Body And Breath Awareness

Find your inner stillness through mindful awareness.
A nurturing meditation that supports you to take a pause in your day.
Using an awareness of your body and breath, connect deeply to the present moment.
Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to this meditation, Starting by taking a comfortable position, You might like to sit in a chair with your spine straight, Your head and neck long and tall, Feet comfortable, Comfortably resting on the floor, With an easy posture, So arms and legs uncrossed, Resting comfortably, You might like to sit on the floor, Using the support of cushions or bolsters, Again keeping the spine straight, You can also choose to lie on the floor, Or lie on your bed, Just noting that you want to try to stay awake, So maybe just propping yourself up a little bit so that you won't drift off to sleep, So wherever you've come to find your position, Just making any last final adjustments to be a little bit more comfortable, And then if it feels right, You're welcome to close your eyes, And just really allowing yourself to arrive here, Now in this time and space for you, Just allowing this moment to be exactly how it is right now, To gently slow ever so slightly, Just allowing everything that you were doing immediately before this, To just come to a halt, And just for the moment, Allowing everything that comes next, To just be put on pause, And really just creating the space and the time for you now here, And however you've arrived here today, Just firstly bringing your attention to the simple fact that your body is breathing, Just watching that breath, However the breath is for you in this moment is perfectly fine, Just watching it come and go for a few breaths, Now taking your awareness to each of your five senses, Firstly starting with, Even though your eyes may be closed, You can keep them closed and notice what you see behind your eyelids, Or you may wish to open your eyes for a little bit, And just noticing what you see, Whether seeing the backs of your eyelids, Just noticing colours, The difference between light and dark, Noticing everything you see, Bringing your awareness to what you can hear, Your tongue, What tastes do you notice in your mouth, Or if no tastes are present there, What do you notice about where your tongue is sitting, And as you breathe in just notice anything that sits on the air, Just seeing if you can detect the temperature of the air as it comes and goes from your nostrils, And spreading your awareness a little further out to the surface of your skin, Feeling into the pressure of your clothing against your skin, Body resting against the surface, Tongue, And then briefly returning back to just taking your attention to your breath, Just notice it's still there, Still ever present within you, Just using the breath as your focus, If and when you notice that your mind wanders during the meditation, Each time you notice just bring your focus back to the breath, Now taking your attention up to the top of your head, The crown of your head, Just becoming aware of any sensations here at the top of your head, Down the back of your head and sides, Around your ears, And all around your hairline, Just noticing any sensations across your scalp, Eyes, Eye sockets and nose, Across your cheeks and down into your jaw and chin, Just into your entire face, Just noticing any sensations here, Sitting across the entirety of your face, Just taking your awareness down your throat, Down your neck, Just noticing any sensations through your throat and neck, Just letting those sensations be, Just let them be how they are, Allowing your awareness to shift across the tops of your shoulders, Into the front and back of your shoulders, Just noticing and feeling into any sensations that rest here in your shoulders, Allowing your awareness to extend down both your arms, Through your upper arms, And just allowing all sensations through your arms and hands to just be there, Just notice what's there, Allowing your attention to come through your chest area, Down the front of your chest, Down through your stomach and abdominal cavity, Both the front of the body and the back of the body, Just noticing, Leaning in and noticing what sensations are here, Within your entire torso and abdominal cavity, Allowing your awareness to circle around your pelvis, Starting just below your belly button, All through the front of your pelvis, Into the bones of your hips, Your buttocks, Around to the back of the pelvis, Sitting deep within your pelvis, Just notice any sensations within this part of your body, All through the pelvis and hip area, Allowing those sensations and that awareness now to spread down your legs, Down through the bones and muscles of your upper legs, Kneecaps and the backs of your knees, Into the lower part of your leg, All the muscles and bones through the lower leg and all the bones of the feet and toes, Just allowing all sensations within your legs and your feet, Connecting in with the very soles of your feet, Feeling the connection point between your feet and the ground, Just notice what sensations you feel here, Notice what it feels like to connect in to the energy of the earth, Deep below you, Gently now allowing your awareness to spread across and up into your entire body, Your body as a whole now, Just noticing any other sensations that really catch your attention, That are still there within the body, Just let your attention sweep across those areas, Just letting them be, Whatever sensation arises there, And then bringing your attention now fully back onto the breath, To the length of the in and the out breaths now, Just noticing if they are equal or not equal, A little bit of a stretch out further in your out breath, Using the exhale to empty your body of any stale air, Might assist to put your hand just gently over your belly, As your body fills with new fresh air, Seeing if you can slow the breath a little further, Deepen the breath a little further, Just to a point it still feels comfortable, Not forcing, Ever so gently allowing the breath to deepen, And staying in this silence until you hear the sound of bells and my voice return. And as you take your last few breaths with awareness, Allow your attention now to your senses again, Inviting any gentle and very subtle movements back into your body, Wiggling any fingers and toes, Taking a stretch and shifting your body in any way it needs to move, Offering yourself a silent gesture of thanks and gratitude for creating this space for yourself today. Thank you.