Welcome to the practice of affectionate breathing.
Find a quiet and comfortable place to sit.
Position yourself in a way that feels comfortable for you,
Where you strike a balance of wakefulness and ease.
Sometimes we constrain ourselves with finding the right posture when we're meditating or practicing mindfulness.
My teacher Thich Nhat Hanh offered chrysanthemum pose,
Which is essentially whatever position supports your practice.
So the key here is not to strain yourself,
To be gentle with yourself as much as possible,
Keeping your back straight and gently supported,
Slightly dropping your shoulder blades and gently tucking your chin towards your chest,
And again tuning in to what feels most comfortable for you.
Take three slow easy deep breaths to relax and let go of whatever burdens you might be carrying in this moment.
And then let your eyelids gently close or partially close whatever feels most comfortable for you.
And if it's helpful,
Put your hand over your heart or wherever it is most comforting for you.
And remind yourself that you're not only focusing in on your attention,
But on kind attention to your experience and to yourself.
Now finding your breath wherever you can feel it most easily,
Possibly at the tip of your nose or your belly or maybe the gentle movement of your whole body.
Just letting yourself notice this simple sensation of breathing,
Just feeling your breath for a while.
Your mind will wander.
It is the nature of the mind to wander and the practice of mindfulness is really just gently returning to your point of attention when you notice that your mind has wandered.
So with kindness and love,
Gently returning back to your breath,
To the feeling of yourself breathing.
Sort of like escorting a puppy or I have a two-year-old,
A child,
Whenever they go astray,
Gently bringing them back.
See if it's possible to incline toward your breathing as you might incline toward a child or beloved pet with curiosity and tenderness.
The practice of being tender with ourselves is so important and often undervalued in our society.
So touching into that tenderness,
Showering yourself with that tenderness and letting that sense of tenderness just wash over you.
Letting your body breathe you,
There's nothing you need to do.
Just notice how your breath nourishes your body even when you're not paying any attention to it.
Now feeling your whole body breathe,
Gently moving with the rising and falling of the breath,
Like the movement of the sea.
Or if you like,
Allowing your body to be rocked by your breath back and forth just like a baby would be rocked and soothed and caressed.
Giving yourself fully over to your breath,
Letting yourself become your breath,
Gently rocked and soothed back and forth.
Rocked and soothed back and forth.
Now take a moment and savor the stillness of your body and slowly and gently open your eyes.
Know that your breath is always with you and in any moment you can practice affectionate breathing and shower yourself with kindness,
Compassion,
Care and affectionate attention.
