11:01

Meditation On The Breath

by Cecilia Ballan

Rated
4.9
Type
guided
Activity
Meditation
Suitable for
Everyone
Plays
175

Rest and journey inwards into this exploration of the breath. You'll start by tuning into your natural breath before playing with slightly lengthening your exhales to create a soothing response in the parasympathetic nervous system. Eventually you will rest into awareness observing the expansive quality of your breath.

BreathRelaxationMeditationAwarenessParasympathetic Nervous SystemMindfulnessPosture GuidanceBody AwarenessSensoryEmotional AwarenessBreath AwarenessExtended ExhaleEnergy FlowBoundary DissolutionPure AwarenessPractice Integration

Transcript

As we begin this practice,

Take a few moments to find a comfortable posture.

You might want to sit,

Or maybe you'd like to lie down.

Once you've found your posture,

Allow the body to begin to release.

Begin to settle into this moment.

Notice any sounds around you,

Maybe sounds within you.

Notice the sensation of the surface supporting your body.

The touch of air on your skin.

During the practice,

You might notice different sensations,

Emotions,

Thoughts.

You might even meet the feeling of being expansive,

Spacious,

Pure awareness.

Welcome each experience in.

Give yourself the space to be with it.

Not pushing away or clinging onto any one experience.

Just seeing it all as a movement with an awareness.

Now begin to tune into your breath.

First just watching your natural breath.

Watching the rising and expansion of every inhale.

And the fall and release of every exhale.

And the spaces between.

This moment of suspension,

Where there's no breath.

Maybe there's no mind.

Now when you're ready,

Begin to very gently extend your exhales.

Making each exhale just slightly longer than the inhale.

Being very gentle with this.

Just making the exhales just slightly longer than the inhales.

When you're ready,

Coming back to your natural breath.

And starting to extend your awareness outwards to just in front of your nose.

Feeling the air just before it comes in.

Just before it meets your body.

Then following the air in,

Down through the nose,

Down the throat,

To the chest,

All the way down to the belly.

And then back out in the same way.

From the belly,

Up to the chest,

Through the throat,

Through the nose,

And then out just in front of you.

Noticing this as energy coming in and energy coming out.

Noticing this space where boundaries dissolve.

The outside air comes in to meet your body.

Becomes part of your body.

And then comes back out and dissolves back into the air.

Now noticing how this energy doesn't just come in and stop at the belly,

But instead moves through the whole body and sends flows of energy throughout the whole body.

Energy coming in,

Enlivening the whole body.

And then energy coming out,

Dissolving back into the air.

Now sensing back into awareness.

The awareness in which all these changing sensations,

Experiences are happening,

Arising and unfolding.

Sensing into being this awareness,

This witness.

When you're ready,

Taking a moment to look back on the journey you've just been on.

The different qualities that have been present for you.

Maybe a new experience of breath,

Of energy,

An experience of stillness,

Or of being pure awareness.

Take a moment to consider how might you bring this into your day or your week.

When you're ready,

You can start to transition out of the practice and into the rest of your day.

Meet your Teacher

Cecilia BallanLondon, UK

4.9 (16)

Recent Reviews

Mark

May 9, 2025

Spot-on guidance kept me fully engaged in presence.

Barb

March 9, 2025

Appreciated the very long pauses to sit with cues. Really liked thinking of the exhale as giving energy back, not just as letting go of something I don't need. Bookmarking.

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© 2025 Cecilia Ballan. All rights reserved. All copyright in this work remains with the original creator. No part of this material may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

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