Hi,
This is Jean Vitrano.
Thank you for joining me.
This meditation will be on sensing your breath and your body.
So take a moment and make sure that you are seated comfortably.
Really ask yourself,
Am I comfortable?
And if there's something more you need to be able to sit upright easily,
Then go ahead and pause this recording and get what you need.
And so you can close your eyes if you'd like,
Or you can just soften and lower your gaze.
And sitting upright but not feeling stiff or as if you're held in a position.
First connect with your feet,
Feeling your feet on the ground.
Or if you're sitting on a cushion on the ground,
Connect with your legs with the ground.
And then sense your pelvis.
Really feel your pelvis sitting on the chair or on the cushion.
Notice how soft or hard the surface is.
Notice the parts of your pelvis that make contact.
And from here,
Go ahead and sense your spine,
Remembering that your spine goes higher than we tend to think.
So sense your spine from the very bottom of your pelvis going up as high as your ears.
You might notice if your head is slightly flexed forward,
And let the image of your spine between your ears inform your sense of being upright.
So I often say to locate your inhale and your exhale in meditation.
But sometimes our breathing may feel fast or it may feel really shallow and just difficult to tap into immediately.
So it can be helpful in those moments to start by taking a slow,
Deep breath through your nose.
So you start breathing in through your nose and you keep breathing in until you're full of air.
Hold it at the very top for a moment.
And then slowly exhale again through your nose,
Controlling the exhale and letting all of the air out.
Squeeze all of the air out so that there's no air left and then pause with it all out of your body.
And then when you need to,
Again,
Breathe in and breathe out.
And we'll do that again.
So breathing in,
Inhale,
Inhale,
Inhale until you're full of air and hold it in at the top.
And then when you need to,
Start to exhale,
Exhale,
Keep exhaling,
Exhale until you are empty of air.
And feel what it's like to be empty of air.
And then one more time,
Breathe in,
Breathe in,
Breathe in,
Hold it in at the top.
Feel what it's like to feel full of air.
And then breathe out,
Breathe out,
Breathe out,
Squeeze all of the air out,
Holding it out at the bottom.
And then go ahead and breathe a comfortable breath.
So now not controlling your inhale and your exhale.
See what it's like now.
Has it changed?
Or is just your sense of breathing more full or present,
Having taken those deep breaths?
And now softening the muscles of your face,
Letting go around your eyes,
Behind your eyes.
Softening between your eyes and into your forehead.
You might imagine a clear blue sky in your forehead,
Letting the creases go,
The tension go.
And then softening in your jaw,
You might allow some space between your upper and lower teeth.
Your tongue can drop down from the roof of your mouth.
And your lips might separate a bit,
And that's okay.
Allow your jaw to rest.
And then softening in your listening.
Allow any sounds that arise near or far to float over you.
You don't need to reach out.
And with this soft listening,
We'll hear the sound of the bell.
And so your only task is to follow your breathing,
Knowing when you're breathing in,
Knowing when you're breathing out.
And hear the sound as if hearing for the first time.
Let it be a fresh sound.
The sound of the bell is heard.
The sound of the bell is heard.
The sound of the bell is heard.
And now staying with the sensation of how the breath moves your body.
Sense the rise and fall of your abdomen as you breathe.
If you want,
You can place a hand on your abdomen and feel the rise and fall underneath your hand.
For most of us,
The abdomen pushes out as we inhale,
And then it softens back in as we exhale.
If you find that you do the opposite,
Just see if you can reverse it.
So sense this rise and fall and simply follow the sensation.
Breathing in,
Breathing out,
Rising,
Falling,
Expanding,
Releasing.
And we'll let this be the object of your attention until I sound the bell again.
Just feeling the rise and fall of your abdomen.
And when your mind wanders,
Simply come back.
No judgment,
Simply come back again to your breath and the sensation of your abdomen rising and falling.
The sound of the bell is heard.
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And now go ahead and bring your attention to your lower back and the back of your pelvis.
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