So we're going to do now a mindfulness of breathing meditation.
This will last about 10 minutes.
The purpose of this is to steady ourselves in the moment as it is.
And completely becoming introspective,
Looking inward.
And steadying our mind so we're able to live with greater clarity or have a short period of stabilised concentration afterwards.
The idea of this would be that the more and more that you do this practice,
The more natural your mind is in being grounded in the moment.
The more at ease you are in allowing things to come and go and come and go.
Not becoming too fixated on the inward workings of your mind and thoughts,
Fears,
Anxieties etc.
So it's probably really useful to do this for 10 minutes in the morning,
10 minutes in the evening at least,
And then wherever possible.
Of course it can be longer or shorter depending how you feel.
Okay so close your eyes if you haven't done so already and we'll take some deep breaths through the nostrils.
Three deep breaths first.
And on the out breath we're really allowing ourselves to relax and let go.
And then breathe naturally.
It's important not to control your breathing in any way.
Just allowing it to rise and fall naturally.
You breathe without thinking about it and your lungs do this for you.
So your mind doesn't need to be concentrating on breathing in,
Breathing out,
Breathing in,
Breathing out.
Just gently allow the rise and fall of your breathing.
Almost as if on the out breath your breath is simply falling from your nostrils.
Falling,
Falling,
Falling,
Falling.
And when you've completely exhaled,
Instead of sucking up your breath or pushing it back up,
You simply allow it to fall back in.
And similarly now with your sounds that you may hear,
Including my voice,
Rather than actively trying to seek out the sound,
Simply allow the sound to play with your eardrums.
Your ears will hear anything for you.
You don't need to try to think about what the sound is or where it's coming from.
Just allow all noise to come and go,
Come and go.
And similarly with your thinking or mental images and so forth,
Whatever arises in your mind's eye,
Simply see if you can observe,
Acknowledge,
Accept what's happening.
And without beating yourself up,
Being annoyed,
Being distracted,
Simply gently escort your attention back to your breathing.
See if we can be following full breath cycles,
Noticing the intricate,
Delicate ways in which the cycle of the breathing changes on a moment to moment basis.
We call sensation as we inhale.
A slight pause and then a warm sensation as we exhale.
Allowing all thoughts to dissipate.
And if we find ourselves distracted,
Just escorting our attention back to our breathing.
Allowing ourselves this rare opportunity to do nothing.
To simply be here now.
There's no desired state we're trying to achieve.
The acceptance of the moment as it is,
Is the desired state.
Gently observing everything that's happening internally to us on a moment to moment basis.
If you feel any sensations in our body,
Please attend to them gently,
Mindfully,
See if we can acknowledge,
Observe,
And then almost on the out breath,
Letting go of sensation.
Without labelling if it's good or bad or pleasant or unpleasant.
Same with the sounds,
Don't label,
Good sound,
Bad sound,
Pleasant,
Unpleasant,
It still doesn't matter.
Same with the thoughts,
No good thoughts,
Bad thoughts,
Pleasant,
Unpleasant,
Doesn't matter.
Really getting up close and personal with our breathing.
And also seeing if we can notice if we're becoming too sleepy or tired.
Maybe we need to breathe with a little bit more vibrancy or concentration.
And we're also noticing if we're becoming too excited by the different things happening and our focus is constantly changing.
Maybe allowing our breathing to be a bit deeper.
It's the balance of in between.
And how natural this meditation will be.
And notice that your breathing is naturally becoming deeper and longer.
Your mind should be as clear,
As open,
As fast and as spacious as the sky.
And any thoughts or distractions are simply clouds.
Without focusing on them,
On our out breath,
It's as if we're blowing these away.
So we're simply resting in this state of awareness.
And when you're ready,
You can just relax.
And when you're ready,
You can open your eyes.
And end the meditation.
And then let's see if we can bring this quality into our daily life.
We're going to have to restrict this to the formal sitting meditation but we can apply these similar ways of being in day to day life.
And we may find that it brings us a bit more clarity or peace throughout the day.
Thank you.
