Hi and welcome to today's practice.
Taking a moment to find a comfortable position,
Settling into it as best as you can today,
However you're showing up is totally welcome.
Closing the eyes or lowering them and having a soft fixed gaze at a point in front of you.
Taking some big deep breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth.
Softening into that support beneath you as you exhale.
Just letting the body know that it doesn't have to be anywhere else right now or be doing anything else.
And then allowing the breath to return to a natural rhythm in and out through the nose.
And just take a moment to be still,
Perhaps for the first time since you woke up this morning.
It really doesn't matter if the mind is busy or if the body is full of energy.
We're just giving our awareness an opportunity to wake up.
Becoming aware of that natural stillness,
Even if there is a bit of resistance to it.
Begin to open your awareness to your present moment experience.
Firstly becoming aware of your body and how it's feeling.
What sensations are present for you?
Becoming aware of the connection your body is making with the support beneath you.
Just becoming aware of the full field of sensations in the body.
Are there any emotions or feelings present today?
Not trying to make sense of why they're there,
Just observing.
Are there sounds around you?
Close by,
Far away?
Again,
Not trying to make sense of them or label them,
Just noticing that they are also part of your experience.
You don't need to go chasing for anything or grip too tightly onto anything.
We're just allowing sensations,
Feelings,
Sounds to come and go in your awareness.
Something might be more prominent,
Things might replace each other and it's okay.
These are all part of your experience.
And now becoming aware of your breathing and watching the coming and going of the breath.
And what we're going to do now is apply some focus,
Some attention to the breath.
Focusing first on the movement of the belly as you breathe in and out.
You might even like to place a hand on your belly to help with this.
Observing how the belly feels like a balloon as you inhale.
Noticing the sensation of filling,
Gentle stretching.
Then the exhale and how the belly shrinks slightly and gets pulled back towards the spine.
Focusing on the movement and sensations of the belly as you breathe.
Now becoming aware of the gentle movement of the ribs as you breathe.
Noticing how they also expand,
Gently rising as you inhale.
And then noticing how they drop,
Lower and soften as you exhale.
Now placing your focus on the chest.
And this movement can be quite subtle for some of us or more pronounced depending on how we're breathing.
Just noticing the subtle rising,
Opening and then the falling sensation as you breathe in and out.
And then finally observing the air moving in and out of the nose.
Noticing the different sensations,
How the inhale is cool and the exhale is warm.
And this is going to be your home base.
This is where I invite you to keep coming back to after each time the mind wanders off into thought and becomes distracted.
And you're not doing anything wrong when that happens.
The mind is made to think.
But this home base of the nose is where you can keep coming back to.
This is where we're strengthening our mindfulness.
And whenever you notice your mind has gone wandering,
Just keep coming back to that home base.
The sensations of the air moving in and out of your nose.
And now just let this technique go,
Let the focus go and rest for a moment.
Becoming aware of the contact you're making with the support beneath you.
Weight pressing down.
The sensations of touch.
Feet on the floor,
Hands in the lap.
Becoming aware of sounds around you.
Noticing any sensations in the body.
Noticing how it's feeling.
And then blinking open your eyes or lifting your gaze.
And taking a moment to notice what you see in front of you.
Colours,
Shapes,
Textures.
Just coming back into the space that you're in.
Thank you for joining me,
And I look forward to seeing you next time.
