We're going to do a practice called affectionate breathing.
So just letting go of everything else as much as you can.
And sing into your body and into your posture.
So with the posture it's ideal to feel both comfortable but also kind of alert.
Really noticing the contact your body has with the chair or with the cushion.
So feeling really sort of steady and grounded.
And then at the same time feeling a sense of length up through the back all the way up to the top of the head.
That kind of feeling of being upright,
Of a little bit alert.
So it's good from time to time during the practice to check in with your posture.
Maybe adjusting it if you could be more comfortable.
Or if you find you're slumping,
Maybe becoming a little bit more upright.
And in your own time becoming curious about your breathing.
For this practice it's the breathing at the level of the whole body.
So being aware of your whole body and of the movement as you breathe in and the movement as you breathe out.
Nothing to change about your breathing,
Just your own natural breathing.
If you find your mind wandering off,
Just glancing to see where is it going,
Being curious about that.
But then gently and firmly coming back to the breathing.
Just coming back to the in-breath and the out-breath.
And we may have to be kind of patient with this because often we have to return to the breathing many,
Many times during a practice.
Being aware of the whole body and aware of the breathing.
And then to move towards the affectionate breathing aspect of the practice.
To begin with it's nice to notice the rhythm of your own breathing.
So not changing anything about the breathing,
But really connecting with the natural rhythm that your breathing has.
You could even imagine that the rhythm of your breathing is soothing.
This gentle rocking of the body that's caused by the breathing.
Just like a gentle caress.
Enjoying the rhythm of your own breathing,
Just returning again and again to your own breathing.
Then connecting with how natural the rhythm of the breathing is,
The in-breath,
The out-breath.
Like the opening of a flower during the day and the closing at night.
Or imagining that your breathing is like the water at the sea.
The flow of water in along the sand and each wave flowing in,
Flowing back out.
Just this kind of natural effortless rhythm.
Your own breath.
Just like the ebb and flow of the sea.
And then the final phase is imagining as though you're not really doing the breathing.
You don't have to do anything at all and it's more like the breathing is happening to you.
Letting go of any effort and imagining as though the universe is breathing you.
Or as though you are being breathed.
Just letting go.
Letting go of any feeling of causing the breathing.
Or just feeling that you're receiving it.
Just resting in this experience of the breathing.
Being here for the final moments until the sound of the bell.
The bell.
