This is Lisa Natoli Sheehan.
Welcome to this guided practice of relaxation and mindfulness meditation of body and breath.
As we begin,
Take a seat or get comfortable lying down,
Gathering whatever props might be helpful to allow the physical body to feel supported.
Perhaps a meditation cushion,
Bolster,
Or pillow.
Keep in mind that there's no special way to breathe during mindfulness meditation,
But perhaps we can begin our practice with a few moments of relaxation breathing to help focus the mind as we begin to settle in.
In doing so,
Removing our awareness or our center of gravity from the busy thinking mind down into the physical body and breath.
First,
We relax the physical body,
Then the breath slows down,
And then perhaps the busy mind can begin to soften.
There are three ways to purposefully breathe that empower us to relax our nervous system and shut down the stress response in the physical body.
The first is breathing in and out through the nose.
The second is belly breathing,
Inhaling into the low belly first and then breathing into the upper chest,
Filling the lungs with air from the bottom up to the top as if you were filling a water bottle.
The third way we can purposefully breathe to relax the physical body is to exhale a little bit longer than the inhale.
For example,
Breathing in for a count of three or four and exhaling for a count of five or six,
Whatever count might work for your body.
Take a few moments here to try this purposeful breathing now.
Bring your full awareness to the breath and if you notice your mind has wandered off,
Simply return and begin again.
Notice the rise and the fall of the belly as you breathe in and out through the nose.
Take time for a long extended exhale.
Breathing in,
Breathing out perhaps,
Noticing a gap and resting in this pause in between breaths.
And now resume your normal pattern of breathing.
No special way to breathe.
Simply begin to rest in awareness of the body breathing itself effortlessly.
Coming to the present moment and allowing ourselves to just be.
Not projecting into the future with anticipation or anxiety and not lingering in the past.
Just breathe here and now.
Before we begin our formal practice,
It's important to note that we're not striving to stop our thinking or clear our minds.
Rather,
Mindfulness meditation is just about noticing our thoughts and emotions as they enter our awareness.
And when we notice,
Resisting the temptation or the tendency to latch on to thoughts or emotions and instead align our attention to the breath.
Just like hitting a reset button,
We recenter to the breath the life-giving force within us.
No special way to breathe now.
Just watch the rise and the fall of the belly now,
Of the chest.
Notice the breath as it enters and exits the nose.
Finding a place of stillness,
Of silence.
Giving ourselves permission during this time to just be rather than always thinking or just being.
We'll begin our formal practice with the sound of the bells.
Checking the breathing in now with the physical body and noticing the touch points in the back of the body that are being supported.
The back of the head if you're lying down.
The muscles of the back.
The back of the legs.
Finding those places where the body is connected to start.
Allow the body to settle down and sink into the effects of gravity while also remaining alert.
Allow the body to be held and supported.
As you watch the body breathing,
Use the exhale breath as a cue to let the body soften and let go.
With each inhale,
The body expands.
With each exhale,
Soften.
Sink down.
Let go.
Sink down and release.
Giving the mind permission to let the body go.
Now take a moment scanning the physical body from head to toe.
Finding places in the body where there might be tightness,
Tension,
Tiredness,
Or tenderness.
Just noticing.
And then on the next exhale breath,
See if you can let those places soften and release.
Notice if the shoulders are scrunched up towards the ears and see if you can let the shoulders drop down away from the ears,
Creating space and length in the neck.
Notice if the jaw or hands are clenched.
Paying attention here to all the little nooks and crannies in the body where tension likes to hide.
And wherever you find it,
Exhale and let it release.
As you travel throughout the body from head to toe,
Take notice also of places that feel soft and relaxed.
And rest your attention there in those places as well.
Bring your attention back to the present moment again and again each time you notice you've wandered off.
Breathing in,
Breathing out,
Just observing.
Breathing out,
Just observing.
And now coming back to the breath.
Resting in the simplicity of nothing but breathing in the present moment.
With each inhale,
There's expansion.
With each exhale,
A letting go,
Releasing what you no longer need.
No matter how strong the pull or distraction,
Patiently coming back again and again to the breath.
Being witness to the breath.
Being witness to the body.
Moment by moment.
Let go into stillness.
On the exhale,
Let go into softness and release.
And now spending the next few moments resting in stillness without guidance.
Allowing the body and the mind to be soothed by the rhythm of the breath.
Breathing in and breathing out.
Softening and releasing.
Breathing out.
Let go.
Let go.
Let go.
Closing our practice with the sound of the bells.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy in body and mind.
And may you live with ease.
