Welcome to this guided meditation on mindfulness of breath,
Where we will explore the practice of cultivating mindful awareness by using the breath as an anchor to the present moment.
As always,
Find a comfortable and quiet space where you can sit or lie down.
If you choose to sit down,
Use a cushion to support the sit bones,
Making sure your knees fall below the hips.
Let your hands rest on your lap,
Or if you're lying down,
Let the hands rest by the sides.
Make any final adjustments to ensure that you can completely relax and let go today.
And if you feel comfortable doing so,
Begin to let the eyes close.
And if you choose to keep the eyes open,
Rest your attention on a space two feet in front of you,
Letting your gaze soften,
Not trying to focus on any specific point,
But rather seeing if you can extend your vision to the corners of your eyes.
And remember,
You are in control of this experience.
If you feel distressed at any point,
Please allow yourself to pause the practice,
Take a few deep breaths,
Move around,
Or do anything else that would be supportive to you.
Now,
Let's begin.
Let's start by taking a deep inhalation,
Breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth,
Releasing any tensions or distractions you may be holding on to,
Letting go of anything that's happened before this moment and arriving here right now.
Let your breath become a bridge that connects you to the present moment,
For the breath is your doorway to consciously be here now.
Now imagine yourself on the shore of a vast and serene ocean.
Witness the sea,
Imagining deep colors of blue,
White,
Green.
Picture the waves gently rolling in and out,
A rhythmic dance of the tides.
Listen to the waves peak and crash.
This ocean represents the vastness of your mind,
And the waves,
The sands,
The fish,
All symbolize the thoughts and feelings that come and go.
Observe your mind as such.
You're the ocean that is separate from its contents,
The sand,
The shells,
The fish,
The seaweed,
Just like you are separate from your thoughts,
Emotions,
Sensations.
And with this,
You can watch the thoughts,
Feelings,
And sensations come and go,
Like sand settling on the seafloor,
Or like a fish swimming off into the distance.
Stay like this for a few moments,
Observing the mind as an ocean and its contents,
Letting the contents go.
Now shift your attention to your breath.
Visualize each breath as a wave,
Rising and falling.
As you inhale,
Imagine a wave building,
Cresting at its peak.
And as you exhale,
See the wave gracefully receding back into the ocean.
Feel the ebb and flow of your breath,
Like the rise and fall of the waves.
Your breath becomes your anchor,
Grounding you in the present moment.
The anchor of your awareness on the breath keeps you riding the waves of the breath.
Whenever your mind drifts,
Gently guide it back to the sensations of your breath,
Like a surfer riding the waves,
Always returning to the anchor and stillness of the breath.
Just riding the wave,
Feeling the breath rise and falling,
Letting the sand of distraction settle on the seafloor,
Bringing your awareness back to the anchor of the breath.
As you ride the waves of your breath,
Notice the sensations of each inhale and exhale.
Feel the coolness of air as you breathe in,
And the warmth as you breathe out.
Allow your breath to be a steady rhythm,
Just as the waves maintain their rhythm along the shoreline.
Again,
Letting the sand settle,
If you get distracted,
Bringing your attention back to the gentle rhythm of the in and the out breath.
Now let's introduce another visualization.
Imagine that with each inhale,
You're drawing in a sense of calm and presence from the ocean around you.
Picture the peaceful depths of the water infusing your being with serenity and clarity.
As you exhale,
Imagine releasing any worries,
Tensions,
Or distractions,
Allowing them to dissolve into the ocean,
Like the sand settling on the seafloor.
Feel a sense of lightness and release to each out breath.
As we conclude this meditation,
Bring your focus back to the breath as the anchor.
Take a few moments to take a few deep breaths,
Feeling the rise and the fall,
The rhythm of your inhalation and exhalation.
Now dropping the focus on the breath,
Slowly begin to bring your awareness back into your physical surroundings without opening the eyes.
Feel the air on your skin.
Feel yourself making contact with the ground.
Begin to gently wiggle the fingers,
The toes.
Gently blink the eyes open.
Take a moment to just rest here,
Observing the space around you.
Just trying to notice one thing you haven't noticed before in your environment.
As you move out of this practice,
Remember that just like the ocean waves,
Thoughts will come and go,
Your breath remains a constant anchor that can guide you back to the here and now,
To the stillness within.
Carry this sense of mindful awareness with you as you continue your day.
Thank you for joining me in this mindfulness of the breath meditation.
Until next time,
May you ride the waves of life with a grounded and present heart.
May you be well,
May you be at ease,
May you be free from suffering.
