Awareness of Breathing

Awareness of breathing is a short guided mindfulness meditation to support practictioners to pause and be present with the natural breath. An invitation to allow mental noting to support the practice, allowing the mind to rest gently with the breath, observing the changing nature of the sensations in the body.

Remember to allow some time and space each day to connect with our constant companion. Can you cultivate this caring and careful attention as you allow the body to breathe itself, moment by moment.

You might like to try this practice a few times each day, morning, lunch and before bed to integrate various times in your day to cultivate mindfulness of breathing. Thank-you for your ongoing practice which invites us into balance and ease.

Transcript

So finding a comfortable posture whether that's sitting or lying where there's a sense of ease in the physical body where you feel supported,

Awake and alert.

For this practice we're going to invite the breath to be the center of your awareness.

So beginning by noticing now that your body is breathing,

Feeling the sensations as you breathe in and feeling the sensations as you breathe out.

So you might have a sense of the air at the nose coming into the body and leaving the body.

The breath might be more obvious for you at the throat,

Slight movement here at the base of the throat or a sense of expansion through the lungs,

Chest,

Rib cage with the in-breath,

Releasing,

Letting go with the out-breath.

Or the breath might be more obvious for you at the abdomen,

A slight increase in pressure with the in-breath,

Belly softens back to the spine with the out-breath.

So noticing now where your breath is most obvious for you might be the nose,

Throat,

Chest or belly or maybe some other part of your body.

So as we learn to pay attention to the breath,

It can sometimes be easiest to focus where the sensations are strongest inside the body.

So if it helps you experience the breath and you might note quietly in the mind in as you breathe in through the nose and out as you breathe out at the nose.

If you're feeling the breath at the chest or the abdomen and if it's a support for your practice as you breathe in you might quietly note rising and as you breathe out falling.

Only if that helps you experience the breath.

So noticing now where the breath is most obvious and resting in the awareness of breathing.

There'll be moments when you notice your attention naturally wanders away.

When you are aware that your attention is no longer with the breath,

Can you come back with this attitude of patience,

Kindness?

Simply begin again with the next breath.

This will happen many times,

It's part of the practice noticing the wandering mind,

Being aware,

Coming back with a smile,

Feeling the next breath.

And being curious now is your breath fast or slow,

Cool or warm,

Bumpy or smooth?

Deep or shallow?

No need to change your breath in any way.

Naturally feeling the breath coming in and out of the body,

Breath by breath,

Moment by moment.

And notice how it feels to pay attention in this caring,

Careful way to the body,

Breathing.

And then coming back to the whole body,

Sitting or lying.

And then continuing with your day.

Reviews

Lovely! Thank you 🙏🏽

Soft voice and great guidance.

Great short meditation. It is a pity it ends abruptly.

Really nice, just got broken off at the end.

Great practice on breath awareness. Thank you.🌼

Peaceful and soothing.

Really energising.Thank you

A simple meditation to bring us back to this moment and breath. Thank you 🙏💜