Awareness of Breath and Body

This 15 minute Awareness of Breath and Body practice is inspired by the work of Jon Kabat Zinn and we acknowledge all holders of mindfulness traditions.

Transcript

Awareness of breath and body.

As we take our seat,

Noticing from the start what kind of attitude we are bringing to this unusual act we call mindfulness.

What is the quality of our intention here?

Practicing mindfulness involves an intention to pay attention.

So noticing your intention now.

Is it in fact to pay attention to whatever arises in each moment of this practice?

Noticing a certain kind of energy is essential from the very moment of taking our seat.

So quite deliberately,

Organizing yourself in a sitting posture which encourages wakefulness,

Alertness,

And yet also having a sense of balance and support.

Maybe feeling into your sit bones and having a sense of your spine rising up and yet the shoulders can be soft,

Moving downwards.

Chin tucked gently towards the chest,

Allowing the eyes to be soft,

The face to be soft.

Closing the eyes if that feels comfortable for you,

Or perhaps having a soft gaze lowered to the floor.

And taking some time to be present with your posture.

Noticing all the physical sensations of sitting.

The contact that your body is making with the chair or cushions or the floor.

Maybe noticing the touch of your hands resting in each other or on your lap.

And when you're ready,

Turning your attention to the process of breathing.

Noticing where it is that you can sense this breath.

You may well be able to sense the breath in different parts of the body,

Perhaps at the nostrils.

Perhaps you feel the breath with the rise and fall of the chest.

Or you can feel the belly expanding with each in-breath,

Releasing with each out-breath.

Wherever you notice the breath,

Most distinctly allowing your attention to settle there.

And again remembering that we're allowing the breath to breathe itself in its own rhythm.

So we don't have to change the breath in any way,

Simply being present for this breath that is already here.

Breathing naturally.

And as you breathe in,

Being aware of breathing in.

As you breathe out,

Being aware of breathing out.

Perhaps feeling the touch of the breath in different parts of the body as it moves in and out of your body.

Living life one inhalation and one exhalation at a time.

And when the mind wanders,

Noticing where it has wandered off to and bringing it back for as many times as you need to,

To this moment of this breath.

Tuning into all the physical sensations of each new breath.

Perhaps noticing the moment a new breath begins,

Unfolds,

Turns around and flows into an out-breath.

Being present for the spaces between breaths.

And even when the mind gets distracted by many other things,

Sounds,

Thoughts,

Other body sensations,

This isn't a problem at all.

This isn't a problem at all.

In fact the mind wandering is part of the practice.

Every time you notice the mind has wandered is a moment of mindfulness.

So noticing what has called your mind away and gently,

Firmly turning your attention again and again to the sensations of this breath.

Allowing the mind to settle into the experience of the breath.

Allowing yourself to reconnect with the intention to sit in an upright posture.

Maybe having a sense of extending upward through your spine and neck.

Realigning your back.

May take a few times releasing,

Letting go.

Softening shoulders,

Jaw,

Face.

And now expanding your awareness to include a sense of the whole body.

So opening to sensations throughout the whole body,

Sitting and breathing.

This will obviously include the physical sensations of breathing.

But also allowing your attention to travel to other sensations in the body as they arise.

Simply being present for whatever is here in the body to be known and felt.

No need to react to them or to be drawn into them.

Seeing if it's possible to be present with sensations without having to judge them or do anything to them.

Opening to this world of sensations in the body.

Attending to all the multitude of varying sensations as they change from moment to moment.

And as best you can,

Simply letting them be.

As you sense into the body,

Making space for whatever is here.

As you do this you may become aware of quite strong sensations.

Perhaps there's areas of tension or tightness.

Quite deliberately noticing if it feels possible to allow these areas to soften.

To let the sensations be there just as they are.

You may wish to explore these sensations.

As best you can bringing awareness to the different qualities of particular sensations.

And you may become aware of a relationship between the breath and the sensations.

Our sensation may change slightly with the incoming and outgoing breath.

So maybe exploring using the breath as a way to soften into areas of intense sensations.

Maybe taking a fuller breath and imagine breathing into them and then letting go on the out-breath.

How can we make space for the sensations just as they are,

Even if unpleasant?

Seeing if it's possible to be curious,

Aware of the sensations in each moment.

Perhaps noticing if certain thoughts or feelings arise in response to these unpleasant sensations.

And calming back again and again to exploring the actual qualities of these sensations.

What's here to be felt?

And again opening to sensations throughout the whole body.

So letting go of focusing on simply the more intense sensations.

And opening to the whole world of sensations in your whole body.

Allowing any waves of sensations to flow wherever they need to go.

Being present for what's here in our bodies in this moment of practice.

Being with the sensations just as they are.

Thank you for watching!

Reviews

Gentle exploration of breath and body, so allowing. Thankyou.

Excellent meditation. I like it very much! 😍🙏
Many thanks to the teacher!

Sounded like Adele was guiding me :) very gentle, accepting practice, especially for allowing physical discomfort and other sensations. Thank you!

I love the awareness of intention at the beginning

Very good thanks

Great voice. Very nice, calming, guided session.

Nice and relaxing

Lovely gentle guidance. Was a lovely way to start my day today.

Great for connecting with your body, checking in.

Lovely thanks :)

I found this mediation very good. The perfect amount of guidance to keep me focused. Thank you.

What a great sensation exploration meditation. My mind wanders quite frequently while meditating and this meditation made it a point reassure me that that is part of the process.

Helps bring me back to the present. Connecting with the body.

Very nice
Thank you

Good and refreshing meditation

Simple and powerful. Namaste

Soothing voice. Not a lot of silence which was helpful for me this morning since my mind was busy. Her guidance kept bringing me back to the moment.

Loved this! Thank you.