This is a simple mindfulness meditation to help you calm spinning thoughts,
Get present in your body,
And start building a relationship with your breath.
You can practice it at any time throughout the day to make you feel a little more focused,
A little more alive,
And a little more energized.
So wherever you are right now,
Whether you are seated or standing or laying down,
Make any adjustments to your position so that you are comfortable.
And when you are comfortable,
You can gently close your eyes or just soften and fix your gaze on a point just beyond your nose.
And for the next few moments,
Just let yourself be here.
Let go of your to-do list.
Let go of your worries,
Your responsibilities.
There is time for everything,
And right now is a time for connection with yourself.
Imagine that the world is falling away and you are gathering up your focus and your attention and placing it on your breathing.
And just notice that as soon as you bring awareness to your breath,
You almost automatically begin to manipulate it and control it.
See if you can release the control or the desire to breathe in any specific way and practice just watching the breath.
Become a witness,
Not interfering,
Not projecting,
Not getting tangled up in the process,
Not criticizing or making stories about what is or isn't happening.
Just observe this miracle of a moment where without any conscious effort on your part,
Air flows in and air flows out and it circulates through you,
Giving you life.
Just notice without doing anything,
The breath comes in,
The breath goes out,
The breath comes in again.
Bring your attention to the tip of your nose,
Noticing the sensations as the air flows in and the air flows out.
Notice the temperature of the air and how that temperature may change on the in-breath and the out-breath.
See if you can focus your attention so closely on your nose that you can feel the direction of the tiny hairs in your nostrils shift as the breath travels in and out,
Over and through them.
And begin to track the breath sensations,
Following the path your breath takes from your nose up into your sinuses,
Noticing any sensation,
Any temperature,
Any movement as the breath flows through your sinuses.
Just looking for details in the breathing that you've never observed before.
And continue traveling with the breath,
Feeling the air move up into the sinuses and then travel down the throat before filling the lungs.
Notice how your chest moves when you breathe.
Notice any other movement in your body,
Maybe in your back,
Your shoulders,
Your abdomen.
Noticing any movement that occurs with your breathing and focusing your gentle observation on that movement.
What muscles engage on the in-breath?
What muscles do you use on the out-breath?
Deepening your sensing,
Your listening,
Your feeling of your breath here.
Listening with acute devotion,
Hearing with your whole body,
Feeling your breath and your body merge together.
One flow,
One wave.
Feeling your breath synchronized with your blood flow as the waves move through you.
Waves of breath tuning into the sounds of your breathing,
Tuning into the sensation of your breathing,
Tuning into any emotion rising to the surface,
Allowing the emotion to be carried on the wave of the breath.
You are not the wave,
You are the shore.
You are the container for all this activity,
All this feeling,
All this sensation.
Listening with your whole being,
Feeling with your full presence.
Really feel your breathing.
And make this next inhale the deepest one you have taken today and pause and hold it at the top,
Really soaking in the energy of what you just inhaled.
Feeling present with the sensation happening in your body,
Observing any thoughts entering your mind and release the air out,
Holding again at the bottom.
Releasing the difference in the sensation and then releasing the hold.
Returning to just allowing your breath to flow,
Releasing the control,
The manipulation of it.
Bringing your awareness to your posture,
To the sensation of your body touching the surface underneath you,
To the position of your hands.
And then from this space of deep connection with your body and with your breath,
Allow the room and the energies contained within it to return to you as you open your eyes and bring yourself back into your space.
