Welcome to this 10 minute mindfulness meditation.
I'm Erin Lee and the intention of this meditation is to focus the awareness while cultivating kindness.
So settle in here,
Beginning by taking a comfortable seat in a way that allows your spine to be loosely straight,
Physical body as relaxed as possible.
Ensuring that you've got a stable seat,
Placement of the hands so the shoulders can be relaxed.
A wake heart,
Soft face,
A sense of spaciousness inside the mouth.
Resting your awareness now on the rising and the falling of your belly as you breathe in and breathe out.
Simply becoming aware of that mechanical expansion and retraction that occurs with every inhalation and exhalation.
If you find it challenging to place the awareness on the belly,
Then maybe it's the body as a whole or the chest area or the shoulders that you notice are most rising and falling in response to the breath in and out.
Just placing your awareness somewhere on your physical body that is getting this experience.
Rising and falling.
Rising with the breath in and falling with the breath out.
Staying with that attention placed on the experience,
The rising and the falling of your body as you breathe in and out.
Working in with the attitude that you're carrying along the way,
Is it strenuous,
Harsh?
Can you soften a little?
It's a decision,
A choice in your approach as you focus your attention on the rising and the falling.
What can help is,
Instead of doing the breath or doing the focusing,
Instead observe what's unfolding in your physical body with great interest,
No judgment,
No opinion,
No preference,
No worries about whether you feel like you're doing this right or not.
An attitude of awe as you watch over the rising and the falling of your body as you breathe in and breathe out.
Sometimes the mind will come up with other things to focus on.
So as soon as you notice that you're attending to something else other than this rising and falling of your physical body as you breathe in and out,
If you can continue that cultivation of kindness when you catch yourself elsewhere,
Give yourself an inner smile,
Maybe even a gentle upturn of the corners of your lips as you remember to return your awareness to the rising and the falling of your body as you stay here breathing in and breathing out.
You might consider the attitude that a loving parent has as they watch over their newborn baby sleeping.
In the same way,
You can watch over your rising and falling here in your body with that same devotional,
Loving attention.
Perhaps you can get the sense that this breath is something very precious that's happening,
This life-giving breath.
Perhaps you can get a sense that it's happening within you,
That you don't actually have to do it for the breath to unfold and create this rising and falling response.
In this way,
We can watch over what's unfolding here,
Expansiveness as the breath is received and that surrendering,
Perhaps that relaxation that unfolds as you breathe out here.
This interest,
This fascination helping to keep your experience spacious and kind,
Remaining aware of the rising and the falling,
The rising and the falling,
The rising and the falling as you breathe in and breathe out.
In the background of your awareness,
You might become aware of sensations elsewhere in the body,
Pleasant or unpleasant,
Thoughts,
Emotions,
Sounds outside.
It could be all sorts of other things unfolding in your inner environment and outer environment as you sit here focusing on the rising and the falling.
Do your best to allow all of those things to unfold in the background,
At the forefront of your attention,
Just this gentle,
Kind,
Watching over the rising and falling of your physical body in all its aliveness,
Its incredible capacity to sit here and function,
All of your internal organs and circulatory system,
Respiratory system functioning without you having to control it or do it,
Just simply watching over your physical body here as it responds to this rising and falling way of life,
This cycle.
These last few moments,
Final opportunity to do your best to keep your awareness on the rising and the falling with kindness.
