Awareness of Breathing

Sitting meditation, awareness of breathing, allowing the breath to be center stage and an anchor to guide you back to the present moment. Understanding the nature of the wandering mind, an invitation to reconnect again and again with the natural breath in your body breathing.

Transcript

So welcoming yourself to the sitting meditation and beginning by paying attention to your posture,

Finding a comfortable upright open posture,

Whether that's sitting on a chair or on a meditation cushion or a kneeling stool,

Encouraging a neutral spine.

So if you are sitting on a chair you might like to have a rolled blanket under the sit bones so you can sit a little bit forward with the feet flat on the floor.

If you're sitting with the legs crossed perhaps some small pillows or cushions under the knees and ankles and if you're kneeling some support under the knees,

Placing the hands either in the thighs or in the lap and as you take your seat allowing the shoulders to be below the ears,

Perhaps bringing the chin down slightly,

Throat back,

Finding a place of comfort,

Finding that place between effort and surrender,

Where you can stay awake and alert as we pay attention to the physical body in this moment.

So noticing now perhaps the three points of contact through the lower legs or feet and your seat.

Three points of contact pressing down into the props or the chair beneath you and making contact with the props and the floor.

And out of your stable base having a sense of the spine coming up out of the pelvis all the way up through the center of the body supporting the head.

Arms and hands resting soft through the elbows,

Closing the eyes if it's comfortable for you or having a soft gaze down at the floor.

And begin by noticing that you're breathing.

So trusting that the body knows how to breathe,

Being aware of the natural breath and finding a place inside your body where the breath is most obvious for you.

Whether that's the air entering and leaving at the nose,

Perhaps temperature here,

Gentle rise and fall at the shoulders,

Perhaps expansion through the lungs,

Rib cage,

Chest area,

Expansion with the in breath,

Turning to center with the out breath.

You might be sensing movement through the diaphragm or the belly,

Shift in pressure through the belly,

Increase in pressure with the in breath,

Softening or releasing with the out breath.

So whatever these tiny movements of the breath as you naturally breathe in and out,

Can you rest in the awareness of breathing?

Choosing one place where it's most obvious or vivid for you,

Allowing the breath to be an anchor now for your attention.

And as you feel the movement of the breath,

You may notice that the attention wanders away from the breath and this is all part of the practice.

It's quite natural for the attention to wander,

Maybe to sounds,

Other physical sensations in the body,

Thoughts,

Feelings.

So notice where your attention goes and then when you're ready,

Reconnect with the breath coming home to the body breathing,

To that place where the breath is most obvious for you and simply begin again.

Resting in the awareness of breathing,

Bringing your mind home to the body breathing.

Receiving the in breath,

Allowing the out breath.

So as you're breathing in,

Knowing that you're breathing in and as you're breathing out,

Knowing that you're breathing out.

Experiencing your breath in the present moment,

Breath by breath,

Moment by moment.

And when you notice your attention wanders,

It's not a problem,

Notice where it goes.

Reconnect with your breathing,

Remembering to feel the next breath in the body and begin again.

And this will happen many times,

Keep coming home to the body breathing.

A sense of kindness and patience and perhaps appreciation that you are breathing in this moment.

When your attention wanders,

Notice where it goes,

Reconnect with the breath and allow the body to breathe itself.

Coming back again and again to this breath,

This moment,

This natural rise and fall.

And now expanding your awareness to include the whole body breathing.

So the body is a container for the breath,

Having a sense of those points of contact,

Pressure through your seat,

Lower legs,

The feet,

Maybe warmth in the hands,

Touch of the air on the skin.

Having a sense of all the sensations inside the physical body as you sit still in this moment and this includes the body breathing.

So you might like to follow the breath all the way into the body,

Nose,

Throat,

Chest,

Diaphragm moves down,

Belly expands,

Breath turns,

Belly drops back to the spine,

Diaphragm moves up and the breath moves out of the lungs,

Up through the throat and out through the nose.

So there are many tiny sensations in the body as we breathe in and out,

Sense of expansion or rising through the body with the in-breath and with the out-breath a sense of dropping down into your seat.

So being present now with the whole body breathing,

Riding the waves of the breath in this moment.

And notice how it feels to be present to the body breathing.

So we pay attention not to fix or change anything,

We pay attention to know what is here.

So feeling this rise and fall through the body.

As you become intimate with the body and the sensation,

And the breath,

Just tuning in now to the heart mind.

What is here to be known?

Any feelings or thoughts that might be bubbling up and perhaps offering yourself some gratitude for taking this time to pay attention to the body breathing and all the physical sensations that are here in each moment.

Taking a deeper breath in now,

Slow breath out,

Gently folding forward,

Releasing from your posture now.

Having a sense of how it feels to release from your sitting position.

Perhaps releasing through the hips,

The neck,

May even be a sense of pleasure as you allow the muscles to release.

Gently opening the eyes as you transition now from the formal sitting practice back into your daily life.

And the practice continues from the formal practice to the informal practice.

We breathe many thousands of times a day,

Often unconsciously.

So maybe now as you transition back into your daily life there may be moments when you can pause and be aware of your natural breath.

You may like to come home to the body breathing from time to time as you move into your daily life.

Reviews

Amazing. So glad to have found you. Sharing on Facebook and will donate ASAP. Namaste 🙏

Really helpful meditation. Could see my spine coming straight up from earth like a revelation

Perfect way to align with your breath. Lisa is amazing.

Really enjoyed this meditation. Kept me connected to my breath.

I use this daily. Lisa has a very calming voice and guides you so gently through the practice.

Simple, effective guided breath meditation. I'll be using this one again

I love the way Lisa guides her meditations both this and the others. Calming, well paced and gentle I always end feeling uplifted and relaxed. Thanks Lisa for your valuable guidance. 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

Lovely thank you, i veru much enjoyed your meditation❤🙏

Absolutely fantastic! In a simple and natural way. Thank you 🙏 💗

Practise of the breath is centre for me 🙏🏽

Really enjoyed this, and went very quickly. Thankyou.

A great meditation. thank you Lisa 🙏

Wonderful! Thank you!

This was lovely, thank you!

So calming, it's like a sedative. We listen again and again..... 😊

Love this. Super simple. Great mindfulness exercise.

Very valuable meditation, beautifully paced, simple, illuminating, and great voice.

Great pacing, not intrusive, gentle,kind voice. Very grounding. Thank you.