Beginning the breathing space meditation by taking a posture that embodies your intention to be aware of your experience.
So sitting upright,
Feeling the feet flat on the floor,
Feeling the body sitting upright,
Allowing your eyes to close gently if that's okay for you right now.
And asking this question,
Just what's here right now?
What's calling for my attention?
Noticing the thoughts that are here.
Thoughts in the form of words,
The story about what's happening.
Perhaps noticing thoughts in the form of images.
And noticing the emotional tone.
And perhaps where the emotion is felt in the body,
In the core of the body,
The chest,
The throat,
The abdomen,
And any other sensations in the body as you sit here.
Any areas of tension or holding.
And then bringing your attention fully as possible to the sensations of your breathing.
Noticing where you feel the breath in your body most vividly.
Slippers at the abdomen,
Feeling the belly expand on the in-breath and gently deflate on the out-breath.
Moment-to-moment awareness of breathing.
Just this breath coming in,
Just this breath flowing out.
Just this breathing in,
Just this breathing out,
Moment to moment.
Awareness of breathing,
Always in the present moment.
And then in the third step of the breathing space,
Beginning to expand your attention so that it still includes the breath but it includes the body as a whole.
The perimeter of the body,
The posture,
Areas where there may be holding or tension,
Bracing.
Perhaps seeing if it's possible on an out-breath to release some of the tension.
And noticing just what else is here in your experience.
And acknowledging it,
The thoughts,
The emotions,
Sensations in the body.
Acknowledging whatever's here because it's already here,
Even if it's unpleasant or unwanted.
Acknowledging this is part of my experience right now.
And so breathing with whatever's here.
And as this meditation comes to an end,
Perhaps setting an intention to bring this sort of broader,
More spacious awareness to the next moments of your day.
And acknowledging the possibility of just feeling one cycle of breath as you attend to your experience.
How that might help and serve you to continue to acknowledge your moment-to-moment experience with greater openness and curiosity.
