Finding a time and a place where you won't be disturbed for the next few minutes.
Finding a posture that is comfortable for you and one that will support you in your practice.
And simply taking time to become settled.
From sitting,
You can choose a small cushion placed at the low back to support the upper spine.
A chair.
A yoga cushion.
Easy cross-legged pose.
Whatever works best for you.
Perhaps you notice the feet in contact with the floor or the backs of the legs on the chair.
Just meeting with your attention these points of contact between your body and what you're sitting on.
The spine grows tall out of the pelvis and focusing more on a lengthening through the front of the body rather than a holding of the spine up and straight.
In this way the shoulders can just ease back down.
Gentle lengthening of the back of the neck.
A sense of growing tall as the top of the head reaches towards the ceiling.
And the posture is one of dignity for your practice.
And although stillness is here,
We are not feeling rigid in the pose.
We're making allowances for all of the natural movements of the body.
Breathing,
Heartbeat,
Perhaps some ease and softness wherever possible.
You're bringing a softness to the expression on the face.
Just acknowledging everything in this moment.
Turning the attention now to your breathing.
We're not really doing anything so much as noticing.
Acknowledging.
Simply seeing what way the breath is at the moment.
Getting a feel for the quality of the breath.
The smoothness or stickiness of the breath.
Without any striving,
Without any efforting.
Just being with your breath.
As it is in this moment.
When you are breathing out,
Just noticing.
Breathing out.
And when you are breathing in,
Just noticing.
I am breathing in.
Being really curious.
Where do I notice the sensations of the breath?
Where does the breath begin?
Where does the breath end?
Is there a natural pose at the end of the out-breath?
When nothing else happens except the breath turns,
Changes direction.
What's this very light attention?
And this attention resting on the breath.
As it makes its way through the body.
Simply opening to your experience now.
Is there a pause at the top of the in-breath?
Sometimes we hold our breath in tension or busyness.
And here we are allowing the breath to find its own path.
Allowing the breath to regulate.
Allowing the breath to do what it knows what to do when it's left alone.
It's very gentle.
The attention doesn't intrude on experience.
Merely resting.
Resting in awareness.
Rather than a sense of doing,
There is a sense of being.
And as we rest delicately,
And as we rest in awareness,
Open to experience and open to the nuances of this experience.
Deepening the knowledge,
The understanding of your breath.
Knowing this is an act of kindness to your body and breath.
And knowing that you can come back to this practice time and time again.
You can make a gentle movement with the fingers and the toes.
And if it feels right,
You can take a stretch with the arms overhead or whatever feels right in this moment for you.
Going back to your day with this awareness and with this gentleness from your practice.
And if it feels right,
You can take a stretch with the arms overhead or whatever feels right in this moment for you.
