Pausing

This meditation focuses on the pauses in between breathes to help steady ourselves. This can help us with our focus and concentration if we're feeling overwhelmed, the pauses in betweeen the breath can help us find some clarity and peace of mind.

Transcript

So this meditation is all about finding some stillness in your day. I call it the catch and we have been doing these in our live sessions if you attend those. And it's all about being aware of the pause between the inhale and the exhale. So go and find somewhere comfortable and let's get started. So this meditation is to seek out some stillness and when we use our breath in mindfulness meditation we often think about the breath as a whole, An inhale and an exhale as a complete experience. But what we do in this meditation is recognise and acknowledge the pauses between the inhale and the exhale. And this can be used at any point of the day whether it's to calm and balance the mind or it can be a really useful way to let go of the day and still a busy mind before you go to sleep. So if you're comfortable just find somewhere where you can draw up through the spine or maybe you're already in bed and just make sure that your posture is equally spread across your left and your right hand side. Bring your hands down to your lap or your knees or just let them be next to you if you're lying in your bed. And then whenever you're ready close your eyes or just soften your gaze and take a few moments to arrive here let any sounds of life around you just fade to the background. And just know that everything can wait whilst you have this time for yourself for this meditation. And start to take some slightly longer and deeper breaths. And just at this point be aware of the rise and the fall of your breath within your body. You're not looking to change anything at the moment. So just take some lovely long nourishing breaths whether you're breathing through the nose or the mouth. And as you breathe out just find a little bit of softness in the body so releasing any tightness or tension. And just allow any thoughts to be there but just to pass on by for the next 10-15 minutes. So I want you to try and picture an egg or an oval shape. And as you breathe in just trace up one side of that egg or the oval. Just notice the catch or the pause at the top of the breath and as you exhale down the other side release. Noticing the catch at the bottom. So just take a few moments now and if you can change to that Yuzhai breath where you're breathing in and out through the nose. This is the most calming and balancing form of breath for the mind. So just gradually now try and equalize the length of the inhale and the exhale. So you breathe in, You gently pause, Notice, Exhale, Gently pause and notice. So just take a few moments now just being aware of the sensation of the inhale. How it feels to pause before you then release on the exhale and then pause once again at the bottom of the breath. So take a few moments here. And as you're doing this just allowing the silence, The stillness to become absorbed into your body and your mind. So now you have an equal length of inhale and exhale with a brief pause at the top and the bottom. I'd like you to really have an awareness now of this pause. For the next few moments just notice the pause between the inhale and the exhale. Maybe lengthening that pause a little more. So you inhale, You pause and hold and you exhale. And you go back into the inhale, Pause and hold, Exhale. And now switch. So notice the pause between the exhale and inhale, Maybe lengthening if this is comfortable for you. And not to worry about the pause between the inhale and exhale so much. So you inhale, Exhale, Pause. Notice, Have awareness before breathing in once again. And now what I'd like you to try and do is to lengthen the pause between the inhale and exhale and the exhale and inhale. So just a reminder we breathe in, We have an awareness, Anticipation of the pause. We have the pause, So you hold the breath for as long as is comfortable for you. You exhale for the same length as the inhale. And again you pause for as long as is comfortable for you. So longer holds now. And what I want you to do is not to notice the pause but notice the awareness of the pause. So just see what transpires when you have this moment of stillness for as long as is comfortable for you between your inhale and your exhale. Good. Just for these next few moments, As long as it's comfortable, Try and hold your breath for as long as you can. So breathe in, Hold your breath. Breathe out, Pause and hold your breath before breathing in again. So now we're sort of challenging and really focusing our attention on these very long pauses between the breath. Make sure that you are comfortable, Just take it to your own limit. And just notice how you feel when you are aware of this pause or this stillness. So for these final few moments I'd like you to have a longer exhale than inhale. So breathe in, Hold the breath for as long as you can. Exhale completely, Every drop of air leaves the lungs. Don't worry about the pause at the bottom. Hold for as long as you can, Exhale fully. And as you exhale, Find softness within the body. And this might become the 4-7-8 technique which you may have practiced with me before. So that is breathing in for a count of 4, Holding the breath for around 7, Doubling the length of the inhale for 8 as you exhale. So just for these next few moments, Breathe in for 4, Hold for 7, Notice the pause, Exhale for 8. So just now for the next few moments, Just make sure that the tension is released, Letting go of anything you are holding onto. I'm just going to leave you for 2 minutes now to practice which of the exercises we've done today is your favorite. So I really want you to bring an awareness of the pause, Allow stillness and silence and allow any thoughts that want to pop up to be there. Often there's a sense of clarity in these pauses and moments of stillness. So just take 2 minutes now and I'll speak to you again after where you can just be in your pause, In your stillness. Okay. And just working from your toes to your head, Making sure your body is relaxed. And notice how you feel. We have taken time to notice the complete nature of your breath. Now slowly allowing the breath to return to a comfortable rhythm and flow for you. Maybe beginning to find some tiny movements, Wiggling fingers and toes. Maybe bringing your hands together and giving them a little bit of a rub to create some warmth and heat and then just hovering the hands over the eyes. Blinking the eyes open inside the hands and bringing the hands down to your lap when you're ready. And I hope that's a useful meditation for you if you're looking or seeking clarity or stillness. If you are somebody who has a very busy mind and likes to just focus on something to in a way empty the mind or to just have a bit of head space if you like, Then this is a really good meditation. If you are during the day then maybe you like to keep it to the equal length of breath. Inhale, Exhale. Practicing where you feel the pause. But certainly as you're going towards the end of the day and you might want to use this to help you to sleep, Then you can definitely bring in those longer exhales to inhale ratio. And taking as long a pause as feels comfortable for you but don't ever feel pressure to hold the breath. You just find the rhythm and the flow that works for you. Well thank you for joining me today. I hope you have a lovely rest of your day and I'll see you soon.