Welcome to the mindful breathing exercise.
During this exercise it's recommended to use a blanket and have a water next to you should you wish to take a break anytime.
Set yourself up in a comfortable but wakeful position,
Whether that's lying on the ground or sitting on a cushion or a chair.
Just sensing the contact with the surface supporting you,
Letting your hands and arms rest gently and letting your shoulders be soft.
Now bring your awareness to your breathing.
Notice the sensations as you breathe in.
Notice the body inflating,
Expanding and noticing the sensations as you breathe out,
The body releasing and deflating.
And that's all we're doing moment by moment.
Following the breath,
Noticing the cycles of inhaling and a slight pause before exhaling.
Notice where you feel the breath,
Whether it's around your nose,
Your nostrils,
Your upper lip or perhaps your chest or your abdomen.
Just noticing the body rise as you breathe in.
And falling as you breathe out.
As you focus on your breath,
Just following the rising and falling sensation of each breath.
Being interested and curious in your breath.
Feeling and sensing it as if you'd never felt it before.
You might imagine that there's a balloon in your tummy and the balloon is inflating as you breathe in.
Now it's deflating as you breathe out.
Just following this rising and falling sensation of your breath.
And bringing a warm and friendly attention to your breath.
Feeling the body as you inhale,
Then exhale.
The movement of rising and then falling.
Whenever your mind wanders or becomes distracted,
See if you can just notice where it went.
And gently bring it back to the feeling of the breath.
Following the rising and the falling of each breath.
There's no right or wrong way with simply seeing the movement in the body.
Feeling the body rising as we breathe in.
And feeling the body releasing as we breathe out.
And as you feel your breath,
You might notice the slight pauses between the in-breath and the out-breath.
And between the out-breath and the in-breath.
Noticing the body rising as you breathe in.
And falling as you breathe out.
And each time you notice that your mind has wandered or become distracted,
Just see if you can notice where it went.
And gently bring it back to the feeling of the breath.
Feeling the stretching of your abdominal walls as you breathe in.
And feeling them relaxing as you release and breathe out.
Now expanding your awareness around the breath.
And noticing where else in the body you feel the breath.
Noticing if you feel it in the back,
Your shoulders and becoming aware of your whole body.
From the top of your head down to your toes.
Feeling and sensing the points where you may contact with the surface you're resting on.
And all the while feeling your breath moving in the background.
Sensing and feeling the breath and the sensations throughout your body.
And holding these sensations in a friendly awareness.
Simply allowing yourself to be just as you are.
With the next inhale slowly bringing our awareness back to the body.
Guiding the mind back if it has drifted.
And as we exhale,
Sinking back to the sensation of the surface that we're sitting on.
Slowly wriggling the fingers and toes.
Opening the eyes when you're ready.
Moving and stretching your body as you need to.
Remember to thank yourself for taking this time today to practice mindfulness with the breath.
An interesting experiment can be to practice mindfulness breathing when we're waiting for something or when we're just bored.
Just practicing bringing a friendly curiosity and interest to the moment brings us back in tune with ourselves,
Our minds,
With our breath.
Thank you for watching!
