This meditation is for breath awareness which can be used to recenter the thoughts,
To reground in the body and to just connect with yourself and come back to a state of presence in the moment,
Presence with the breath.
So go ahead and find a comfortable seat,
Whatever that means for you.
You could be laying down on your yoga mat,
On your bed,
Knees bent,
Legs straight or you could sit comfortably,
Maybe elevating the seat up on a cushion or a blanket,
Possibly placing the back against the wall,
Especially if you're new to meditation.
Allowing your hips and seat to sink deeply into the floor or into your cushion.
Extending up long through the spine,
Imagining that your head was floating gently at the top of your neck.
Hands can rest comfortably on the thighs or the knees or out at your sides if you're laying down.
And when you're ready,
You can lightly close the eyes or transition to a soft,
Hazy gaze.
Begin to notice the quality of your breath.
Without trying to change anything or alter the breath,
Just observe.
Is your breath long or slow,
Deep or shallow,
Warm or cool?
Are the inhales longer than the exhales?
Do you notice any pauses in the cycles of your breath?
Where in your body do you feel your breath move?
Notice any judgment or expectation.
Step into the role of the observer of your breath.
Notice that your breath may naturally change through this process of observation.
Now that we are aware of the breath,
We're going to start deepening our inhales and exhales.
So maybe gently tugging on the length of each inhale and the length of each exhale,
Trying to make them equal in length to each other.
Slowly sipping in the breath through the nose on your inhale and gently and slowly releasing the breath through the nose on your exhale.
Feeling the breath beginning to fill the body more.
Maybe feeling it in your belly,
Feeling it in your chest,
Allowing the ribs to expand from side to side and front to back.
Trying to match the length of your exhale to the length of your inhale.
Slowly tracing the easy journey of the breath in and out of the body.
Bringing the attention to the diaphragm now,
Imagine that as you inhale the diaphragm is extending down into the belly,
Allowing the belly to fill with breath,
Allowing the whole torso to expand with breath.
And then as you exhale your diaphragm softens and travels back up towards the heart.
Imagining that your whole torso fills with breath in three dimensions as you inhale.
Like you were filling a rectangle with your breath.
Exhaling and exhaling into all sides,
Top and bottom,
And even into each corner.
Continuing to breathe for the next 60 seconds in this deep diaphragmatic belly breathing.
Exhaling and exhaling into all sides.
Exhaling and exhaling into all sides.
Exhaling and exhaling into all sides.
If you're sitting,
Gently dip the chin in towards the chest.
If you're lying down,
Begin to gently wiggle the fingers and the toes.
Allowing the eyes to begin to gently flutter open with a soft gaze.
Taking in the space most nearest to you and then taking in the rest of the room.
Noticing any shifts that may have taken place in the body,
In the mind.
Noticing any emotions that you may be feeling.
And when you're ready,
Moving on with your day.
Hopefully in a centered,
Calmer,
More grounded state of mind and body.
Namaste.
