Hello and welcome to this meditation focusing on the breath,
Our God-given beautiful breath.
All are welcome and you are loved before you even arrive.
You may wish to dim the lights,
Light some candles,
Play some soft music,
Gather some props,
Take some time to create your sacred space.
We'll take a few moments to bring our whole selves to this place.
You are welcome to do this breath meditation sitting or reclined,
Whatever is most comfortable and relaxing for you.
Loosen any tight clothing and allow your body to be supported under you,
Adding in as many props as you need to be comfortable and feel supported.
Let the body become heavy and soften into your support.
Embrace the spirit of curiosity during this breath meditation.
You may close your eyes or have a soft gaze.
Allow your hands to find a resting place.
And as we begin this meditation practice,
Let's spend a moment with your body.
Maybe saying a prayer for the grace to have a disposition toward your own body befitting a creation of God.
Imagine you're spending time at a museum admiring the work of a great artist.
You are the greatest masterpiece created by the greatest master in existence.
If the eyes are not closed,
Go ahead and soften them a little more or go ahead and close them,
Making any additional adjustments to be able to soften into your space.
And perhaps you'd like to call to mind the presence of God.
You may wish to say a personal prayer or use this time to let go of anything that might cause a distraction during the practice today.
Bring awareness to your body,
Noticing particularly the points of contact with whatever is supporting you.
Notice any sensations at these points of contact,
Noticing what you notice wherever your body touches or is supported under you.
As we spend time with each region of the body,
Cultivate awareness of what is already present with acceptance and gentleness,
Remembering to admire the work of a great artist.
You are the greatest masterpiece created by the greatest master in existence.
Bring attention to your breath now,
Just simply observing,
Noticing any sensations of the breath,
Allowing the mind in the body to surrender and rest in those sensations.
Perhaps noticing on the inhale an expansion in the torso and on the exhale noticing a sense of contraction within the torso.
Simply resting in those sensations,
Noticing the breath.
And when you are ready,
Gently take your attention to your feet.
In your mind's eye,
Explore each part of each foot,
Taking as much time as you'd like,
No rush.
You may even imagine breathing into each foot.
You're welcome to linger here as long as you would like,
Staying with the feet.
When you're ready,
Moving your attention to the ankles,
Noticing the sensations here on the outside of the ankles,
On the skin,
Maybe noticing the sensations on the inside with the bones,
The muscles,
Any tendons.
You might imagine breathing in to each ankle.
And you're welcome to linger here a little longer on each ankle,
But when you are ready,
At your own pace,
Guide your awareness through the lower legs,
Perhaps imagining breathing in to each calf and shin,
First on one leg and then the other,
Noticing the masterpiece of your lower legs.
And again,
You're welcome to linger here as long as you would like,
But when you're ready,
Guiding your awareness to the knees,
Perhaps imagine breathing in to each knee,
Perhaps the kneecap and then behind the knee,
Noticing the beautiful sculpture of your knee,
First one leg and then the other.
What a beautiful masterpiece.
Linger here a little longer,
Admiring this beautiful creation.
When you're ready,
Moving awareness to the thighs,
Again,
Perhaps imagine breathing in to each thigh,
First one and then the other,
Breathing in and on an exhale,
Let that whole lower half of the body soften,
Letting the whole lower half of the body become heavier and feel supported.
And when you're ready,
We'll bring the awareness of the breath into the torso,
The whole pelvic bowl,
Noticing what a masterpiece,
What a beautiful creation,
And what life is held in the pelvic bowl,
Breathing in and breathing out,
Continuing to move awareness up the body,
Noticing the abdomen,
The belly in particular,
Imagine breathing in and out of that area and the lower belly,
The mid belly,
The upper belly.
You might linger here in this area just noticing the sensations of the breath in the belly area,
But if you would like,
Gently guide your awareness around the torso to the lower back,
To the mid back,
To the upper back,
You might linger here,
Breathing into the back,
But if and when you're ready,
Gently bring awareness to the shoulders,
Perhaps breathing into each shoulder for a breath or two,
And then maybe lingering here a little longer on each shoulder,
But if and when you're ready,
Bringing awareness to the upper arms,
First one arm and then the other,
Imagine breathing into each upper arm,
Admiring the masterpiece of the muscles in the upper arm,
And when you're ready,
Bringing awareness to the elbows,
First one elbow and then the other,
Maybe imagine breathing into each elbow,
In your mind's eye,
Noting what a creation,
What a beautiful masterpiece,
The outside of the elbow,
What a tender masterpiece on the inside of the elbow,
You might choose to linger here a little longer at the elbow,
When you're ready,
Bringing awareness to the lower arm,
The forearm,
Perhaps imagine breathing in,
First one forearm and then the other,
Admiring the beauty of the forearm on each arm,
Perhaps lingering here a little longer,
But when you're ready,
Bringing awareness to the hands,
Including the wrists,
Perhaps breathing in to each hand,
Each wrist,
First on one side and then the other,
Taking your time here,
Noticing what a beautiful masterpiece each hand offers the world,
In your mind's eye,
Taking the beauty of each finger on each hand,
Taking the beauty of the palms,
The backs of the hands,
The wrists,
Noticing the detail in your mind's eye of each knuckle,
Each finger pad,
The webbing between the fingers,
Lingering here with the hands for a little bit longer,
Breathing into each hand,
Breathing into each wrist,
Taking a moment perhaps to bring to mind all the goodness that these hands have offered the world,
Have offered yourself,
All the love that these hands have offered.
What a beautiful masterpiece.
Perhaps you'd like to linger here a little longer,
Admiring the masterpiece of your hands.
When you're ready,
If it's comfortable,
Bringing the hands to the heart center or the chest area,
Perhaps just resting one or maybe both hands gently on the chest,
And imagine breathing into the chest area,
Through the hands,
Into the chest,
Expanding the heart space,
Taking in all the love,
All the wonderful goodness,
Allow the hands and arms to find a comfortable resting place as we bring our awareness to our throat and our neck.
Imagine breathing into this area,
Admiring the beauty,
The masterpiece of your neck.
You may wish to linger here a little longer,
Or perhaps you would like to bring awareness now up into the head,
Noticing the back of the head,
Admiring the beauty of the entire back of the head.
Perhaps you notice the occipital bone or the structure of the back of the head.
What a beautiful creation,
A beautiful masterpiece.
And when you're ready,
Bringing awareness to the top of the head,
Perhaps breathing in to the top of the head,
Eventually bringing awareness to the forehead,
Perhaps imagining breathing in to the forehead,
Lingering here as long as you would like.
Then when you're ready,
Noticing the face as a whole.
What a masterpiece,
So beautiful,
So handsome.
And then when you're ready,
Allow your mind's eye to tune in to each of the delicate features on your beautiful face.
You may wish to start with the chin,
The lower jaw,
The mouth,
The lips,
The teeth,
The tongue,
The entire inside of the mouth,
The entire inside of the mouth.
Bring awareness now to the upper lip,
The lower lip,
Both lips together,
And bringing awareness to the nostrils,
First the right,
Then the left,
Or the left,
Then the right.
Noticing the bridge of the nose,
Noticing the beauty of your cheeks,
First one and then the other.
And if you smile,
Can you feel the cheeks?
Maybe you admire the plumpness of your cheeks,
Relishing in the joy of a smile.
When you're ready,
Bringing awareness to the beauty of your ears,
First one and then the other,
Admiring the beautiful sculpting,
A true masterpiece.
Notice all the detail.
The ear has softness in the lobe,
It has structure,
It has so much depth and detail.
Notice the beauty,
The sculpted masterpiece of each ear as you journey in the ear,
Realizing what a beautiful gift,
A masterpiece in itself,
The gift of hearing.
And while you're listening,
Let me remind you that in this world you are so loved and you matter and you make a difference.
Letting the gift of hearing those words fall upon your heart and your mind,
Maybe allowing a smile to come to the face,
Letting your cheeks feel that joy.
Maybe you rest here,
Linger here a little longer,
Enjoying this joyfulness.
When you're ready,
Bring awareness now to the eyes,
First one and then the other,
Admiring the beauty,
Noticing the intricacies of how the eye works,
The beautiful color of your eyes and all the goodness that your eyes have had the pleasure of witnessing in this beautiful world.
Bringing awareness now to the eyelids,
First one and then the other,
And with the eyes closed or a soft gaze,
Notice the movie screen of your eyelids.
Perhaps you have a color on your eyelids that you can see or maybe an image.
You may wish to linger here.
When you're ready,
Gently bringing awareness to the eyebrows,
First one and then the other,
Maybe lingering here a little longer.
Imagine breathing in to one eyebrow and then the other.
When you're ready,
Bringing awareness up to the forehead.
Again,
Maybe breathing in to the forehead,
Maybe lingering here a little longer or perhaps bringing awareness now to the entire head,
All around the scalp,
All around the face,
Even maybe the neck.
Perhaps imagine breathing in to the entire head and on an exhale,
Soften the entire head,
Feeling the support under you.
If you're reclined,
Maybe letting the head rest a little heavier.
We'll take a few more breaths here,
Inhaling and exhaling.
Perhaps imagine breathing in to the entire body,
Breathing in to the entire front side of the body,
Perhaps breathing in the entire back side of the body.
And again,
Breathing in to the entire body,
Allowing yourself to have a full body breath here,
Breathing in the entire body,
Inhaling,
Feeling the expansion,
And exhale,
Soften,
Letting the entire body rest,
Feel heavier,
And then when you're ready,
Allow your natural breath to take over,
Allowing time to rest and renew in this space.
If you are open to it,
Receive this blessing.
Psalm 139 14 says,
I praise you Lord,
Because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Your works are wonderful.
I know that full well.
And Ephesians 2 10,
For we are God's masterpiece.
He has created us anew so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
May these scriptures be a blessing to your heart,
Body,
Mind,
Soul,
And spirit as you let them fall upon your heart,
Fall upon your mind,
Knowing and trusting that you are indeed God's masterpiece and that you are wonderfully made.
Thank you so much for being here for this breath meditation.
Blessings,
Blessings,
Blessings.
