Welcome to an Awareness of Breath meditation.
My name is Rebecca.
Take your time setting up in a space where you can allow your body to take a pause,
Finding a way to be where you're not working harder than you have to,
So offering support.
So,
If you're seated in a chair,
You might choose to use some cushions behind your back,
Maybe having the soles of your feet pressing firmly.
If you're choosing to lie on your back,
One option might be to elevate your legs on a chair,
Any form that allows you presence.
And then,
Once you find your space,
You might take an intentional inhale and an exhale.
And just starting to notice your space around you.
You might be aware of different textures,
Maybe firmness or softness,
Maybe the temperature in the room space.
Allow yourself to be in a way where you can have some awareness and some support,
And also inviting some ease.
And then,
As you're ready,
Starting to shift your awareness to your breath.
And one way to do that might be to allow your jaw to soften,
Maybe even slightly opening your mouth.
You might even make some mouth circles,
Noticing if your face is making an imprint or a shape,
And also noticing if you're tightening any muscles that you might not need to,
So inviting a softening.
And then,
You might shift your awareness to your nasal passage,
And seeing if you might sense,
Even if one nostril is more prominent than the other in this moment,
Another way to notice your breath might even be to place your finger or hand just below your nostrils,
And might you sense the temperature or the force or gentleness of your breath.
And without anticipating how fast or slow your breath should be,
Almost as if you're just kind of watching clouds outside,
Don't know what's going to happen next,
See if you might just trace your breath entering and leaving your body.
And so there might be certain areas where you're more aware of your breath having more prominence,
And so you might notice your chest,
Your ribcage,
Your belly,
Your waist,
Noticing how your breath enters and travels through your body.
And so if you'd like,
You might even place one hand on your chest or your abdomen,
And see if you might notice that physical sensation of rising and falling,
Expanding.
And so you might even think of your breath,
Instead of one-dimensional up and down,
As three-dimensional or multi-dimensional,
So that as your breath enters your body,
It's not just up and down,
It might also be back to front,
Side to side,
Expansive.
And so if you are choosing to explore your breath by placing one hand on your abdomen,
You might kind of lift your hands up like a centimeter away,
And see if your belly might meet your hands with your breath,
So inviting the belly to rise,
The waist to expand.
And if you're noticing your breath a little more prominent on your right or your left side,
You might even imagine or visualize your breath going entirely to your whole torso,
To the outer edges of your skin,
To your low back,
Wrapping around to your hips.
And so you might use your mind with your imagination to encourage your breath.
And so you might sense your breath at your ribcage,
You might have the visual of an accordion,
Side to side,
And if you notice one side is a little more prominent,
You might again use your mind and your imagination to imagine you're sending your breath to that place,
Expanding,
Back ribcage,
Side,
Almost as if you're giving the inside of your body a rinse bath with your breath,
To your cells,
To your organs,
To your pores.
And with that imagination you might even imagine you can send your breath anywhere in your body that could use a little more untangling nourishment.
And you might imagine sending your breath to that place and then letting that awareness go.
And you might,
Within a pause,
Notice where your awareness might shift to.
Are there any areas of your body that you're noticing more or less?
Any sensations of lightness,
Heaviness,
Tingling,
Coolness,
Warmth?
Just noticing what's present.
And so you might explore with our breath,
Counting,
Without anticipating.
When you're aware of your inhale,
You might say inhale for one,
And when you're aware of your exhale,
Exhale for one,
Inhale for two,
Exhale for two,
And so on.
If the mind wanders,
You might go right back to one.
And so for a few moments,
Inviting awareness of breath with counting.
Each inhale,
Each exhale.
And knowing that the breath is always available for us with a pause of noticing.
And so you might choose noticing with touch,
Noticing with your mind,
Noticing with counting,
And being with your breath in your body,
Moment by moment.
And so we'll end our practice with three intentional breaths.
And so as you're ready,
Taking an intentional inhale,
And an intentional exhale.
And you might even see if you might exhale just a little longer than your inhale.
And then again,
An intentional inhale,
And an intentional exhale.
Maybe longer than the inhale.
And then one more intentional inhale,
And an intentional exhale,
Letting all your breath out.
And then finding that pause.
Thank you for pausing and taking a breath break with me.
My name is Rebecca.
I hope you have an amazing rest of your day.
