Begin by settling into a comfortable position.
Find a way to arrange your body that feels relaxed and upright,
Alert but at ease.
You may allow your eyes to close or you may keep them gently open with a softened gaze.
Bring your attention to noticing the body as it sits here.
Feel the experiences of support coming up through whatever you're sitting on,
Whether it's a couch or a cushion or a chair.
Noticing the contact between your body and the body of the earth that's underneath you.
Allow your body to relax into that support,
Resting wide awake.
As the body begins to settle into this relaxed and easy posture,
Begin to notice that all by itself your body is breathing,
Breathing in,
Breathing out.
Feeling into each in-breath as it enters the body,
Aware of each out-breath as it leaves the body,
And noticing any pauses in between the breaths.
Simply one half a breath at a time.
No need to lean forward for the next breath or to remember the one that's just passed.
Feeling your attention in the present moment,
Feeling the breath wherever it's easy to feel,
Perhaps in the belly or maybe in the chest or in the nostrils.
Simply breathing however you breathe.
No need to change the breath.
Feeling and accepting your experiences of breathing moment to moment,
Offering your attention.
As you sit noticing breath by breath,
Your mind is likely to wander,
Thoughts are likely to arise,
Simply noticing,
Oh these are thoughts arising,
And practicing letting go of the thought.
Thoughts are simply thoughts.
Bringing your attention back to the very next exhalation,
Allowing your breathing to act as an anchor,
Helping you return again and again.
Simply sitting and knowing that you're sitting,
Resting in awareness.
As you sit quietly noticing the body sitting here breathing,
You may find that there's a certain location where it's really much easier to feel the breathing than the other parts of the body.
If this is the case,
Now gathering your attention into that area,
Allowing everything that is not this place where the breath is easy to feel to fade into the background and foregrounding the experience of this region of the body that's most clearly breathing.
Maybe it's your belly,
Could be your chest,
It could also be some place I haven't mentioned and that would be fine too.
Gathering all of your attention,
Giving all of your energy to noticing just this area that's breathing,
Resting the attention here.
Simply noticing,
Breathing in,
Breathing out,
Feeling the sensations that tell you that you're breathing.
At times other kinds of experiences may pull your attention away,
Just noticing those experiences,
No need to judge them,
Maybe thoughts or emotions or other kinds of sensations.
And gently guiding your attention back to this region where your body is most clearly expressing the experiences of breathing in and breathing out.
Just a moment,
Just a half a breath at a time.
Giving yourself permission to be just the way you are.
Breathing in awareness of this particular area of the body where the breathing is most obvious.
Just a moment,
Just a half a breath at a time.
Breathing in awareness of this particular area of the body where the breathing is most obvious.
And now beginning to expand the lens of your attention,
Starting to include your entire body,
Continuing to be aware of the experiences of breathing in and breathing out,
But now within the greater context of your body sitting here,
The fullness of your body,
A human form,
Sitting,
Breathing,
Breathing out,
Breathing in.
Breathing in awareness of the entire body and the rhythms of your breath.
Just half a breath at a time.
And now expanding even further,
Beginning to notice the space of the room that you're in.
Perhaps noticing sounds around you or within your body.
Still sensing the body,
Still aware of the breathing,
But also tuning into the space of the room that you're inhabiting and the sounds that may be present in your environment and in your body.
And then as you feel ready,
Gently,
Slowly opening your eyes and coming back to the sense of being connected to the environment through seeing.
Remembering that the possibility for being connected is still with you,
Even as you transition into the next part of your day.
