Pause With Breathing - 5 Minute Guided Meditation

"Tune into your breath and your body." ⁠Setting aside just a few minutes of your day for a mindful breathing practice can make it easier to connect to the present moment and your breath in daily life. It's a tool that's helpful in managing stress, anxiety, and difficult emotions.

I'm sharing this simple 5 minute breath practice to help you develop a daily meditation habit.

Transcript

This is a 5 minute guided meditation called pause with breathing.

Beginning with the intention to return to presence for the next few minutes of this practice.

Remembering that as we take care of the moments,

The moments will take care of our lives.

So coming into a comfortable seat,

Connecting with the sensations of the body in the chair,

Your feet resting on the ground beneath you.

Coming into a sense of pausing in this present moment with the sensations of the body.

It's quite possible that you might notice some energy in the body,

Maybe some thinking or some other feelings.

Noting that this is completely normal.

Imagining that our experience is like watching a glass of cloudy water.

It might not settle immediately,

But what we'll try to do is at least not continue to stir it up more.

And then bringing a sense of patience,

Of curiosity to the very experience.

So you might like to rest your attention now on the sensations of breathing.

Some of us might feel that sensational breathing more clearly around the nostrils or the back of the throat,

As movement of air going in and out.

Or perhaps it's more obvious as movements of the chest or the abdomen.

Just finding what feels most obvious to you and then letting your attention rest on that particular sensation of breathing.

Breathing in,

Noting that you're breathing in.

And breathing out,

Noting that you're breathing out.

Allowing the breath to provide an anchor for you to return to the present moment.

And any time,

Any thoughts,

Feelings come up.

Simply returning your attention to this present moment and to the sensations of breathing.

Cloudy water will settle eventually if we don't continue stirring it.

To letting that sense of patience and pausing as we return again and again to the sensations of the in-breath and the out-breath.

And the in-breath again.

And the out-breath.

You may continue this for a few more minutes on your own.

Or if you're ready,

Allowing the eyes to open.

Bringing this sense of presence into the rest of your day.