Okay,
So sit comfortably with your back a little bit straighter than usual,
And allow the top of your head to face evenly up to the ceiling.
Just let your hands fall naturally wherever they naturally lie.
You can allow your eyes to remain open with a soft gaze,
Or if you prefer,
You can close your eyes.
So together today,
We'll be doing the first foundation of mindfulness,
A mindfulness of the breathing body meditation,
And the invitation here is to focus your mind on all of the sensations of the breath as it flows in and out of the nostrils.
In the mindfulness world,
We say that the most wonderful gift you could give to anyone or yourself is the gift of your attention,
And so let's place that beautiful gift of your attention on all of the sensations of the natural breath as it flows in and out of the nostrils.
So today,
You're not breathing more quickly or more slowly than usual.
You're simply following all of the sensations of the breath as it flows in and out of the nostrils.
So maybe you feel a hint of a tingling sensation at that first sip in of the inhale.
Maybe not.
You might notice a coolness as you sip in that inhale,
Which might contrast with a more warm flow out of the exhale,
But whatever you notice is perfect.
This meditation is all about noticing exactly what is for you,
Exactly and only with this breath,
This inhale,
This exhale.
Just a gentle awareness,
Just a gentle noticing of what is.
Notice for yourself if the inhale feels more rushed,
More urgent than the smooth flow out of the exhale.
Notice too if the inhale is shorter or longer than the exhale.
See if the breath flows smoothly and evenly,
Or if you hold your breath at any moment on the inhale or the exhale.
Do you pause for a moment at the very top of the inhale?
Also notice if you pause for a moment at the very bottom of the exhale before you take in that next sip of breath in on the next inhale.
So really coming into this place of pure awareness,
Pure open noticing of what is about all of the sensations of the inhale and the natural exhale.
And when a thought comes to mind,
Don't worry at all,
That's just the human brain being the human brain.
You can just notice that thought,
Smile to yourself because that's mindful to be aware of a thought,
And just allow that thought to float away like a cloud or sail away like a small child's sailboat on a pond,
Or some people think about putting a thought in a float away on a lake or in the ocean,
And allow that thought to simply become an invitation to return back to the sensations of the breath.
See if you can hold your attention on one full float in of the inhale,
Which is extraordinary if you can,
And if so,
Allow yourself to pair that with holding full attention,
Full focus,
Full awareness on the full flow out of the exhale.
Remembering that every breath,
Every moment is a chance to start again.
We want to have no judgment at all of any thoughts or any distraction.
It's truly wonderful to notice that,
That is true mindfulness.
Our choice,
Our agency is just to choose to let those thoughts float away,
Let the distraction just be there for a moment,
Just choosing to return our attention back to the breath.
You can think about folding your attention into the sensations of the breath,
And resting an awareness right here.
Only this moment,
Only this breath,
Only this meditation,
Cultivating samadhi,
Concentration,
And finding sati,
Moment by moment,
Mindfulness.
Mindfulness of the full inhale,
Mindfulness of the transition from the inhale to the exhale,
And moment by moment,
Sati of the exhale.
And noticing too,
If you pause at the bottom of the exhale before taking in that next sip of the inhale,
Full awareness,
Full mindfulness,
Sati,
And really finding your flow here.
Jon Kabat-Zinn talks about riding the wave of the breath,
Or you can think about surfing the wave of the breath,
With each inhale and each natural exhale,
And resting your mind and awareness right here on all of the sensations of the natural inhale,
And all of the sensations of the natural exhale.
Only this breath,
Only this mindfulness,
Only this awareness.
So really honing your focus here,
Training,
Concentration,
Samadhi.
And as the Buddha would say,
If the inhale is long,
Let the inhale be long.
If the inhale is short,
Let the inhale be short.
If your left nostril is stuffed up,
Let that left nostril be stuffed up.
The right nostril is stuffed up,
Let that right nostril be stuffed up.
This is pure awareness,
Pure noticing of whatever is,
About all of the sensations with the natural inhale,
And all of the sensations of the natural exhale.
Just watching,
Just noticing.
And when you lose focus,
No worries at all,
Just finding the breath once again.
As Gwenco would say,
Every inhale,
Every exhale,
Every moment is simply a chance to start again.
Pure awareness,
Pure focus,
Bare awareness of all of the sensations of the breath.
Only the breath,
Only this moment,
Pure sati,
Mindfulness.
Just a few more moments,
So really trying to hold your attention,
Finding that flow of the inhale,
Holding moment by moment mindfulness,
And then following very closely all of the sensations of the exhale.
Pure samadhi,
Pure concentration.
And when you're ready,
You can stretch your arms up,
You can open your eyes if they have been closed,
You can stretch your legs out if that feels nice.
And we did it!
Mindfulness of the breath.
