Welcome to the mindful breathing meditation.
Begin by taking a moment to sincerely congratulate yourself for taking this time out of your day to bring your mind and body into balance.
Allow yourself to sit comfortably in the chair in a wakeful posture.
Bringing your attention and awareness into your physical body.
Notice what it feels like to stop at this time of day.
Knowing that there's nothing to do here,
Nowhere to get to,
But to just be.
We all have an energy that moves through our body.
Even if we're sitting relatively still,
There's an inner motor that runs within us.
Take a moment to notice how your inner energy or your inner motor is running at this time of day.
If you've been busy or have a lot on your mind,
You may find that that energy is moving quickly through your body,
That your motor may be running on high.
And this will present with a sense of rush or hurry or possibly feelings of stress in the body.
You may find that your motor is running on medium,
That energy is just moving moderately through your body.
Or you may find your motor running on low.
That energy is moving slowly through the body.
Not just simply notice and acknowledge how your inner motor is running without trying to change it in any way.
Just simply noticing and letting it be.
Moving to bring your attention and awareness into your physical body.
Begin to become aware of your breathing.
Noticing where you feel the sensation of breath most distinct in your body.
This may be at your nostril.
You may feel the cool air coming in and the warm air leaving right at the tip of your nose.
You may feel your breath in your chest rising as you inhale,
Falling as you exhale.
You may feel your breath in your abdomen ballooning in and out with each inhalation and each exhalation.
Just noticing where that sensation of breath is most distinct in your body.
And then bringing a wakeful attention and awareness to that sensation.
Beginning to follow each breath.
Noticing the sensation of breath as you breathe in and as you breathe out.
Allow yourself to hop on the wave of each breath.
And continuing to ride on the wave of each breath with your wakeful attention and awareness.
Notice the beginning,
Middle and end of each inhalation as you breathe in.
And the beginning,
Middle and end of each exhalation as you breathe out.
Continue to notice each breath.
And any time that you become aware that your mind has wandered away from the breath,
It's been distracted by external noise,
Physical sensation,
But most likely your own internal mental chatter.
Just simply notice that the mind was distracted.
Acknowledge the distraction and then gently,
Gracefully,
With intention,
Return right to that same place you found your breath.
And simply start again.
Breathing in,
Knowing that you're breathing in.
Breathing out,
Knowing that you're breathing out.
I feel and touch here… Be aware of what your mind is attending to.
If you notice that your mind has wandered away from the breath,
Simply acknowledge this without any judgment of yourself or your wandering mind.
Just gracefully,
Gently redirect your attention right back to the body.
And follow each breath again.
Truly,
Do not wander too bowed down.
Each time you notice that your mind has wandered away from the breath,
Just gently and gracefully redirect your attention back to your body.
And continue with a wakeful awareness of each breath as it unfolds.
Right.
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Continue to cultivate a wakeful awareness of each breath.
And if you notice the mind's wandered,
Simply acknowledge where it went and gently and gracefully come back to your breathing.
As we come to the end of this breathing meditation,
Make an intention to continue to cultivate this state of presence throughout the rest of your day.
