Meditation On The Breath For Mindfulness And Stress Relief

Focussing on the breath is probably the oldest form of meditation. It provides a solid foundation for your practice and can take you all the way to the upper reaches of meditation, providing many benefits along the way. These include relaxation, mindfulness, focused attention, stepping back from thoughts, and accepting feelings. All of my meditations are unscripted: they are the sound of me meditating, and taking you along for the ride with me.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to this 10-minute meditation on the breath. Let's begin by tuning into the points of contact between the body and whatever it rests on. Focusing on the physical sensations at these points of contact. So if you're sitting in a chair that will mean feeling the soles of your feet touching the floor and your body touching the seat. If you're lying down it'll mean feeling the whole length of the body touching the bed or the floor. Just feeling the sensations at these points of contact. And now starting to notice that you're breathing. Shifting your attention to the sensations of the breath. And you might feel the breath of the stomach. Stretching and releasing with each breath. You might feel the breath of the chest. Feeling it rise and fall with each breath. You might feel the breath inside the chest. Flowing in and out of the body. Or you might feel it somewhere else altogether. But choosing some place in the body where you can feel the sensations of breathing clearly. And keeping your attention focused on them there. And soon enough you'll find that your mind has wandered. You've got lost in thought. That's okay. It's perfectly normal. When you realise it's happened just gently bring your attention back to the breath. Just feeling the sensations of breathing. If your mind keeps wandering that's fine. It doesn't mean you're doing it wrong or you're no good at this. It's just what minds do. Each time you notice just come back to the breath. The mind will wander again and again. And again and again. We just bring it back. And return to focusing on the breath. There might be lots of thoughts. And that's okay. We're not trying to make them stop. Not trying to get rid of them. Just see if it's possible to let them be in the background while you focus on the breath. You don't need to make a lot of effort to keep the mind focused on the breath. Instead just gently rest your attention there. And see how long it stays. Just feeling the breath as best you can. And each time you realise the mind's wandered. And you've forgotten that you were meditating. Just begin again. Just noticing the sensations of breathing. Just feeling the breath. If the mind wanders a hundred times we just bring it back a hundred times. And for the final minute of this meditation I'll leave you in silence to continue practicing this on your own. And now we can bring this meditation to an end.

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