Soothing Breath Meditation

A breath-based meditation for when you want clarity, ease, and spaciousness. You can do this practice anytime during the day. You will know it by heart after you listen to the recording a few times and then it becomes yours. It is wonderful to insert this practice into moments of your day when the intensity around you is creating intensity inside of you. May this practice serve you in feeling whole. May you remember there is a wellspring of clarity, ease, and spaciousness inside of you.

Transcript

Welcome to this breath practice and meditation. I invite you to join me in any way that feels right for your body. Sitting, Lying down, Standing, Perhaps even walking. You can begin by sensing the earth underneath your body. Sensing where your body touches down, Where your body is supported. I'm sensing the steadiness of the earth underneath of you. And then feel from there, The length of your spine, From your tailbone all the way up to the top of the neck. And for the next few breaths, You may inhale, Tracing the pathway from your tailbone all the way up the spine to the top of the neck. And exhaling back down from the top of the neck to through the spine to the tailbone. Continue breathing with the awareness of the breath moving. Up and down the spine. And start to sense the belly expanding out on the inhale. And the belly button drawing back towards the spine on the exhale. Just by the way of the breath filling the body and the breath releasing from the body. Inhaling, The belly moves forward or up. And exhaling, The belly draws back towards the spine. And there's no kind of squeezing of the belly muscles or contracting of those muscles, But just simply the breath moving in and out of the body, Causing this movement. Invite the breath to be easeful, Smooth. And perhaps with each round of breath, You smooth out any of the hitches and breaks, The holdings, The grippings in the breath. You might begin to invite a softening to the muscles of the forehead. The eyebrows and the eyes. The cheekbones and the jaw. The tongue. The throat. The shoulders. My arms. Hands and fingers. Softening the muscles around the chest and upper back. The belly, The pelvis, Legs, And the feet. Carrying this sense of ease in the body. Bring the awareness back to the breath. And sense the breath at the tips of the nostrils. The coolness of the breath in. And the warmth of the breath out. Begin to notice the rhythm of your breath. Noticing the length of the inhale and the length of the exhale. And perhaps start to inhale for a count of four. And exhale for a count of four. It can be any length that you'd like, Just the length of the inhale matches the length of the exhale. Feel the belly rise and fall with each inhale and exhale. Breathing with balanced breath. Sama Vritti. Same length of the inhale as the exhale. So we'll breathe in this way. For about two more minutes. Inviting ease into the body, Ease into the breath. And if the mind wanders off, You can come back to the sound of your breath. Can come back to the temperature of the breath at the tips of the nostrils. Can come back to the belly, Sensing it rising and falling. Just a few more rounds, Even length of the inhale and the exhale. You can release the counting or tracking of the length of the inhales and exhales. And allow the body to breathe however it wants to breathe. You can notice the state of the mind. You can notice the energy in the body. Perhaps send some gratitude to the part of you that remembers to care for you. The practice is now complete. May you be well.