
