Savoring Breath And Life: Meditation On Gratitude

Through mindful awareness of the breath, this Stillpoint practice invites a return to the present moment and the deep ease of being alive. Lynn guides you to notice your nervous system’s readiness to protect, to soften tension, and to breathe with appreciation. As you savor the breath, you may sense gratitude for the flow of life and connection with all living beings. Awareness of our final breath brings tenderness and reverence for each moment we have now.

Transcript

We breathe,

We notice as we're looking around that in fact we're not last night,

We're not in tomorrow,

We're right here.

One of the most powerful ways that we can work with ourselves is to be here in this moment.

Our nervous system is always going to bring in the past and help us predict,

Am I safe right now?

But right now to the nervous system means generally and for the next 50 years and how can you be sure of that?

And you don't know that my body's going to be healthy.

The nervous system tends to bring in a lot of chatter and then we come right into this very specific moment in time.

So as we're looking around the space that we're in,

Is there a fair predictability that your body will be safe for the next 20 minutes or so?

And if that's the case,

We could let that in.

Let go of our tendency to want to jump into action or to be ready.

Sometimes what keeps us out of enjoying this present moment is the readiness to move into protection,

Fight,

Flight,

Freeze.

Fight and flight are the sympathetic arousal,

They're more active,

We might be pulling ahead in our chair.

Freeze is more of a dull,

Frozen state,

Unaware.

Let's bring our attention into the specifics of your experience right at the moment.

So part of it is what we see,

What does it feel like to breathe?

And we've all had experiences of not having ease in our breath.

Some of that is physical,

We might have a cold,

Maybe we've got asthma or something going on in our chest,

Our lungs.

So we all know what it's like to breathe with some difficulty and for most of us that's not an ongoing condition.

For most of us we have the ability to breathe with more ease,

Especially if we put our attention there.

So we have the physical,

We also have the nervous system.

If our nervous system is alarmed,

We might be holding our breath and that alarm might be appropriate for decades ago or it might be something that we've developed as habit over time.

Right now in this moment,

You need to hold your breath to avoid detection.

We hunker down,

We get very still,

We hardly breathe at all because we don't want to reveal our position.

And of course that's prey-predator dynamic.

So as you're looking around and as you're noticing your environment and noticing,

Feel safe enough to come and do this practice,

We refine our assessment to see right now in this moment it is safe enough for me to make some noise,

To take a deeper breath,

To move my body around.

How could we signal that?

One of the things we might do is breathing in,

Bring your arms up,

Let your body move,

Make some noise with your breath,

Breaking through,

Letting our body have some movement,

Some range and some ease.

Notice if you have ease in your breath,

Notice the blessing of having ease in your breath.

And if your breath is somewhere in the middle or maybe you're having difficulty breathing right now,

Maybe see if you could at least relax your body around that difficulty,

Relax some of the fear perhaps.

When we were working with the fear from COVID,

People couldn't breathe.

There are definitely things that make it more difficult to breathe.

And for most of us,

A lot of the time,

It's not that there's a physical disability or physical issue,

It's that we're tightened up,

That we're not really breathing with fullness.

Often we're not really appreciating our breath because our breath just goes on,

It's an autonomic process.

Bring our awareness to the breath and to savor the experience of your breath,

Whether it's beautiful and full or whether it's compromised somehow,

To savor whatever it is that's here.

And if you breathe a little bit more deeply and then maybe soften your body as you breathe out,

Our body loves to relax on the exhale.

You might do some cyclic sighing,

Deep double inhale through the nose and then a long slow exhale,

Like you're breathing out through a thin straw.

And as you're breathing out,

Notice what does that feel like?

Some of the softening that happens as we breathe out.

And let your breath go as long as you're comfortable.

We're not squeezing the belly in,

But we're letting our belly soften.

And then another deep double inhale.

Noticing what there is here to appreciate about your breath right now.

Maybe you let out a sigh,

Alternate nostril breathing practice.

Maybe that's something you enjoy and you could bring back a memory of it or maybe do a round or two of it.

Right now in this moment,

What is there to savor about your breath,

To appreciate or enjoy about your breath?

And maybe it's that you're in a location where you have a lot of fresh air,

So there's oxygen in the air.

There's so many different experiences that we could be having.

What is there to really savor and feel grateful about around your breath right now?

And as you breathe in deeply,

Notice the sides of your ribcage open a little,

Expand a little.

And there's that whole body softening from head to toes.

Let your body release as you breathe out.

As I look out my window,

I can see the trees.

I know a lot of the oxygen in the air right here is from the waters of the ocean and of the trees that are also breathing.

What about the breath of mother earth?

The wind,

The breezes that cool us when we're hot,

The oxygen that helps to light fire,

Extend that blessing out to other people who might be really enjoying ease in their breath.

Maybe people who are experiencing some worry about their breath,

Could you send them some ease?

Our breath is connected with our life.

When we have our last breath,

Life in this body ceases.

Notice what your response is thinking about that.

And maybe you've had experiences of being with someone as they've passed,

As they've taken their last breath.

There's a long exhale and then there's not another inhale.

And sometimes we know there's a gradual move into that transition.

Sometimes it's very sudden.

When we attune to the preciousness and the fact of at some point we're not going to have another in-breath,

Notice what that brings up.

There might be fear.

I don't want to go yet.

I really want to stay here in my body living.

For some people there would be a sense of relief.

Someone's in a lot of pain or there's a lot going on.

Sometimes it's a sense of relief that the struggle is over.

Bring your awareness into your breath,

But also into the preciousness of life.

What is in your body?

What is in the energy?

What happened to your breath as you were thinking about that as I was saying those words?

At some point we will all have our last exhale.

We probably all want to go peacefully.

To bring ourselves away from the future,

Sometimes there could be a sense of relief,

Especially if you're in a very difficult situation physically or your circumstances are very difficult.

Pain in the body,

Illness,

Sometimes people's circumstances are really difficult.

Sometimes our circumstances are a little bit easier,

But there's still life takes a lot of effort.

Perhaps it just crosses our mind that at some point that effort is going to come to a close as well.

We don't want to lose everything.

We don't want to lose the joy and the connection and our life and the juiciness and the love and energy and excitement,

All of that.

And sometimes it helps to bring it into our awareness that our breath isn't going to continue forever.

Our life isn't going to continue forever.

And certainly our experience is not going to continue.

So if you were to back up a little and appreciate the experiences that you're really enjoying in life these days,

I really enjoy where I live.

I enjoy being able to go out into the forest.

I enjoy having my dog here.

I enjoy friends and family.

What is it that comes to mind of things that you really enjoy in your life right now?

Let's take a moment,

Savoring those.

It might be as you look around the space here and that you're seeing things that are associating pictures of people you love or whatever that might be.

Oh yeah,

That is something I really enjoy.

Maybe it's a memory of something you don't do anymore.

And memories of the exhilaration of riding my bicycle.

Oxygen in my body and my thigh muscles were strong and had good balance and I used to ride my bike every day.

I don't really get to enjoy that now,

But I really enjoyed in the past.

What are your associations right now?

What's coming into your mind right now?

Into your thoughts,

Into your heart.

Sometimes it's a contrast.

I'm enjoying my breath.

I have a lot of ease in my breath right now.

In two ways.

One is my lungs are taking in the oxygen fine and breathing out fine.

And another one is that I have a long habit of continuity in my breath.

So I'm not feeling that kind of frozen,

I can't afford to breathe.

I feel a lot of ease in the breath with my nervous system.

So what's the situation for you right now?

Around enjoying your breath.

Probably when you're out doing something you enjoy,

Like working in your garden,

Your breath tends to get smoother.

And we're not thinking about our breath,

But as we relax and really are absorbed in something we enjoy,

Our breath does tend to get smoother.

And thinking about doing something we enjoy will also often bring that feeling of ease into our body,

To our breath.

Thinking about something you enjoy,

Let it fully form.

Images,

Aromas,

Sense perception through your hands.

Maybe it's the feeling of a really long hug with somebody.

Feeling their warmth,

You're breathing in their scent.

You can feel the goodwill and the love between you.

And let your shoulders soften.

If you were to say,

Life is precious,

I savor and appreciate and enjoy my life.

Some parts of our life we love and we enjoy,

And other parts not so much.

And it might be that we have persevered and stood in our courage and something's shifted now.

That we feel more in alignment or we're not hiding ourselves.

So some of that might be,

You know,

I've really come out,

Maybe come out as queer or something like that,

But just maybe come out as,

I can afford to be who I am.

I can afford to be vulnerable and let people really know who I am.

Or maybe it's,

I can afford to see that I'm in freeze and then make an assessment of,

I look around,

I check out the energy,

The vibe.

Maybe it's safe enough for me to come forward a little bit and connect.

Or maybe we look around and go,

No,

Not right now.

These people are not safe for me to do that with.

So I'm just going to protect myself and I'm going to be kind with myself.

That's my priority.

Let yourself experience the flavor of this.

All of the ways in which we appreciate and savor life.

And also a lot of the time we're unconscious.

We're not really here.

And that's one of the ways that we move through life.

It's one of the ways when we're working with this kind of awakening,

Somatic mindfulness and being more awake,

That we examine and we look and we pay more attention.

What's going on here?

And in what ways am I in a survival response?

Could be very strong,

Really easy to see.

It could be a lot more subtle.

What would help you savor your life more?

These are some ways that I could savor my life more in terms of really being here for it,

Enjoying it,

Noticing it.

It might be that when you're finished this practice,

You're going to go stand outside and let the sun warm up your face or savor your food or a friend.

So we've circled through some territory here and these kind of open-ended somatic inquiries,

There's often a lot that comes in.

There's so many different things.

And sometimes we're in a situation where,

You know what,

I don't have enough joy in my life right now.

I'm going to bring more in.

And so that's a good thing to know as well.

I'm feeling kind of dull right now.

I'm feeling like I'm not seeing enough people or maybe my circumstances have changed and I need to bring in more joy.

And then how could we do that?

Resourcing ourselves through strength and joy.

Things that are dampening our enjoyment are things that we could work with maybe over time.

We could move into a different location.

We could nurture different friends.

We could really work with our breath and our body agency that we could tap into when we put our attention there.

A couple more breaths.

I'm enjoying my body's ability to take in oxygen and breathe.

Reviews

Thank you, Lynne! This was so helpful. I haven’t been able to come to as many Lives lately, so I appreciate your recordings library. 🙏

Just lovely. Feels like listening to a wise friend—thank you Lynn!

Fabulous! I love your insights and curious questions. Always terrific food for thought as well as being very relaxing. Thank you.