Concentration With 3-part And 7-part Breathing

This is a guided concentration meditation focused on cultivating calm, steady attention using the breath as the primary anchor. It begins by settling into an alert yet relaxed posture, softening the body with slightly longer exhales, and noticing any pleasant or neutral sensations to encourage ease and tranquility. The guidance then moves into three-part and seven-part breathing, inviting you to receive each inhale and exhale, feel the whole body sitting, and gently return to the breath whenever the mind wanders. Throughout, the emphasis is on a warm, receptive, and curious awareness that enjoys the subtle sensations of breathing while deepening concentration.

Transcript

Okay, So letting yourself settle into your meditation posture. And posture is alert but relaxed. So you can have a feeling of uplift. And then allowing your weight just to settle down to gravity. And bring your attention to your breath. You can take a few deeper breaths if that's helpful for you. Just to draw your attention into your body. Noticing how you're feeling. And for a few breaths, Extending your exhale and inviting your body to soften with each exhale. So we just start to bring in that sense of tranquility or ease, Which itself supports concentration. So allowing yourself a little bit longer exhales, Bringing in some ease to the body and mind. And then letting your breath just fall back into its natural rhythm. And in four moments, Scanning through your body and noticing if there's any pleasant sensations. So maybe even just slightly pleasant, Anything that feels at ease, Settled. Even just a neutral or okay feeling. For a moment, You can let your attention just rest there and enjoy. Knowing that this is an important part of deepening our concentration is to feel some ease, Tranquility. And to savor any pleasant sensations in the body, Any happiness. So we'll check in on this as we practice. And now I'm going to invite you to shift your attention to your breathing. So just feeling your breath, Wherever it feels easy, Easiest to feel. And just notice if you can bring a kind of receptive quality to your attention. As if you could have a sense of just receiving your breath. So your attention does orient. So there's a little bit of an active quality with that. Just aiming towards the sensations of breath. Yet at the same time, There's a really receptive quality to the attention. And now we'll shift into this three-part breathing. So that you're noticing, Feeling, Receiving the inhale. Feeling, Receiving the exhale. And then if there's a space between the exhale and the inhale, You can just feel your whole body sitting. And then inhale, Exhale, Whole body sitting. And if it's helpful for you to just note in, Out, Sitting. And any time that you notice that you've fallen off the breath, I invite you just to soften your body. Release down. Enjoy the softening. And then you let your attention just be pulled back into the breath. And imagining what it would be like just to be brought into the breath. Just enjoy the flow, Movement, Whatever there is to enjoy about the breath. Just the experience of inhale, Exhale, Whole body sitting. Again, When you notice that the mind has wandered, Softening, Releasing through your body. Just creating this warm, Soft landing back into presence. And then you might need to intensify a little bit, Which is just to bring in a little bit more energy. And get really curious and connected with all the changing sensations of breathing. Just to draw your attention in by paying close, Close attention. But in a relaxed, Curious way. And again, Orienting towards what draws you in. Anything about the breath that feels pleasant or useful. And if your mind feels somewhat settled, You might start to pay attention to the breath with the seven parts, The seven part breathing. So in this way, You notice the very beginning of the inhale. Duration, Very ending of the inhale. Very beginning, Duration, And end of the exhale. Whole body sitting between the exhale and the inhale. So noticing, Can you just be with each element? Just the very beginning, Very end of an inhale and an exhale. You notice the mind has wandered. Come back to feeling your body. Inviting, Softening, Releasing any tension. Enjoying warm, Soft landing. And then invite the breath back into the center of attention, Paying close, Close attention. For the last minute of the practice. Noticing if you can notice every changing sensation of the inhale, The exhale. Whole body sitting. And I'm letting the breath go and just noticing if there's any experiences of ease, Calm, Happiness, Tranquility. And letting yourself take that in. You can open your eyes and stretch and bring this practice to a close.