Hello and welcome to day 6 of the mindfulness meditation training.
Take a moment to find a comfortable position in which you are going to meditate today.
Remember to keep your back straight but relaxed.
Relax your body and allow it to settle.
Bring your attention to here and now and to the task in which you are presently engaging.
Over the last few days you had an opportunity to try and experience breathing meditation.
You tried focusing on your breath in a few different ways and some of them might have been easier or more difficult to follow.
Take now a little time to recall what worked for you best,
What helped you to engage in those meditations.
Think about different ways of observing your breath,
Following its path,
Observing it in your nostrils,
In your chest and in your abdomen.
Was it easier for you to focus with or without counting your breaths?
How were you influenced?
By your sitting position,
By your environment,
Maybe even by activities which you performed right before the mindfulness training.
Explore your answers with curiosity and openness.
Spend also a little time thinking about how you felt after engaging in mindfulness meditation.
Now let's begin the practice of mindfulness meditation.
Take a few deep breaths,
Inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth.
Allow for your breath to ground you in the present moment.
With the next out breath close your eyes and allow your breath to return to its natural rhythm.
Breathe in and out through the nose.
Become aware of your body and of different sensations which you may be feeling.
Breathe in awareness and softness and exhale tension.
And now bring your attention to your breath,
Notice how it enters and exits your body.
Observe its qualities.
Is it deep or shallow?
Slow or fast?
What else can you notice?
Observe how your breath travels through your body in a wave-like form.
Follow that movement.
And now choose a place where your breath is most prominent and start counting your breaths.
One as you breathe in,
Two as you breathe out.
Continue counting up to ten and then start again from one.
If at any point your mind wanders or your attention drifts elsewhere,
With a gentle smile acknowledge your thoughts and return to your breath.
Your breath is your anchor.
Breathe in and out.
Remember that it is natural for various thoughts to come to your mind.
Just allow them to be and pass by.
It's your thoughts,
Acknowledge them and return to focusing on your breath.
In and out.
Stay with your breath.
Now,
Stop counting and let go focusing on your breath.
Bring your attention back to your body and to the room in which you sit in.
Notice sensations in your neck,
Back,
Arms and legs.
Notice sounds around you.
Just allow them to come to your awareness.
Can you distinguish any smells or a sensation of air on your skin?
Ground yourself in this moment and place and when you are ready,
Take a deep breath and lean forward.
Stretch.
Take time to move your joints and muscles and when you are ready,
Open your eyes and sit up.
Say thank you to yourself for dedicating this time to the mindfulness meditation practice.
