Welcome to Cool Karma Collected's mindfulness training.
This will be the breath awareness practice.
So just finding a comfortable seat whether that's on a chair or against a wall on the floor.
It's finding a place where you can have an upright spine and if you're on a chair just making sure that the feet are flat on the floor without being crossed.
And just placing the hands in the lap.
You might just take a few breaths to begin with here just allowing yourself to really arrive in this practice.
So just noticing if the mind is distracted or if you are distracted.
Just taking a few nice deep breaths.
Letting yourself just be here.
So when you're ready we're going to begin the practice just by gently closing the eyes.
If that feels comfortable if it doesn't you might just choose to divert your gaze to the floor.
And just bringing awareness to what's here.
So perhaps there are distractions already that can be heard.
Maybe you can hear sounds in the soundscape or perhaps you can just notice the thoughts wandering.
Maybe there is an email that you are thinking about or a meeting that you need to get to.
Just acknowledging all of this.
Then also becoming aware of the fact that you're breathing.
And just starting to settle on the breath making it the thing that you are choosing to attend to and focus all of your attention.
It's like the breath is being spotlighted and it's center stage.
All the other things,
The sounds,
The thoughts,
The sensations are just falling by the wayside.
They're there but the breath is center in the field of your awareness.
It's beginning to notice the full cycle of your breath.
Really seeing if you can feel the sensation of air as it moves into the body and as it leaves the body.
Just aware of the full duration of the breath,
Of each breath.
Noticing perhaps if the breath is shallow or deep.
If it's staggered or quite even.
You don't need to really change the breath in any way.
Seeing if you can pay attention to it.
Maybe there is one sensation of breath that's most vivid to you.
Maybe you can actually feel the air as it enters into the nostrils.
Perhaps as it moves down through the throat and then a short while later as it returns back out through the nostrils.
Maybe you can feel that sensation there.
Perhaps it's the rising and falling of your belly.
That ballooning of the diaphragm and then the gentle receding back.
Maybe it's the chest.
Feeling the expansion and retraction of the chest.
It could just be some greater awareness of the breath.
Feeling the entire body as it kind of gently balloons out and then returns back.
Whatever the sensation that's most vivid for you.
Just choosing the one now.
Setting that as the one thing that you're going to attend to.
It's like we're just riding off the back of each breath sensation.
See we can really experience this breath.
And this breath.
And this breath.
If it works for you to work with the count just breathing in and out counting one breath.
In and out two breath.
All the way to ten if that's a practice that works for you.
Maybe choosing to do that now.
And again just remembering that it's the mind's tendency to wander.
To get distracted by sounds,
By thoughts,
Sensations,
By feelings of boredom,
Restlessness,
Tiredness.
And all we need to do is just bring our awareness back to this breath.
Again and again returning our attention to this breath.
A hundred times over the mind might wander.
That is mindfulness is the awareness that the mind has wandered and the gently returning it back to the focus of the breath or whatever it is we're attending to in that moment.
So as best as you can just trying to work with each in-breath,
Each out-breath.
Not caring for the last breath,
Not worrying about the next simply showing up for this breath.
Just seeing if you can work breath by breath by breath.
Moment by moment by moment.
Just this inhalation.
Just this exhalation.
This constant cycle of in and out.
Always there.
Wonderful anchor to this present moment.
And you might begin to just take a few deeper longer breaths just breathing in maybe to a count of four and out to a count of four.
Then maybe breathing in as deeply as you possibly can and then sighing out through the mouth.
And breathing in nice and deeply and out through the mouth.
Let's do that one more time breathing in and out through the mouth.
And then when you feel ready just beginning to open your eyes maybe have a quick stretch and resume whatever it is you were doing before taking this practice.
Thank you.
