Welcome to this awareness of breath meditation.
And so just taking a few moments to set aside whatever it was you were doing and making a transition into this practice which is a personal attentiveness to an inner world.
And finding a supportive posture that allows you to feel grounded,
Relaxed,
Yet awake.
Allowing the feet to be flat on the floor.
The spine can be upright but not rigid.
Allowing the shoulders to gently fall away from the ears.
And the arms and hands can be resting comfortably in your lap or on your knees.
And to encourage this inner attentiveness,
Allowing the eyes to close or equally casting the gaze downward two to three feet in front of you.
It can be useful to spend a few moments as we settle into the posture,
Into stillness,
To tune into the sensations of the body.
So beginning now by noticing the simple sensations of the body just sitting here.
Sensing the weight of the body.
The length of the body.
And the width.
Sensing the body occupying space in the room that you're in right now.
And feeling the contact points that the feet are making with the floor.
The back of the body against the surface you're sitting on.
The hands touching the lap or the knees.
And noticing the various sensations within the body.
Perhaps tingling or tightness,
Vibration,
Pulsation.
Perhaps a sense of heaviness or temperature or maybe numbness and perhaps a sense of ease.
And as we attend and tune into the sensations of the body,
It's likely that we become aware of the movement of breathing.
We can notice that.
So connecting now with that very simple knowing that you're breathing in and knowing that you're breathing out.
Just noticing the physical sensations of breathing.
Nothing to change about the breath.
Simply resting the awareness on the movement of the breath wherever those sensations are most clearly felt for you.
You might feel the breath most vividly in the abdominal region.
Sensing that gentle rise and fall of the belly with each in and out breath.
Perhaps you feel it most in the chest heart area sensing the expansion and the contraction of the rib cage with each in and out breath.
Maybe you feel the breath the most at the tip of the nose.
You might even sense the subtle cool air as you inhale.
And the slightly warmer air as you exhale.
Simply noticing where you feel the breath the most and allowing your attention to rest there.
And as we do this.
One of the natural things about the mind is that it has a tendency to self distract or get carried away.
May wander off into thoughts of the past or future.
There may be an emotional valence of some sort.
Maybe tiredness or irritation.
And this practice we simply notice these movements of mind and then gently return the attention to the breath allowing the breath to be at the forefront of our interest and our consciousness.
As we take a glad breath,
This assume office closes are Staying steady,
Staying present to this almost tidal rhythm of the breath,
Coming in and going out,
Noticing the sensations of expansion and contraction increasing and decreasing,
Intensifying and then softening,
Releasing sensations of pressure,
Warmth,
Coolness,
Perhaps an energetic flow as the air comes into the body and leaves the body.
Noticing where your attention is now and if it's wandered from the breath,
Just gently coming back to the next breath.
It doesn't matter how many times you have to do this,
As each time you do is a moment of mindfulness.
Rather,
Really being completely aware of the pain and the depression and the stress you have to deal with.
And having this focus in this case on the breathing helps to steady the mind over time.
This is simply staying steady,
Full awareness,
Breath by breath.
This is simply staying steady,
Full awareness,
Breath by breath.
The breath is always available to return your attention to the present moment.
Whenever you've drifted off become distracted or preoccupied or restless.
The attention on the breathing can be a powerful anchor to the present moment.
And for the next couple of minutes,
Just resting quietly in your own experience as you attend to the sensations of breathing until you hear the sound of the bell.
Stan,
Whise around you?
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.
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