Mindfulness Of The Breath: Awareness & Shaping

There are many mindfulness of breath practices available. This take on a quintessential, hallmark meditation focuses on shifting between awareness of the breath and intuitive shaping of the breath for personal health and well-being. This practice helps foster a sense of grounding to the present moment for purposes of moving forward effectively.

Transcript

Hey,

This is Dr.

Justin Ross and today's practice is a mindfulness of the breath practice.

This is a hallmark quintessential mindfulness practice that you're going to find in a lot of different places.

We know that focusing on the breath and using the breath as an anchor to the present moment is such a vital part of any meditation practice and it's especially helpful in terms of being able to connect to the present moment,

To use our breath as a sense of calm and focus and rejuvenation.

And so the mindfulness of breath practice that I'm going to lead in this class is going to help us do that.

It's going to help us connect to the breath and also learn how to channel the breath so that we can use it to our advantage when we need to.

So this mindfulness of the breath practice may be a little different than others you may have heard.

We're going to spend about 10 minutes going back and forth between being aware of the natural breath and its natural form and working to then change our breath to be able to be intuitive in terms of how we take our own breath and shape it and guide it and regulate it so that we can feel the sense of connection and well-being.

And so to get started just find a comfortable position where you can sit for the next 10 minutes or so and that may be seated or might be lying down.

Start to get settled.

Bring awareness to the process of getting settled.

Notice how it feels to move your body to find that place where you feel connected.

Alert yet relaxed.

You may keep your eyes open if you choose.

Just lower your gaze,

Reduce that stimulation you're getting in through your eyes.

If you feel comfortable,

Close your eyes.

And we start with just bringing awareness to the breath and its natural form.

There's no need to look far for the breath.

Just try to catch it and observe it where you can in your body and maybe that's in your nose or maybe that's in your throat or your lungs,

Your abdomen.

Just get a sense of where you can bring awareness to breathing.

You may feel the rise of your chest as you breathe in.

Maybe the fall and gentle deflation as you breathe out.

Notice that with breathing there's always two things that we can do.

The first is this.

The first is to bring awareness.

Observing what is happening.

Observing the physical sensations of the breath itself.

Cool air entering your body on the inhale.

Warm air exiting your body on the exhale.

Feeling the natural rhythm,

The natural pace of your own breath.

The second thing we can do is we can shape our breath.

We can guide intuition into breathing in a way that helps us feel connected to wellness,

Awareness,

Focus,

All kinds of things.

So next take this moment to intuitively guide yourself to shaping your own breath.

And maybe that's by breathing slower or deeper or more rhythmically.

Let your intuition guide you in terms of taking your breath and deepening it,

Slowing it,

Regulating it.

And notice how this feels.

What are you noticing in your body?

What changes can you feel in the way your breath either feels or is flowing?

And as you're going about this practice,

You're going to get distracted.

That is absolutely going to happen.

And that's okay.

Our mind in many ways is designed to do this.

It's not a matter of if you get distracted.

It's a matter of when.

So much of developing a mindfulness practice is first being okay with that.

It's all right.

Let yourself get distracted.

But then learn that you can bring yourself back.

This is why the breath is so important.

Our mind can live in so many other places in the future,

In the past,

But our breath,

Well,

Our breath can really only be in this present moment.

It's anchored to right here,

Right now.

So allow yourself,

Try to go back now to this awareness.

Let go of the shaping of the breath and just let your breath default back to its natural rhythm,

Its natural state,

Its natural form,

And be aware of it and feel it.

Breathing in,

Feeling the air flow in through your nose,

Into your throat,

Expanding your lungs.

Notice that there's just this tiny pause between the in-breath and then the start of the exhale.

Trying to feel a breath exiting,

Coming up through your lungs,

Through your throat,

Out through your mouth,

Through your nose.

And then again,

Notice there's this tiny pause between the out-breath and then the in-breath,

Starting over again.

See if you can be aware of and feel these four component parts of the breath.

The in-breath,

The pause,

The out-breath,

The pause.

And as you feel that breath,

Just be reminded it's always with you.

Your breath is this anchor to this moment.

It starts with this piece of awareness.

And it's from awareness that we can do this second part of really shaping the breath and using it in a way that intuitively feels good to us.

So come back to that.

Find that spot where it feels good to breathe deeper,

Slower,

More rhythmically,

More intentionally and more deliberately.

And really all it takes is just a couple of slow,

Deep,

Rhythmic breaths to help us re-regulate how our nervous system is functioning.

And dampen stress and anxiety.

Can help us connect to how we're feeling emotionally.

The breath becomes one of our greatest regulating mechanisms that we have.

And all it takes is some intentional practice to do this.

Slowing the breath,

Big breath in.

Feeling the expansion in your chest,

In your lungs,

In your abdomen.

Nice exhale,

Slow,

Rhythmic,

Even.

Out through the nose or the mouth.

One last breath in through the nose.

Out through the mouth.

And then guiding yourself back,

Letting go of the intentional breath,

Bringing yourself back to the awareness breath.

Letting it go back to its normal pace,

Its rhythm,

Its flow.

But recognizing now that after having done this,

You start to become an expert at catching your own breath,

At being aware of it.

And also then guiding it and shaping it.

Give your body just a little bit of movement.

Been sitting for a few minutes now in stillness.

Wiggle your hands,

Your toes,

Your legs,

Your arms.

Get that blood going again.

Slowly start to open your eyes.

Reconnect to your surroundings.

The situation you find yourself in.

And recognize what we just did.

Recognize the power of this practice.

You didn't need to do much here.

You just needed to find your breath,

To focus on it,

And to learn how to shape it.

It's as simple as that.

Wellness,

Well-being,

Connection can all be done through learning how to use your breath.

And this practice is great.

You don't need 10,

12 minutes to do it.

You can do it really anywhere,

As long as you bring awareness and focus to your breath.

You learn how to shape it and manage it for your own well-being.

And you can do this anytime,

Anywhere,

In any situation.

In closing this practice up today,

Just wishing you well and a gentle reminder of the power and the anchoring presence of your breath.

Reviews

Very calming and what I really needed this morning. Thank you. Very effective! 🌿👌😊🌿

So soothing, and the perfect pace for me. I'm beginning to get into breathwork practice, and this was a fantastic anchoring practice I can see myself coming back to again and again.

Awesome breathing focus. I was able to practice amid the morning children’s chaos! Thank you.

I really liked the pace and the tone of your voice. There was a little bit of noise in the background, but it gave me the opportunity to practice mindfulness through my breath. Thank you for this guided meditation!

Timely a nice way to start my meditation practice this
Morning

Soothing voice and perfect meditation for a busy mind

This was excellent! Heard some background noise and it only made it better, sounds like my place with kids!

I've never felt this comfortable with a guided meditation :)

Great mindfulness and Breath practice. Thank You !

Simple and very insightful to build the skill of intentional breathing

This was great. I loved playing with my breath. I completely lost myself in this activity, so much so that it was a slight surprise to open my eyes and find myself sat in my living room.
Thank you so much for sharing this practice.

Thank you for this calming breath focused meditation! I’m ready to greet the day! ☀️🕊

Wonderful. Major guidance. Thanks a lot. Namaste 🙏🏽

Simple but effective —nice way to teach this basic concept. Loved it !

So helpful...really presented well

Excellent breath guidance, thank you so much!!☀️🙏🏼☀️

Thank you 💙🙏💙

Excellent! Very soothing voice. So easy to listen to 🙏

Beautiful. Refreshing. Healing.

Very simple and very impactful. Excellent grounding meditation. Thank you.