In the book of Genesis,
We hear the story of God forming Adam from the dust of the ground,
Breathing into his nostrils the breath of life,
And Adam becoming a living soul.
Each of us is filled with the same breath of life from God.
In this mindfulness meditation,
We bring awareness to the sensations of breathing as a way to stay grounded in the present moment.
God wants to be known to us in each moment,
And the breath helps us to step out of our usual habits of getting lost in thoughts or feelings,
Of getting caught up in our agenda or planning.
Through this meditation,
Our awareness of the breath becomes a gateway into the present moment,
Allowing us to rest in God's presence.
So let us begin.
Taking a moment to settle into the body,
Embodying a posture that is both relaxed yet alert,
With our back straight,
Head resting gently on the neck,
The eyes closed or gazing downward without focusing on anything in particular.
The shoulders are slightly back and relaxed,
And the hands resting on the lap or legs,
And our feet are firmly grounded on the floor.
Taking a moment to sense into your own inner dignity as a child of God,
Cherished and beloved.
Now taking three deep breaths to settle the body,
Inhaling deep into the lower belly and exhaling slowly.
One,
Two,
Three.
Realizing how the body feels as a whole sitting here,
Nowhere to be,
Nothing to do,
Just resting in this temple of the Holy Spirit.
Let us bring to mind our intention for this prayer period.
Allow this intention to arise from your heart,
And then offer it to God while asking for the grace to remain committed to this intention during this prayer period.
Now bringing the attention to the breath wherever it is most easily felt in the body,
This might be at the tip of the nostrils,
The back of the throat,
The rising and falling of the chest,
Or the expansion and relaxing of the belly,
Settling into one area of the body where you can connect with the breath most easily.
Or if it's more comfortable,
You can stay with the sensation of your body as a whole breathing.
Once you've connected to your breath wherever you feel it most easily,
Bring a quality of loving attention to the sensation of breathing,
This precious God-given breath.
Without needing to change the rhythm or the pace,
Just allowing yourself to rest in the natural rhythms of your breath,
Relaxing,
Resting,
Abiding.
In the Gospel of John,
We hear,
Abide in me and I in you.
Allow yourself to just abide in God through connecting with the sensations of breathing,
Abiding in each moment.
In being with the breath,
You might notice when the inhalation ends and the exhalation begins,
Noting any gap in between,
Becoming intimately comfortable with this rhythm of your breath as if God is breathing in you.
When the mind begins to wander,
And it probably will,
Noticing without judgment that this has occurred,
The mind is just doing what the mind does.
With gentleness and kindness,
Just return to the sensations of breathing.
It might help to use a simple noting practice to stay connected to the sensations of the breath.
When breathing in,
Mentally note,
Like a gentle whisper in,
And when exhaling,
Mentally note out.
You can also use the phrase rising or falling,
Allowing the note to stay in the background as your attention to the sensations of breathing stays in the foreground.
Allow God to be with you.
Allow God's presence in the breathing in this moment to draw you back to your practice,
To your prayer,
Trusting in this moment,
In this breath,
God's breath.
You can also use the phrase rising or falling,
Like a gentle whisper in,
And when exhaling,
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Bringing awareness to the body and noticing if any tightness has arisen.
Or if your body is just leaning ever so slightly as if it's leaning into the future.
If so,
Just see if you might lean back a little as a way to signify you're relaxing into the moment.
Abiding into God's presence.
In,
Out,
Arising,
Falling.
Allowing yourself just to rest in this moment.
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