Hello my dear friend.
It's so good to see you.
Today I have a 15-minute practice for you.
We'll begin with a little bit of mindful breathing to help us settle in and get in touch with our breath and then we'll go from there.
If we've never met before,
My name is Amber.
I am a meditation teacher and I help people use mindfulness to manage their stress and anxiety.
So when you're ready,
Go ahead and find your comfortable position for today.
Maybe with your knees at 90 degrees and your feet resting flat on the floor or maybe sitting cross-legged if that's comfortable for you.
And just doing your best to find a position that is comfortable,
But maybe not so comfortable that you can easily fall asleep.
Maybe closing the eyes or allowing your gaze to rest downwards towards the floor two or three feet in front of you.
Starting to gently ease yourself into this initial period of settling and slowing down.
And we'll begin today's practice with a few rounds of box breath,
Which if you're not familiar just means that we'll inhale for a count of four,
Hold our breath for four,
Exhale for four,
And then hold our breath again for four.
I'll count them out for us,
But don't worry if you end up on your own cadence.
That's totally fine.
Everyone has different lung capacities,
So that's normal.
So all together now,
Drawing a nice long inhale,
Go ahead and fill up the lungs as much as possible.
And exhale,
Release the breath,
Let it all go,
Reset.
And together let's inhale for a count of one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Exhale for four,
Seal the lips,
Hold your breath for one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
And exhale one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold the breath again one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
And again inhale one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Pause,
Feel the fullness of the lungs,
Three,
Four,
And exhale.
Feel the lungs retract one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Pause one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Really nice job.
Again inhale one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Pause one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Exhale,
Make it last the entire count one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
And hold two,
Three,
Four.
Okay,
Last round,
Make your breath nice and full one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Pause one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Last exhale long and slow one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
And pause one,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Release control and just watch the breath.
Let it flow however it wants to flow.
Just watching,
Simply noticing the breath flowing in and out,
Just being attentive to what's here in your awareness right here and now.
And now noticing which areas of the body have the strongest sensation.
Maybe you notice the movement of the chest,
The rib cage,
And the belly.
Maybe you notice the hands resting in the lap or the touch points of the seat and back against your chair or the floor.
Notice the temperature of the room that you're in,
And perhaps the gentle brush of air on your skin,
The feeling of your feet against the floor,
Any sounds that you may be able to hear around you.
Familiar sounds,
Unfamiliar sounds,
Bringing a really gentle non-judgmental touch to whatever you find.
And when you find your mind wandering away,
Following a train of thought,
No big deal,
Just come on back.
Continuing to rest your mind in the present moment.
Let it simply watch as the breath flows in pauses briefly and then flows back out.
Awareness of the entire body,
The movement of the chest,
The head resting above your spine,
The entire back side of the body,
The front side of the body,
The left and the right,
Present here,
Just letting yourself be,
Allowing yourself to take just a few moments of rest.
Fully present,
Fully relaxed.
And when you're ready now,
Taking as much time as you need,
Start to bring some gentle movements into the fingers and toes to warm up the body again.
Start to let some light back into the eyes if you've closed them.
Thank you so much for your practice today.
I'll see you again very soon.
