Welcome to this Waves of Breath meditation.
I'm Emma Baker.
This meditation is an invitation to use breath as a portal into relaxation,
Reflection,
Connection,
And deep awareness.
May it help you to honour your natural rhythms.
As you are meditating,
You may at times feel different waves of energy and attention.
And you can use this time to practice staying relaxed within your physical body while you are alert to these changing and arising energies and changes in your attention.
And also to your environment,
To your moods,
Bodily sensations,
Your emotions,
Your instincts.
Let your breath guide you into a deeper state of restful alertness.
Please make yourself comfortable,
Whether you choose to sit or lie down.
And so as you settle into physical comfort,
Take a full breath in and a big sigh out.
Welcome yourself.
Welcome yourself to this time and space,
This opportunity to tend to yourself,
To pay attention to yourself in kind and supportive,
Loving ways.
You can welcome yourself by feeling the entirety of your physical body and any sensations you may be experiencing in your body.
Your body communicates through this language of sensation.
So you might feel the humming and thrumming of your body,
Your energy,
Your awareness.
You can welcome yourself by setting your mind free to wander.
You make a pledge not to act on any particular thoughts right now,
But instead to savor the impulse of being in action while you relax.
Knowing that this very practice,
This very opportunity is giving you a chance to restore that optimal relaxed functioning when you emerge back into your day.
Always giving yourself a little time to settle in and letting the dust of your day settle.
Cultivate an attitude of catching up with yourself for a few minutes.
You can let the weight of your body,
Your bones and your muscles release into the support beneath you.
And as you do so,
Let it remind you of all the ways you are supported.
You are held and safe here.
Welcome yourself into a feeling of safety and support and space,
Even the space all around you.
Feel it as holding you,
Nourishing you,
Protecting you.
As you take a few minutes to catch up with yourself,
Recharge your batteries,
Restore balance in your body-mind system.
Feel your breath moving inside of you.
These waves of inhale and exhale moving tenderly everywhere they go in your body.
Gently tracing that pathway of your breath.
These soft,
Soft waves of breath massaging along your spine,
Feeling all that space your breath creates.
Feeling the welcome of space all around you,
That space that is holding you and nourishing you and protecting you.
Let that space that you feel into,
See into and are breathing into your body.
Let yourself melt into it.
Let it expand your inner space.
And find your most enjoyable breathing now.
What is it about your breath that is particularly delightful to you right now?
A particular movement,
Perhaps the sound of your breathing.
Perhaps a spontaneous sighs or yawns as your body recalibrates.
Perhaps there's a particular rhythm of breath that feels particularly enjoyable.
Explore for a few moments to find your most enjoyable breath.
Let your attention alight there.
Soft,
Soft waves of breath.
As you welcome each wave of breath,
You may be restfully alert to waves of sensation in your body.
The heaviness here,
The tingle there,
The steadiness of your heartbeat,
Some tension in your body releasing,
Letting go.
You welcome these waves of sensation in your body as your body gets to work on repairing and refreshing you.
Keep releasing into the support beneath you and the supportive,
Nourishing,
Protective qualities of space all around you.
You are learning how to listen to your body's language of sensation,
Informing you about what you might need to thrive today.
Receiving,
Respecting any wisdom that arises,
Any messages that come through without forcing or seeking understanding or answers.
And all the while you get to enjoy these soft,
Tender waves of breath massaging along your spine,
Dancing spirals in the sanctuary of your heart.
Waves of sensation and soft waves of breath.
With each wave of breath,
There are waves of information that you might notice.
Your brain receiving and sending signals around your body.
Information from your senses informing you moment to moment.
The sounds that you hear,
The changes in light and darkness and shadows,
The smell.
Your senses are constantly receiving information and processing it.
As you recognize how crucial that information processing is,
You can offer it space.
You can feel that you don't need to control it or stop it.
But instead recognize the genius of life.
Getting to work on renewing you as you enjoy the next waves of your breath.
Soft,
Soft waves of breath.
Filling and emptying.
Massaging.
Invigorating and softening.
Soft,
Soft waves of breath in your body.
With each wave of breath,
Something surprising and new catches your attention.
Perhaps a wave of energy floods your body and awareness.
Explore,
Does your energy feel restless or settled?
Scattered or smooth?
Fast or slow?
Welcoming what you notice into the sanctuary of your practice,
Into the support and the safety of your presence.
This is your life force that animates your body,
Humming and thrumming,
Pulsing and tingling inside of you and even beyond your physical form.
Knowing that by being here and offering yourself your tender attention,
This energy has the opportunity to restore balance.
You can work on evening out your energy with the massage of your breath.
Smoothing it out.
Slowing it down or speeding it up.
Helping it to feel more smooth and steady.
More even in your body.
Feeling your aliveness with every next wave of breath.
Feel your aliveness in the humming and the thrumming and the vibrating and the pulsing and the tingling.
Soft,
Soft waves of breath.
Soft,
Soft waves of breath.
Sometimes a wave of emotion fods your awareness.
Letting any emotion and the energy of that emotion be held for a moment in safety and support as it seeks to be integrated,
Processed,
Or maybe released with the next wave of breath or the next few waves of breath.
Emotions come in response to the things that we care about.
Savor the depth of feeling in your body,
In your heart,
The feeling center of you.
Each wave of emotion might stay for a little while or a long while.
Several waves of breath or move through quite quickly.
In this practice,
You don't need to analyze or understand or do anything except offer these waves of emotion,
Your gentle presence and space.
As needed,
Remember the feeling of safety and support as you welcome the next wave of breath and the next wave of emotion.
Welcoming those spontaneous waves of breath that are fuller,
A sigh,
A yawn as your body recalibrates.
Soft,
Soft waves of breath.
Steady,
Tender.
Your breath,
The touch of your breath is tending everywhere it goes.
The touch of your attention.
Tending everywhere it goes.
Like you would tend in a garden.
Your outcomes continue in surprising,
Unpredictable ways.
Welcome that surprise.
Each wave of breath,
A different wave of energy,
Information,
Sensation,
Emotion.
Your breath help you to ride each wave of attention as smoothly as you can.
Deeply relaxing in your physical body.
Deeply relaxing your bones and your muscles,
Feeling held by what's beneath you and the space all around you.
Through the softest breaths,
Recognizing the intelligence of life itself,
Dancing,
Playing,
Repairing,
Renewing you,
Restoring balance.
Continue here for several minutes,
Welcoming and honoring your inner rhythms.
Set your mind free.
Set your eyes free.
And your ears,
Set them free.
Free to listen wherever they're listening.
Set your body free.
Your attention is free to roam wherever it wants to go.
And in that way,
You are allowing the technique,
The unique practice to arise from yourself,
For yourself.
Your body knows what it needs to thrive.
As you take these several minutes to restore,
Harness your energy and recalibrate,
Enjoy those soft,
Soft waves of breath in your body.
All right.
Thank you.
All right.
What.
You.
You.
You.
As you feel ready to emerge,
Step back into your day.
You might take a few more minutes.
Whenever you do feel ready to emerge,
Move and stretch your body in ways that honor your rhythms.
Subtle,
Slow,
Gentle movements are a big yawn and sigh and stretch in your body.
What particular kind of movement honors your body and your rhythms today?
And just as you give yourself time to settle in to your practice,
Give yourself time to step back into your day.
Recognize those rhythms happening in your outer life just as much as they are in your inner life and in the space of meditation.
At times throughout your day,
You will feel the call to be in action and the call to rest.
You'll be aware of waves of information,
Waves of emotion,
Waves of sensation in your body and all the different ways it comes.
And you are finally tuning your listening to yourself and your body.
Take a few more breaths here.
If you've had your eyes closed,
You can let your eyes adjust to the light of the room.
When you are ready,
You can step back into your day.
Refreshed and ready.
Thank you so much for being here.
