Mindfulness of the breath meditation.
This is a brief practice which will last approximately 15 minutes.
This meditation can be done in a sitting posture or perhaps lying down.
If you're sitting in a chair,
If your circumstances allow,
Coming away from the back of the chair so you're sitting in an upright dignified posture,
Feet are flat on the floor,
Shoulder width apart and if you're lying down allowing the palms to face up,
Allowing the legs to fall away from each other and maybe using a cushion or a yoga mat to support the back of the head.
The important part is that you find a posture that's comfortable for you,
That supports wakefulness,
A sense of alertness.
During this practice I'll invite you to bring your attention to the breath in the body,
The sensations of breath as they occur from moment to moment.
Just noticing the inclination for our mind to wander away,
Our attention to move from the breath to other parts of our experience and just how natural it is for us to judge our experience.
So letting go of any goal,
We're not looking to achieve a certain state,
Not even to feel relaxed.
Instead as best you can I will invite you to bring your awareness to the breath,
Moment to moment.
Beginning by bringing the attention low down in the body to the feet and making note of what you find here.
Perhaps sensations of touch,
Warmth,
Coolness,
Whatever you find.
Allowing the awareness to rest here.
Maybe you notice the contact,
So if you're sitting in a chair your feet are flat on the floor and if you're doing this meditation lying down maybe where the heels make contact with the floor or the bed.
Attracting the attention now to where the body makes contact with the chair,
So the thighs and the backside or if you're lying down the bed or the ground.
And again simply making a note of what sensations are present for me here in this moment.
And we're not looking to find anything remarkable but simply allowing our experience to be as it is.
Making note of whatever we find and if there's nothing perceptible in this part of the body right now just knowing that our awareness is resting here,
This part of the body.
And that's good enough.
Letting go of awareness of where the body makes contact with the bed or the chair and moving the attention now up through the back.
The chest is open,
Allowing the shoulders to drop down away from the ears.
The hands are relaxed by your side or in your lap.
And if you're carrying any tension in the jaw area just allowing the jaw to soften and to open on the out-breath.
So here we are sitting in an upright dignified posture.
Or if we're lying down in a posture that supports wakefulness.
If at any point we become sleepy during this practice maybe moderating these feelings of sleepiness by periodically opening the eyes.
And if it feels right for you closing the eyes now.
And becoming aware of sensations of breath in the body.
So perhaps you notice sensations of breath at the nostrils as you breathe in and as you breathe out,
Perhaps cool air passing in through the nostrils on the in-breath and warm air passing out through the nostrils as you breathe out.
Perhaps you notice sensations at the back of the throat as you breathe in and out or in the chest.
Maybe the chest rises and falls.
Or down in the belly.
Noticing how the belly rises and falls with each in-breath and out-breath.
So wherever the sensations of breath are most apparent for you right now resting your awareness here.
Allowing the awareness to dwell here.
Following each in-breath with curiosity and each out-breath.
Nowhere to be,
Nowhere to get to.
Simply following the breath.
And allowing the breath to be as it is as you find it.
There's no right way or wrong way to breathe.
So whether you're breathing through your nose or your mouth.
Whether it's shallow breathing from the chest or deep breathing from the belly.
Simply allowing the breath to be as it is.
That's good enough.
So letting go of our tendency to judge our performance.
I'm not doing this right.
So perhaps just making a note of this.
Thinking gently and kindly.
Just coming back to rest on the breath.
Allowing the awareness just to rest on the breath as best you can.
Breathing with this moment.
This breath.
This body.
And when the mind wanders,
And it surely will,
Making a note of where the mind wanders to.
You might say inwardly,
Ah,
There's thinking,
Planning.
And rather than getting swept away or caught up in this thinking,
Accepting that this is just part of being human.
Making a note of where the mind's wandered to.
And with gentleness and kindness,
Coming back to rest the awareness on the breath.
This breath.
And this breath.
Perhaps appreciating how each breath is just a little different from the last.
So if the mind wanders a hundred times,
Or if we get distracted by sensations in our body or external experiences,
Maybe noises from inside the room or outside the room,
Simply making notes of where our attention is at this moment.
No need to judge or chastise ourselves for this.
But instead,
Each time the breath wanders.
Each time the mind wanders rather.
Coming back to the breath,
Resting the awareness here.
So in this way,
We're training our attention.
The mind wanders,
Make a note.
And with kindness and curiosity,
Coming back to the breath.
This breath.
This body.
This moment now.
Recognising that the breath is available to us as the anchor.
A place that we can rest our awareness during the day,
Maybe in times where we feel caught up in thinking or some of our emotions,
Maybe where we feel quite distracted.
It's a place where we can come back to,
To connect with the next moment.
And perhaps appreciating that each time the mind wanders is an opportunity to practise mindfulness,
To cultivate our attention and our present moment awareness.
And for the last few moments of this practice,
Just coming back to an awareness of where your body makes contact with the floor,
With the chair,
Or if you're lying down with the ground and the bed.
And having a sense of appreciation for this practice.
Maybe congratulating yourself for finding a time during your day,
During your busy life to practise non-doing,
To connect with this moment and to cultivate a sense of wellbeing.
Recognising that this is such an important thing.
