Set aside some time to do the sitting practice where you won't be disturbed,
Turning cell phones off.
And then take time to establish a sitting posture that is comfortable,
Relaxed,
And yet alert and upright.
Making sure that if you're sitting in a chair,
Your feet are touching down onto the ground.
And you can do this practice either with your eyes closed,
Or if you'd like to do it with your eyes open,
Just keeping the eyes softly focused at a point in front of you on the floor.
So as you sit comfortably now,
Allow yourself to bring your attention to your breathing.
Notice the place where you feel the breath most distinctly.
It may be the in and out movement of the breath in the region of the nostrils.
You might feel tingling or changes of temperature.
Or perhaps you'll feel the breath more strongly in the region of the chest,
Feeling the rising and falling motion of your breath.
Or you might feel the movement most clearly in the region of your belly.
So see if you can allow your attention to just rest wherever you feel the breath most strongly.
Allowing the breath to be natural,
So not trying to force or control the breath in any way.
Reminding yourself that you are already breathing quite perfectly.
And all you need to do for now is just hold the breath with a spacious awareness.
And of course what you might find sooner rather than later is that the mind wanders.
You may realize that your mind gets pulled in planning,
Judging,
Remembering,
Analyzing,
Whatever.
When you notice that just simply and gently return your awareness back to the feeling of your breathing.
Noticing the quality and texture of the in-breath and the out-breath as you feel it in the body.
So you're taking time here to allow the breath to be your anchor point to the present moment.
The breath is always here,
So when you find that you're last in thought you simply have to remember to return to breathing.
No need to make the breath special or to change the breath.
Just rediscovering the breath as it is again and again.
So perhaps it's been some time since you've felt the breath consciously.
It doesn't matter,
There's no need to judge or analyze that or to remember where your attention was just simply when you can.
Find the breath once again.
So if the breath is subtle you notice that.
If it's deep you notice that.
Simply resting awareness in the breathing as it is,
Riding the waves of your own breath.
And of course you may find your attention wandering constantly and if that's the case don't worry about it.
The mind is almost trained to be distracted.
In a very relaxed and patient manner we notice that.
And just come back to this breath in this moment.
See if you can feel the beginning of this very breath and the end of it.
Or the beginning of the rising movement and the end of it.
As best you can staying connected to the flow of your breathing.
You can see this practice is time that you're taking to befriend your breath.
To know the stable movement of your breathing that is always here.
Perhaps you can notice the pause or the gap at the end of the in-breath before you breathe out again.
If you find such a pause see if you can allow the attention to settle into the body.
Simply feeling your body sitting here,
Allowing the next breath to arise naturally.
Thank you.
And of course there's no particular state that we need to attain.
It's enough simply to be noticing the wandering mind and re-establishing the connection to the breath in the body.
There's no need to give yourself a hard time if your attention wanders.
The art of this practice is simply to notice and to begin again with this breath now.
And this breath now.
Letting your breath breathe itself as you feel it.
It's normal for distraction to arise,
A torrent of planning,
Judging,
Analysing,
Fantasising.
It doesn't matter.
Recognise that you've lost touch with the awareness of the breath and simply come back.
Can you notice where your attention is right now?
Can you drop your awareness back into the feeling of breathing?
Simply because the breath is here to be felt and known.
Savouring the experience of each in-breath and each out-breath.
Savouring the experience of simply allowing things to be as they are.
And for the last short while of this practice just allowing yourself the time and space to be with the breath as best you can.
And then expand your awareness and become aware of your whole body sitting here.
Perhaps scanning your body from the head to the toes.
From the toes to the head.
In an act of appreciation for this body,
This breath here now.
You might like to acknowledge yourself now for taking the time and space simply to allow yourself to rest in awareness.
And as you move through the rest of your day from time to time you might like to just reconnect with the feeling of your breathing.
Remember that in order to really deepen your capacity to be present and in the moments of your life it's useful to take time out every day to do some form of mindfulness practice.
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