So sitting comfortably,
You can find somewhere comfortable to rest your hands.
Gently close your eyes.
And to begin,
Just checking in with how you feel in your body.
Relaxing any areas of tension or tightness where you notice them.
Breathing as you do so.
And relaxing the muscles in your face.
Relaxing your jaw.
Letting go of any tension or tightness there.
Fully relaxing your jaw.
Then relaxing now your shoulders.
Allowing them to relax and sink towards the floor.
Relaxing the muscles in your stomach.
Continuing to let go any tension or tightness that you notice.
And bringing your attention to rest on your breath.
Observing the inflow and outflow.
Aware when you are breathing in and aware when you are breathing out.
You can find a place that is most obvious or evident of your breath flowing in and out.
Could be coolness of the air coming in and out of your nostrils.
Or the air as it passes your top lip.
Tingling on the back of the throat.
Maybe it's the rise and fall of your chest or belly.
Maybe it's your whole body.
Maybe you can feel the breath in your whole body.
If you find it difficult to connect with the breath,
You can lightly place a hand on your belly.
And gently holding it there.
Just feeling the rise and fall in the palm of your hand.
And as you breathe,
There is no need to control the breath.
You can just allow it to be as it is.
Observing the rhythm.
If it is slow and short or long and deep.
Just calmly,
Patiently letting go of everything else.
And carefully observing your breath.
Shy & quiet.
If your attention wanders,
That's fine.
Just notice,
Without judgement,
Gently bring your attention once again back to your breath.
Observing also the spaces or gaps between the in-breath and the out-breath,
Trying to stay present through the entirety of each breath,
The beginning,
The middle,
The end of the in-breath,
And the beginning,
Middle,
And end of the out-breath.
Carefully paying attention to any differences that you notice with each breath.
If it is cooler coming in,
Or warmer flowing out,
Or any changes in the rhythm or speed of your breath.
Continuing each time that your mind wanders,
Simply noticing the fact that you've begun thinking,
And again gently bringing your attention back to the breath.
You're feeling comfortable breathing out of the breath.
If at any point you notice any tension or tightness,
Coming back into your body,
You can just gently touch it.
With the next breath,
Let go of that.
Relax.
Gently and kindly bring your attention back to the breath.
We will sit for a couple more minutes in silence.
So for these two minutes,
Just try your best to be as fully present as you can with your breath.
Letting go of everything else.
Just sitting with the inflow and the outflow,
The natural cycle of breathing.
Relax.
Relax.
Relax.
Relax.
If your mind has wandered,
That's fine.
You can gently bring it back to your breath.
And just observe as closely as you can the final three breaths.
Relax.
