Hello and welcome.
Welcome to day one on the circle of calm and today we will do a basic breath meditation.
So let's begin.
Find a comfortable seat and make sure you're warm and take some time to get settled,
Grounded,
Comfortable and at ease.
And do you know that during the meditation there's nowhere to go and nothing to achieve.
And feel the position you have chosen to sit in and notice where you have placed your feet.
Notice the position of your legs,
Your hips,
Your spine and feel the breath where it is most obvious.
And notice where you can feel the breath in the body.
Perhaps you can feel it closer to the throat.
Perhaps you feel it near the nostrils and perhaps you actually feel it in the chest,
Behind the ribs,
Near your shoulder blades or maybe even further down in the belly.
So where in your body can you feel the breath move?
Where in your body is the movement of the breath most obvious?
And there's nothing you need to change here.
Nothing you need to achieve.
All I would like you to do is that you feel the breath in the body.
So where in your body can you feel the breath move?
And what is the movement like?
Is your breath quick or is it slow?
Is the movement of your breath shallow or deep?
So keep on noticing how the breath is moving through your body,
How you can feel it in different places and how the quality of your breath might change.
And simply let the breath move in and out and I will leave it up to you whether you would like to breathe in through the mouth and nose or maybe just a nose or just a mouth you can choose.
Breathe in the way that makes you most at ease.
Breathe in the way that makes you feel most comfortable and keep on noticing the movement of the breath in your body.
And we are going to count the rounds of breath.
And what you might notice is that after each inhale and exhale there's a little break and then you'll feel the in breath again and the out breath and there might be that little pause again.
So notice the rhythm of your breath and then we'll start counting.
You feel the in breath,
The out breath,
Then the pause and that is one.
Another in breath,
Out breath,
Pause,
That is two.
And you count up to ten and then you go back to one.
And gently keep on noticing the rounds of breath and don't worry if you lost track,
If you lost track of the counting.
Keep on noticing the in breath,
The out breath,
The little pause in between the breaths.
And no matter where you are you can let go of the counting.
And what did you notice?
Were you able to stay present?
And where did your mind take you?
And let's feel the breath again.
Where in your body can you feel it?
And you don't have to get competitive with the breath.
Feel the breath,
Feel the breath instead of hear the breath.
And if your mind takes you elsewhere bring the attention back,
Back to the breath in your body.
So whenever a thought arises we can label it thought and then we can move the attention back,
Back to the breath in your body,
Back to the quality of your breath.
So feel the breath instead of hear the breath and allow the breath to be effortless.
And let the counting be effortless.
And keep on noticing how the breath feels and how you feel.
What can you notice in your body,
In your physical body?
And we don't have to put a label on it,
We don't have to interpret it.
We only need to feel the breath and feel the body,
Feel the sensations in your body.
What can you notice now,
Right now?
What is present in your body?
So no labeling,
No stories,
No explanations.
What can you feel in your body,
In your physical body?
Can you feel the breath move and how does the breath feel?
Like at the beginning is the breath quick or is it slow?
Is it deep or shallow?
And we're almost there.
Just feel the breath,
Feel the breath move through you.
Feel the in-breath,
Feel the out-breath.
There's nothing to achieve.
And there's nowhere where you need to go.
Take another deep breath in and full breath out.
Two more like that.
Deep breath in,
Deep breath out.
One more.
Deep breath in,
Deep breath out.
And then go for any effort.
And when you're ready you can gently open your eyes but stay where you are.
And notice now when you have your eyes open has anything changed?
Has anything shifted?
And ask yourself how do I feel right now?
Not yesterday,
Not an hour ago,
But now.
Ask yourself how do I feel right now?
And also how does your breath feel?
And you can stay where you are.
If you feel like sitting still a little longer you're more than welcome.
And we meet again tomorrow.
So feel the breath once more and let go of any effort.
And I'll speak to you tomorrow.
