@2:50 Ten-Minute Mindfulness-Attending To The Breath

Attending to the breath is one of several techniques we practice daily @2:50 pm. Breath attention is one of the simplest most effective practices available to anyone anywhere. For this reason, we return to it again as foundational to the rest of the day.

Transcript

Hello everyone, And thank you for joining today's At-250. It's great to have you here. During At-250, There are many ways to participate for the 10-minute daily mindfulness. One of the ways that we call out on the website is simple attention to the breath or observation of the breath. This is a very tried and true practical method to have something to focus on with the mind. So the breath is something that happens naturally in our bodies, Whether we like it or not pretty much. Everything comes in, Breathing goes out. Sometimes as our emotions change, Our mood changes, The breath also changes. So it's believed that by taking time to observe the breath and just watch it happen, It also helps us sort of center the mind and bring the mind into focus. So for the 10-minute mindfulness today, I'll just simply be returning to the microphone a few times during the mindfulness practice and reminding us to bring our attention back to the breath. But for now, I'll encourage you to enjoy the sounds that are coming through the speakers. You're welcome to have your eyes opened or closed. Just make sure you're in a comfortable seat and bring your attention to the breath. And you might notice how the breath is moving in and out of the body. You might notice the sensations that the breath causes in the mouth or the nose or the throat or the chest or the abdomen. Or you might just watch how the body changes shape as the breath moves in and the breath moves out, Just observing and just watching. All right. You and As we continue through our short 10-minute journey you might notice that the mind Wanders off following various thought patterns or memories or Observations and that's totally okay. That's to be expected and You can also always Bring the attention of the mind back to the breath So maybe notice now in the last few minutes how the breath might have changed from the beginning of today's at 250 Maybe the breath has become more shallow. Maybe it has become more deep Maybe the breath has sped up or maybe it has slowed down Whatever has happened is perfectly natural. It's it's only your job to observe it and watch it happen As the breath goes in and as the breath goes out You You You As we're sitting here quietly together you may also notice that there are Sensations appearing on the body or in the body as you sit quietly You might notice these sensations more than you did before That's perfectly natural and okay But for today's practice I invite you to gently guide your attention back to the breath And notice how the breath is behaving How it's moving into the body and how the breath is moving out of the body And watching the inhales and exhales as they happen and just observing the in and the out as it occurs you You And as you are sitting quietly Observing the breath you may notice that the breathing Can become faint or less recognizable? So if you need to at any point During observation of the breath you can take a purposeful controlled breath of your own Whether you're on the inhale or the exhale then you become the driver and take control of your breath and have a conscious exhale or a conscious inhale and just really invest in that breath to bring your attention back to the breath and Notice how it feels to move it purposefully into the body and out of the body It's a great way to bring the attention back to the breath by taking just one or two controlled breaths and then Reverting back to observation and just just watching the breath happen naturally as it moves in and out by itself You You And now I'd like to welcome you to the top of the hour so thank you for joining today's at 250 We meet at 250 p. M. Every day in various time zones around the world So keep your eyes out for an at 250 near you or in a time zone that's convenient for you We take 10 minutes every day and just relax together as a small group and practice Everybody practices their own form of mindfulness that they prefer So, Thank you for joining today's at 250 I hope that Some of this instruction was helpful on mindfulness to the breath and I would look forward to seeing you any day at 250 Please enjoy You