Hello,
My name is Haley and thank you for joining me for this 10 minute practice where we will work on cultivating awareness by first becoming aware of our breath.
So I'll invite you now to find a comfortable seated position.
This doesn't have to be cross-legged on the floor,
However if that's comfortable for you,
You can also sit cross-legged on the floor.
Otherwise you can sit in a chair with your feet resting on the ground or you might choose to sit with your back supported against a wall or even sitting on the couch with your back supported by the back of the couch.
Truly you can choose any position in which to sit here that is comfortable for you.
You may even choose to lie down on your back,
However we are going to try to stay awake during this practice so if you feel like you might drift off to sleep lying on your back,
Then just picking a comfortable upright seated position.
So once you've found your comfortable seated position,
I'll invite you to either close your eyes here or just begin to gaze softly down the line of your nose towards the ground.
Your hands can just rest in your lap or they can come to rest on the tops of your knees.
We're sitting up nice and tall but we're also in a position of comfort,
Of stability and of ease.
Take a moment just to tune into the sensation of your body sitting in this position.
Also noticing how it feels to rest either your glute muscles or your sit bones down into your seat.
Drawing your awareness just down to this place where your body meets the earth or the chair or the couch.
And then we'll take three cleansing breaths to open our practice together today.
So when you're ready you can begin to inhale deeply through the nose and exhale out of the mouth,
Maybe letting out a sigh on the exhalation.
Inhaling through the nose,
Exhaling out of the mouth and doing this three times.
Once you've completed your three cleansing breaths,
Just allow your breath to return back to its natural pace,
Natural rhythm in and out of the nose.
And here we're going to begin to turn our attention and our awareness in towards that breath,
Taking a moment to become curious about your own breath.
So really noticing the breath as it flows in and out of your body here and noticing the types of qualities that it has.
So right now there's no need to change your breath in any way.
The way that you are currently breathing is perfect.
But just notice if that breath feels deep or shallow.
If you feel the breath moving all the way down into the lower abdomen,
Into the belly,
Or maybe you just feel the breath moving in and out of the chest,
In and out of the heart space.
Or maybe you can sense this flow of air in and out of the nostrils.
Just noticing where you most prominently feel that breath moving through your body.
And as you practice watching the breath naturally flow in and out of the body here,
You might find that your mind is coming back and is trying to pull your awareness away from watching the breath and towards whatever it is that the mind wants to think about right now.
Maybe that's your to-do list or the responsibilities you have for the rest of your day.
And if you feel the mind pulling your awareness away from the breath here,
That's no problem.
The mind thinks that's what it does.
Just in the same way that our eyes see and our ears hear,
We can't necessarily stop them from doing that.
We just can begin to observe.
So each time the mind creates a thought and that thought draws your attention away from the breath,
Gently acknowledge this.
Say,
Ah,
Yes,
I'm thinking.
And then just guide your awareness gently back to the breath,
Back to this place in the body where you can most prominently feel your breath moving in and out of the body.
Continuing to gently watch the breath here and practice becoming aware of those thoughts when they arise,
Allowing them to arise,
And then gently bringing your awareness back to the breath.
And you might notice that by simply turning your awareness towards the breath,
The breath begins to slow or maybe even deepen a little bit.
And this is no problem.
We simply watch and notice as the breath naturally changes or perhaps stays the same.
And now letting go of all effort here,
Letting go of feeling that you need to watch the breath or watch the thoughts,
Letting go of that effort and slowly bringing your awareness back into the body,
Back into this time and this space.
And maybe gently beginning to bat the eyes open and closed here,
Bringing a sense of sight back into your experience.
And it might feel good to bring some small movements back into the body as well,
Maybe making fists with the hands and then extending those fingers out wide.
Or rolling out the shoulders,
Stretching out the legs,
Whatever it is that you feel you'd like to do just to wake the body back up,
Coming back into this time and space.
So thank you very much for practicing with me today for this 10-minute breath awareness meditation.
And I'll just close our practice today by saying that taking a moment to tune into the movement of the breath in your body is something that you don't have to do in a formal meditation practice sitting down,
But it's something that you can do at any point throughout your day-to-day lives.
And I very highly recommend this practice,
Even if it's just 30 seconds or so,
To take a deep breath,
Turn that awareness towards the breath and just watch the breath naturally flowing in and out of your body.
And each time you do this throughout the day,
You just bring a little bit of awareness back to the present moment and create some space around whatever it is that you might be doing at that moment in your day.
Thank you so much for practicing with me today and for allowing me the honor and the privilege to guide your practice.
I hope to practice with you again soon.
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti.
