So finding a comfortable way to sit or stand during this practice will experience the process of breath awareness.
And before we begin,
Just a few notes about the breath.
Our breath is something that thankfully may come naturally to us.
And also during this time,
Bringing in a sense of awareness for how much we might take for granted our ability to breathe naturally without the assistance.
Just acknowledging that as a privilege to have clean air to breathe or a privilege to be able to have lungs that breathe with us.
And even if you do have some challenges with your breathing in any capacity,
I hope that this practice finds your way or a way to allow you to find a sense of peace with your breath in any way that your breath is traveling in and out through your body to nourish you and to support you.
So let's just begin.
Let's place our palms somewhere on our body where we can physically feel our breath.
Maybe it's your belly or your heart space,
Your ribs.
And go ahead and just allow yourself to feel first.
Try not to control anything with your breath.
There's no need to change it.
Just notice and trust it.
Perhaps your hand slightly moves as the breath travels in and as it travels out.
And see what it's like now to continue to feel your breath with your palms and then go ahead and take a deep breath in through your nose and exhale out through your mouth.
And see if you can add that sound when you exhale.
So it's like a sigh or an ocean's wave breathing in through our nose.
Exhale out through the mouth.
And just exploring if you felt your breath with your hands,
Maybe even more so as you might have taken a deeper breath,
More intentional than you might usually.
And the next time we take a breath in through our nose and let it out through our mouth,
See if you can notice any nuances of softening or relaxing in the body on the exhale.
Softening maybe on a specific point in the body where you feel softening or relaxing.
So let's take a deep breath in through our nose.
Exhale out through the mouth.
And just with a sense of curiosity and kindness,
Noting where in your body,
If any,
You felt a sense of softening.
And if you didn't,
Let that be okay.
Letting your breath just come to a natural pace.
Our breath and our body are so synced.
And so when we allow for that audible exhale,
We might physically feel a sense of softening throughout the body,
Maybe in the shoulders,
Maybe in the jaw.
And also that sound is allowing a signal to travel into our minds to the fight or flight response to give it a sense of safety,
A sense of reassurance that we're breathing.
We have space to find a moment to think or a moment to calm our minds and our bodies.
So not only is that exhale really relieving physical stress,
But also allows space for some clarity.
And see if you can just notice here.
Allow your palms to rest wherever they feel comfortable.
Allow your body to sit or stand or even lie down,
However feels of service.
And so next we'll use the breath as an anchor for our minds to kind of hold ourselves steady in the meditation,
Knowing that it's completely natural and normal for our minds to wander during a practice.
And also doing this with a sense of curiosity once again.
For some,
The breath might not be the best anchor.
So if that's the case during the meditation,
Find another physical anchor.
Maybe it's where your palms are touching or your feet are landing.
Go ahead and take a breath in through your nose.
Exhale out through your mouth.
And see if this breath practice breathing into the nose this time and out through the nose.
See if that serves you in any way.
And perhaps engaging the body in this breath by breathing in down deep into the belly,
Taking a breath like you're filling up a balloon,
Breathing in,
Letting it travel up into the heart space.
And then as you exhale,
Breathing out through the nose,
Letting your shoulders relax and belly comes in.
And just looping that back together once the exhale goes,
Take a breath in.
Once you fill up to your capacity,
Let the air travel out.
Just like a consistent loop,
Replaying the breath one after the other.
Try to let go of any need to really control here.
We can notice and acknowledge our breath and try different practices out with the breath.
And still let the breath move you.
And if the breath feels like an okay anchor to continue with,
Just bring in one of your hands into the practice.
So as you inhale,
We'll turn the right palm up and inhale,
Lifting the right palm up like an elevator.
As you exhale,
Flipping the palm to face the floor and bring the palm down with your exhale to meet maybe your lap once again.
On an inhale,
Flipping the palm,
Lifting the palm up.
On an exhale,
Flipping the palm down.
And maybe you want to try this with both hands,
Breathing the palms,
Reaching them up.
Exhale,
Dropping the palms,
Lifting them down.
Try this a few times just at your own pace.
Doesn't matter how far high the hands are going with your breath.
And this time,
Bring the palms to center.
Take a breath in,
Expand the palms wide.
Exhale the palms in.
Inhale the palms wide.
Exhale the palms in.
It's like the accordion you're playing.
Inhale reaching.
Exhale pressing or maybe a nice soft dough that you're sculpting and stretching.
Taking one more breath,
Inhale,
Expand through the palms.
Exhale,
Bring the palms together at heart center.
Bringing the palms touching the heart,
Maybe overlapping one palm on top of the other,
Encasing the heart.
Tapping into your heartbeat,
Letting the anchor of the breath soften.
And just offering a few well wishes to yourself and to others.
May we be healthy.
May we be safe.
May we feel supported.
And may we heal together.
Go ahead and bring your palms together,
Again at heart center.
Take a breath in through your nose.
Exhale.
Let it go through your mouth.
Thank you so much for practicing with me.
From my heart to yours.
