Welcome.
Start by finding a comfortable position,
Either seated or lying down.
Notice all the places where your body is making contact with the surface that's supporting it.
Maybe feeling your body a little bit heavier with each out breath.
Feeling completely supported by the surface underneath you.
And then start to notice your breath without changing it as you breathe in and out from your nose.
And bring your attention to your nostrils,
Noticing the temperature of the air as you breathe in and the temperature of the air as you breathe out.
And then moving your attention down to your throat,
Just noticing if you feel the air as it passes through your throat.
And then moving your attention to your chest,
Maybe noticing the expansion of your chest on the in breath and the contraction on your out breath.
And shifting your attention to your abdomen,
Starting to notice the rise of your abdomen on the in breath and the abdomen falling on your out breath.
You might bring your hands to your abdomen to notice the movement with your in breath and your out breath.
And now pick just one of those locations,
Either your nostrils,
Your throat,
Your chest,
Or your abdomen,
Maybe wherever you felt your breath most strongly.
And keep your attention there for the rest of this practice.
And each time you breathe in,
Noticing that you're breathing in.
And each time you breathe out,
Being aware that you're breathing out.
And you can say to yourself on the in breath,
In.
And on the out breath,
Out.
In.
Out.
And when your mind wanders,
Reminding yourself that it's completely normal for your mind to wander during meditation practice.
Just gently bringing your attention back to the breath.
Silently saying to yourself in on the in breath.
Out on the out breath.
In.
Out.
And now as you breathe in,
Breathe in deeply.
And breathe out slowly.
And you can say to yourself on the in breath,
Deep.
And on the out breath,
Slow.
Deep.
Slow.
And when your mind wanders,
Just coming back to those words with your breath.
Deep.
Slow.
And now as you breathe in,
Say to yourself,
Calm.
Calm.
And as you breathe out,
Ease.
Calm.
Ease.
Breathing in,
I feel calm.
Breathing out,
I feel at ease.
Ease.
Calm.
Ease.
And now as you breathe in,
Smile.
And as you breathe out,
Release.
Release.
Smile.
Release.
Breathing in,
Forming a gentle smile with your lips.
Breathing out,
Releasing all tension.
Breathing in.
Smile.
Release.
And now as you breathe in,
Saying to yourself,
Present moment.
And as you breathe out,
Wonderful moment.
Present moment.
Wonderful moment.
And now we'll put together the whole Thich Nhat Hanh poem that we've been practicing.
Breathing.
Repeating these words to yourself silently with your breath.
In.
Out.
Deep.
Slow.
Slow.
Calm.
Smile.
Release.
Present moment.
Wonderful moment.
Present.
In.
Out.
Deep.
Slow.
Calm.
Smile.
Smile.
Release.
Present moment.
Wonderful moment.
In.
Deep.
Slow.
Calm.
Smile.
Release.
Present moment.
Wonderful moment.
And taking three final slow breaths in and out of your nose.
And noticing how you're feeling after this meditation practice.
And you can slowly bring some movement back to your fingers and toes.
Maybe circle your wrists and ankles.
And if you're lying down,
Roll over to one side for a few breaths before pushing yourself up to a seated position.
And when you're ready,
You can slowly blink your eyes open.
Thank you so much for practicing with me today.
Namaste.
