Hi there,
Jesse here.
Welcome back to concussion and mindfulness.
I wonder where you are.
Are you in Halifax or Hong Kong,
Havana,
Honolulu?
And thinking about where you are and the solidarity with you that that makes me feel.
I reflect on how it must be so much harder the bigger the city someone is in.
Because I feel really lucky I'm here in Vancouver and it is a pretty big city,
But we have so many parks and so much green space all around us.
And I really feel like there's some cities in the world that are so large and loud and full of concrete it must be.
.
.
Well anyway,
My heart goes out to you if that's true for you and I hope that you can find places in your home,
In your city that are quiet.
Now you may have hopefully listened to some of my earlier recordings and so you'll know that I've waited a little bit to actually guide a breathing practice.
And I've done that purposefully because so often people think that mindfulness is awareness of breath as the main anchor and of course it is a nice anchor because it's very available all the time.
A nice place for our attention to land.
But for many people and a lot of the time anyways,
Mindfulness of breath can be activating,
Challenging,
Especially people who certainly in these times of COVID may be having difficulty breathing or people with asthma or even sometimes it can just be connected to nervous system arousal that can just make us not feel very comfortable.
So just knowing in your heart that if you have found attention to breath challenging all the time or some of the time you're not alone in that.
And if you know that about yourself then you could just decide to not listen to this.
Well if that's you,
You probably didn't hit play.
But it's something to reflect on anyway and know that I want to guide this practice remembering a previous recording about how you're in choice.
You always have a choice to modify your practice and sometimes when I'm in the middle of a practice I realize,
Oh this isn't right for me right now.
This isn't settling me.
This is making me feel agitated or making me feel shut down,
Whatever it is.
And that's a moment of wisdom to pause,
Pivot and proceed with what we need.
And that could be some other form of mindfulness practice or even just talking to a friend instead.
So for today's practice what I'd like to do is invite you if it's possible and feels right to consider doing this practice lying down.
You could do it on your bed or on a couch or on the floor on a yoga mat.
You can have your knees bent if that feels better on your back.
And so just taking a moment for you to get comfortable in that lying down position.
I remember the first time that I really practiced lying down I was with some monks from Deer Park Monastery.
They were visiting Vancouver and they taught us lying down meditation and I was like wow this is amazing.
This is great.
This is exactly what I need.
It's so easeful on the body compared to sitting which can sometimes be challenging especially if we have different health issues related to our brain injury,
Different challenges with physical discomfort.
Now some people do finally get sleepy so keep that in mind and do what you can to fall awake as John Cabotson likes to say.
And now I'm going to guess that you've found yourself nicely lying down.
Any time of day it's a moment for a nice sigh like that really releases any tension that may have built up in the day.
So as usual let's begin by noticing where that tension the day has crept up,
Found itself in the body,
Gently scanning where you feel it and as best as you can letting it go.
Just a sweet sweet unclenching.
So lovely to do this multiple times a day just to touch in with the body and really light gentle not intense way not grasping or pushing away but just letting go.
And to start bring your attention to your breath sensations.
Feel the air coming in.
Where do you notice most?
I was going to say feel the warm air coming in your nostrils.
That's one place you might notice it but you may be feeling the rise of your breath and your chest or your belly.
And I invite you now to place your hand first on your chest for a moment and actually feel the rise if you can and the fall.
And now placing the hand or both hands a bit lower down on the rib cage with like your palm on the ribs and your fingers on the belly.
I feel the rise and fall.
And now choosing which place perhaps is that warm air going in the nostrils and the cooler going out or the feeling of the rise in the chest or the feeling of the rise and fall in the belly perhaps placing that hand or hands so that it may be more noticeable and easier to track the sensations of breathing.
So every time we begin practice in this style which is kind of a form of concentration we bring our attention away from the past and future and we let it land right on our anchor as though our attention is almost landing and touching the sensations of breathing.
And inviting you now if it feels right to let the breath slow down.
You may have noticed it has already but this is a gentle encouragement for the breath to be long,
Slow and deep.
Where the exhale is longer than the inhale so let's try it together now.
Taking in a nice deep in breath,
Holding briefly at the top and exhale.
I chose to actually open my mouth for that you don't have to do that but you can give it a try and together again.
And one more time together.
And now in your own time letting your attention land on those sensations of breathing letting it be long slow and deep at the rate that feels just right for you.
Feeling the sadness I felt for the passing of my beloved teacher Thich Nhat Hanh and he used to say or he still says,
Enjoy your breathing.
I love that.
Seeing if you can invite in a sense of enjoyment into your breathing practice today.
Maybe bringing a quarter smile to your mouth as Thich Nhat Hanh also has encouraged me to do.
Noticing any new tension that's arisen and gently letting it go.
In a moment I'm going to end this recording but you can stay here if you like.
Lying here,
Feeling your body supported by what you're lying on,
Feeling the rise and fall of your long slow deep breaths.
Enjoying the calmness that may be arising,
Feeling the happiness of the quarter smile.
May you be well.
