So let's begin in the usual way by noticing sounds and inviting our awareness into the body.
Feeling all the various sensations there,
Some pleasant,
Some unpleasant.
And a whole sense of the body sitting or lying.
And resting your awareness now on the sensations of the breath.
Feeling the breath as it moves in and out of the body.
You might feel the breath just brushing the skin on the inside of the nose.
The back of the throat.
So feeling the breath,
Whether it's warm,
Soft,
Smooth,
Perhaps it's cold and sharp.
Just getting a sense of the in-breath.
How it nourishes and refreshes the body.
And this is a sort of kindness,
Isn't it?
How it nourishes us.
Getting a feel for the out-breath.
How the body lets go of the breath.
Just noticing how that feels.
Getting a sense of the lungs expanding to welcome the breath.
And then subsiding on the out-breath.
It's giving ourselves permission to just do this,
To just rest our awareness on the breath.
And this is a kind of kindness,
Isn't it?
To just do this.
To pay a particular attention to the breath,
This in-breath.
And this out-breath.
Letting the breath breathe you,
There's nothing that we need to do.
Just touching into that regular rhythmic movement of the breath.
Allowing it to anchor our awareness in this moment,
This in-breath.
This moment with this out-breath.
Just feeling the kindness of that,
Paying attention in this particular way.
And if you like,
You can imagine the breath suffused with kindness.
So as you breathe in,
Kindness flows right around your body.
Touching every part of you.
And as you breathe out,
That sense of kindness settling deep into the centre of your body.
Breathing in kindness.
And on the out-breath,
Just allowing it to settle into the centre of your body.
And if you have thoughts,
Or the mind wanders,
That's okay,
That's what it does.
Coming back to the breath.
Coming back to this moment,
This in-breath.
And this out-breath.
And just practicing staying close,
Being intimate with each inhalation and each exhalation.
And then broadening your awareness to include the breath,
And the movements of the breath,
And the chest,
And the belly,
And your back.
And the whole of your body.
Just notice how it feels to pay attention in this way.
And then opening your eyes when you're ready.
