Life can be completely overwhelming.
In my life,
When life delivers trying moments,
Moments of stress,
Worry,
Fear,
Negative future fantasy,
It often feels as if the ground slips out from beneath me.
In moments like these,
A basic practice of regaining presence can be utterly life-changing.
You can go from feeling life is crumbling apart to realizing that in this moment,
All there is is your body breathing,
The changing environment around you and your thoughts.
A practice of focused,
Calming breath will calm your thoughts.
It will regulate your internal frequency from hyperactive back into the Schumann resonance,
That natural frequency of your healthy body,
Which is the same frequency of the entire earth organism.
And this practice of calming breath focuses your attention on this moment,
Full of mystery and wonder,
Which is also unpredictable,
Out of control and ever-changing.
The nature of this moment,
Unpredictable,
Out of control and ever-changing,
Can be interpreted in two ways,
Either through a slower,
More natural frequency,
Which leans into the qualities of awe and trust,
With a continual sense of curiosity and a reverence toward the mystery of life,
Or through a disconnected experience,
Which is rapid,
Stressful,
And saturated in thoughts oriented around imagined future,
Influenced by unintegrated past experience.
In this practice,
You will learn to shift from stress to peaceful presence in a matter of moments.
It's an incredibly simple,
Foundational meditation practice for all levels,
Because we are human.
So find a comfortable seated position,
Feeling your hips touching your seat,
Touching your cushion or your chair.
And as you bring awareness towards your hips,
Allow your breath to fill your belly,
Expanding your breath upwards into your chest.
Then watch your breath as you exhale,
As the breath leaves your body,
Completely empty,
Find the bottom before filling back up.
Completely fill up as much as you can.
As you exhale,
Soften through your face,
Through your eyes,
Through your cheeks and jaw,
Shoulders.
Can you soften anywhere else in your body?
Fill back up.
Notice those contracted muscles and send life into them through your breath.
And slowly release.
Continue breathing,
Watching your breath while you listen to the directions.
Softening,
Softening,
Softening.
So as you're breathing,
The practice is this.
With these full,
Expansive rounds of breath,
Begin to count them.
One would be one complete inhale and one complete exhale.
And then internally in your mind,
You'll say one.
And you breathe again.
A full inhale.
A full exhale.
Slow,
Everything is softening,
Fully arriving,
And that is two.
And you'll continue in this way,
In your own counting for the next few moments.
And you're going to get up to ten.
The direction is this.
If you start to wander from your breath,
From your counting,
Start over,
Back at one.
And each time you start over,
Give yourself a little smile.
That smile is saying,
Here I am.
As if you're welcoming back the most precious being you've ever met.
Here I am.
So starting now,
If you haven't already,
Counting breaths.
Following your breath,
Following the exhale,
Softening,
Softening,
Softening.
When you reach ten,
You start back at one.
Each time giving yourself a little smile.
Welcoming yourself back.
As if you're welcoming the most precious being you've ever met.
So starting now,
If you're welcoming back the most precious being you've ever met.
So starting now,
If you're welcoming back the most precious being you've ever met.
Finding again your exhale.
And if you're still in the middle of counting,
You can complete your cycle of ten.
And as you complete,
Give yourself a little smile.
Bringing your hands,
One to your heart,
One to your belly.
Meeting yourself here in this moment.
Smiling,
You made it.
Congratulate yourself for coming back to this moment which is good.
Which is full of peace.
As long as you are full of peace,
You are that powerful.
So we will end here together and you can continue if this is feeling so good to you.
And I hope you come back to revisit this practice again and again and again every day.
At least for ten breaths.
Thank you for practicing.
Thank you.
