Zen Breath Meditation

I created this 10 minute Zen Breathing meditation track as homework for students of my Mindfulness Lab Series but wanted to share them with all of you.

Zen breathing is an extremely focused meditation practice. Think of this technique as adding on to the Apana Breath meditation and for that reason, I highly recommend that you practice that technique for a few weeks before this one.

Practice twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening.

It is my hope that with regular practice, you will strengthen your ability to remain present for longer periods of time.

Transcript

Welcome to your short present moment awareness meditation using a basic Zen breathing technique guided by me,

Dani.

Zen breath is the foundational technique in present moment awareness and while its instructions seem simple,

It can take a lifetime to master.

Some days you'll feel better than others and how you do today will likely have no effect on how you do tomorrow.

So I invite you now to find a comfortable seat.

You can use a cushion or a chair with your legs and arms relaxed,

Your spine upright so that your shoulders are above your hips.

Gently close down your eyes and at first I encourage you to gently shift around,

Eventually coming to a place where you feel settled and supported.

Now turn your attention inward toward your breath.

Start to notice how it feels to breathe in and out so you find an easy rhythm.

Next bring your awareness to the breath.

You can start with the attention at the tip of the nose where you feel the inhalation draw in and the exhalation draw out.

I'd like you to begin to count each cycle of breath.

Inhale,

Exhale for one.

Inhale,

Exhale for two.

Inhale,

Exhale for three.

Keep going at your own pace,

Following the cadence of your own breath.

And if at any point you feel distracted,

Simply start again your count at one.

Continue to count your breath with no particular goal or outcome in mind.

Exhale softly,

Exhale softly.

Inhale,

Exhale for three.

Exhale,

Exhale for four.

Inhale,

Exhale for five.

Often when we introduce a count,

The breath and the body can become rigid.

So see if you can invite in ease into the breath,

Softening the face,

Relaxing the shoulders.

Just continue to focus on counting each cycle of breath as you inhale and as you exhale.

Remember that if at any point you notice that you've drifted away from the technique,

Simply start again at one,

Counting each cycle of breath.

Inhale,

Exhale for five.

Keeping the eyes closed,

Start to relax and release the technique.

Relax your body and take a few rounds of natural breath without any counting.

Stay as long as you need,

But when you do feel ready,

Gently open your eyes.

Relax your body and take a few rounds of natural breath without any counting.

Relax your body and take a few rounds of natural breath without any counting.

Relax your body and take a few rounds of natural breath without any counting.

Relax your body and take a few rounds of natural breath without any counting.

Relax your body and take a few rounds of natural breath without any counting.

Reviews

It beautiful and nice and relaxing and helped release my stress for the day. Also got me got me ready to sleep so thank you

very gentle guiding on this technique. very helpful

This is a great way to start the day, feeling very present, thank you for your work

Gentle, calming, soothing voice, clear instructions. Very helpful. Thank you.

Short meditation 🧘‍♀️ can be performed any time. 💯🙏🙏🙏👍

Straight forward breathing exercise. Helpful at night for me.

A lovely return for me to the basics. Great delivery, tone and music. Thank you. Added to playlist... 🙏🏽

Wonderful
Clear voice and and an exercise which is so easy and hard at the same time.

Very well done for the purpose. Needs to be repeated

Stunning. Thank you for sharing. Would love this exact meditation in a longer 20min version 🙏💕

Wonderful. I appreciated the long unguided sections. Thank you

Lovely warm voice and very well guided. Thank you so much

This is an easy yet powerful meditation. I felt peaceful after finishing this guided meditation.

I loved the space she leaves in the end with open eyes. It helped with orientation and transition.

Very calming and does great introducing basic mindful breath techniques.

That was very grounding. Thank you for this meditation.

Thank you! Could you please share the reason or nuance for starting from one each time instead of continuing from where you drifted off?

Excellent Meditation. I use it daily.

Thank you for guiding us in this lovely mindfulness practice! 🙏💓

I loved your voice, and the music/background you chose. I noticed in the reviews that others have mentioned the “lack of ending”. For me, it ended perfectly. An invitation into something, undefined enough to open the door for my psyche to rest in just the way I needed.

Thank you! I am already looking forward to my next listen.