Welcome,
My name is Gemma Gamby-Lewis.
Today we're going to practice a breathing meditation.
So go ahead and find a comfortable seat,
Either cross-legged on the floor,
Seated in a chair.
And be mindful that your sit bones are evenly placed on your cushion,
That you have some stability from either your feet or your knees.
Allow your posture to be relaxed,
Your spine to be comfortably upright.
And allow your hands to comfortably rest on your lap,
On your thighs,
Palms up,
Palms down,
Whichever you prefer.
And go ahead and allow your eyes to come closed.
I want you to go ahead and first start to notice your attention.
What is it that your attention were?
What is it that your attention or your awareness is engaged with?
Are you anticipating my next words?
Thinking about something that you just did or that you need to do?
It doesn't really matter where your attention or with what your attention is engaged with.
Just notice with a neutral mind,
No judgment.
Now let's go ahead and shift our attention,
Our awareness,
To our seat.
I'm just feeling the sit bones comfortably resting on the cushion,
Your chair.
Now go ahead and bring your attention to your jaw.
And now,
I want you to go ahead and relax.
And bring your attention to your jaw,
Noticing the connection that your lower jaw has with your upper jaw.
It connects the joint by the ear.
Go ahead now and release the lower jaw from the upper jaw,
Allowing any tension to melt away.
Then go ahead and bring your attention to your tongue.
Allow your tongue to rest gently in the base of your mouth.
Relax.
And then go ahead and bring your attention to your eyes.
It may seem as though the eyes are facing forward,
Staring directly back at the eyelids.
Go ahead now and rest the eyes,
Relax the eyes.
And do this by allowing them to gently fall to the sides.
It comes quite natural.
You'll find your way there quickly.
Now go ahead and bring your attention to your listening.
Go ahead and direct your attention to each individual sound that you can hear in your environment.
Again,
Notice with a neutral mind,
No judgment.
Now go ahead and shift your attention inward.
Allow your attention to fall onto the breath,
The automatic rhythm of the breath.
Noticing the inhalation,
Noticing the exhalation.
And first start to notice the moment that you first begin to inhale.
Where the inhalation initiates.
And then go ahead and bring your attention to your ears.
Where the inhalation initiates.
Now notice where the exhalation initiates,
Exhalation initiates the very,
Very beginning of your exhalation.
And if at any point you notice that you've become engaged in your thinking,
It's no big deal.
This is the nature of the mind.
Just gently return your attention to the breath.
The inhalation,
The exhalation.
And then noticing the very,
Very first moment of your inhalation.
Now let's go ahead and notice the very,
Very end of your inhalation.
The very,
Very end of your inhalation.
And then you can go ahead and notice the very,
Very end of your exhalation.
So at this point you are noticing when your inhalation initiates.
You're noticing the very,
Very end of your inhalation.
Then you're noticing the very,
Very beginning of your exhalation.
Then you notice the very,
Very end of your exhalation.
Giving yourself these moments to slow down.
To bring your complete awareness to each moment of the breath.
Noticing from the very,
Very first moment of the inhalation all the way through the inhalation.
To the very beginning of the exhalation.
All the way through the exhalation.
To the very,
Very end of the exhalation.
Okay.
So keeping your eyes closed.
Go ahead and let go of your meditation.
Keeping the mind easy.
Go ahead and bring one of your palms to the center of your chest covering your heart.
And go ahead and bring the other palm to meet it.
Laying gently on top of the other palm.
And now invoke a sense of gratitude.
Allow yourself to connect to the feeling of gratitude.
Gratitude towards yourself.
For doing whatever it was that you needed to,
To take these few moments for yourself,
For your practice.
To connect to a calmer,
Quieter,
More peaceful place within yourself.
Now you can go ahead and release both hands.
Returning them to your thighs or your lap.
Your own time.
You can go ahead and allow your eyes to open just about halfway.
Maintaining a very,
Very soft,
Soft gaze.
Soft,
Soft gaze.
And then when you're ready,
You can go ahead and allow the eyes to open up completely.
Bringing your attention to the room that you're in.
The seat that you're upon.
Ready for the next moments to come.
Thank you for your practice.
