Welcome to this meditation on Breathing Through the Whole Body with Jonathan Faust.
As you spread awareness of the breath through the whole body,
You may experience a more unified field of awareness,
Deepening relaxation,
And embodied presence.
So take some time now to find your seat.
You might sense how your body might want to move or adjust,
Any little micro-movements as you settle in.
Take a few moments just to sense the sounds around you,
The points of contact between your body and the chair or pillow or wherever you may be.
And let your attention move inside to feel the natural rhythm of your breathing.
No forcing,
Just easy and natural breath.
Noticing where you feel the breath,
The most predominant right now.
As I breathe in,
I am aware of breathing in.
As I breathe out,
I am aware of breathing out.
And now if you would,
Shift your attention to the experience of the breath at the rim of your nostrils.
Again,
The breath is not forced in any way.
What do you feel at the rim of the nostrils?
Let your attention now move to the sense of the experience of the breath at the septum,
Into the sinus cavities.
As you relax and feel with natural,
Easy breath,
What do you feel,
What do you notice?
Is it possible to sense the breath moving through your trachea?
And as you relax and as you feel,
Can you sense the movement of the breath in your lungs?
Is it possible now to feel the movement of the breath in your belly?
And now if you would,
Imagine your whole body as you breathe.
Is it possible to spread your awareness out through the whole body while remaining aware of the experience of the breath?
There is a sense here of what some call kinesthetic imagination,
And to imagine and feel as you inhale,
The body expanding just a little bit,
Like a balloon.
And as you exhale,
The body softens and releases tension.
On the inhalation,
A sense of expansion,
Like a balloon.
On the exhalation,
A sense of softening and releasing.
As I mention a body part,
You might let your attention move to that part of the body.
And again,
Just simply noting the subtlety or the possibility of expansion on the inhalation.
Softening and releasing on the exhalation.
Sensing the head,
The throat,
The lungs and the heart,
The belly and the lower back,
The floor,
The pelvis and the hip joints.
Sensing now the shoulders,
The arms,
The palms of the hands.
Sensing now the legs,
The volume of the feet,
The soles of the feet and the heels.
And again,
Now imagine the whole body breathing.
On the inhalation,
Expanding.
On the exhalation,
Softening and releasing tension.
As many times as your mind will naturally wander,
That many times you can begin again You might explore now,
Relaxing even more and simultaneously sharpening your attention to this sense of the whole body breathing.
As I breathe in,
I'm aware of breathing in.
I'm aware of a sense of expansion.
As I breathe out,
I'm aware of breathing out.
A sense of softening,
Releasing tension.
Deeply relaxed,
At the same time alert.
How intimately can you feel this breath?
Imagine the whole body breathing.
Expanding on the inhalation.
Softening on the exhalation.
In these remaining minutes,
You might notice the foreground,
The experience of this breath.
The aliveness of sensation,
Expansion to softening.
Noticing the background of awareness itself.
Breath,
Free-flowing,
Effortless.
The deeper you relax,
The more you can feel the subtlety of aliveness with the breath.
You might now very gently transition your practice from any sense of doing to explore this quality of being.
Letting go of all technique.
What could relax or soften or let go right now?
What could relax or soften or let go even more than that?
You might very gently now lengthen and deepen the breath just a bit.
Open your awareness to the sounds around you,
To the space around you.
Noting the quality of presence.
And very gently beginning your transition.
