Welcome,
My name is John.
I'm going to take you through a nice and simple 10 minute breathing meditation you can use at any time of the day.
So when you're ready,
Making yourself comfortable,
Sitting on a cushion or maybe cross-legged on the floor,
Your chin underneath your head,
Making sure that your back is nice and straight and a bit relaxed,
And then gently closing down your eyes.
Allowing yourself to settle into your body.
Softening your shoulders,
Your neck,
Your back,
Letting go of any tension in the face,
The jaw.
Feeling the weight of the body and any contact points with what's underneath you.
Becoming aware now of the sensation of breathing.
I like to take a nice,
Long,
Deep breath in and out.
Getting curious about how your breath feels.
Noticing where you feel the sensation of breathing the most.
Might be the tip of the nose,
Or the chest,
Or perhaps the stomach rising and falling.
Seeing if you can trace it from the moment that it starts to the exact moment that it subsides.
Noticing if it's shallow or deep,
Warm or cold.
Seeing if you can pay extra attention to the paws at the top and the paws at the bottom.
Not changing anything.
Just observing.
Being with the breath.
Now,
See if you can count the next ten breaths.
Ten breaths without getting distracted.
Count in for one,
Out for one.
In for two,
Out for two.
And so on.
If you make it to ten,
Just starting again at one.
If you find that you've lost track,
Just picking it up again from the last number that you were on.
When you catch the mind wandering,
Bringing your attention mindfully back to the breath.
Myself.
I'm not trying to control the thoughts.
Just letting them come and go in the background.
And now,
Letting go of the counting.
Allowing your awareness to expand to the body as a whole.
And as we approach the end of the practice,
Just taking a moment to be thankful for how your breath and your body work together to give you life.
And then bringing some movement in.
Perhaps moving your fingers and your toes.
And slowly opening the eyes.
