Breathing Settling into whatever posture you're going to use with this practice.
If you're sitting in a chair,
Maybe having feet flat on the floor and legs uncrossed.
And if it's comfortable,
Gently closing your eyes.
If you'd prefer to keep your eyes open,
Just letting the gaze fall unfocused,
Somewhere on the floor in front of you.
And taking a few moments now really to settle.
Maybe taking a few more deliberate in-breaths,
A few more deliberate out-breaths.
And on the out-breath,
Just settling a little bit more onto the chair or floor or whatever's holding you.
And we'll begin by bringing awareness somewhere low down in the body.
Maybe starting with the feet.
And exploring whatever sensations there may be now,
Where the feet contact floor.
So bringing a warm and a gentle curiosity to the pattern of sensations here,
Feelings of touch or pressure,
Maybe contact with shoes or socks or air,
Warmth or coolness perhaps,
Whatever's here.
And becoming aware of sensations where the body meets the seat.
Exploring these sensations.
Touch,
Pressure,
Warmth,
Coolness.
Whatever's here.
And allowing the attention to begin to rise up the back,
Chest open,
Shoulders soften.
And beginning to become more aware of the breath.
Aware perhaps that each out-breath is followed by an in-breath.
Each in-breath is followed by an out-breath.
And beginning to allow the attention to gather with the breath.
And there's no special way of breathing here,
It's just keeping the attention with the actual sensations of breathing,
Resting there for a time.
And when the mind wanders as it will,
Simply bringing attention back to the breath.
And seeing what it might be like now not to judge the breath,
Simply to let it be as it is.
No right way,
No wrong way.
And perhaps bringing the same attitude of allowing to the rest of your experience.
There's nothing to be fixed here,
No particular state to be achieved.
Just letting your experience be your experience.
And maybe becoming interested in what's happening here.
Moving towards what you're experiencing with an attitude of enquiry,
Of curiosity.
And when the mind wanders as it will,
That's perfectly OK,
It's just what minds do,
It's not a mistake,
It's not a fault.
So when you notice it,
Maybe seeing that as a valuable moment of matter awareness,
You've seen what your mind is up to.
So just noticing where the mind went,
And you might inwardly say to yourself,
Oh yeah,
There's thinking,
Or there's planning,
Or whatever,
And then gently,
Kindly bringing attention back to the breath.
And if the attention wanders off a hundred times,
Well that's just a hundred moments of matter awareness,
Really valuable.
So just bringing the attention back a hundred times.
Allowing,
Enquiring,
Matter awareness,
Over and over.
And coming back to the breath.
And bringing a quality of kindness to your awareness here.
Always coming back to allowing.
And using the breath as an anchor to gently connect with the here and now,
Each time that matter awareness suggests that the mind has wandered.
Just breathing.
Just following the breath.
Each in-breath,
Each out-breath.
Allowing,
Enquiring,
Matter awareness.
And when the attention wanders,
Seeing where it went,
And gently,
Kindly coming back to the breath.
Breathing.
And if it's right for you now,
Beginning to bring this practice to a close.
When you're ready,
Opening the eyes and coming to move again,
And giving yourself whatever time you might need to gently reconnect with the world around you.
Just taking your time.
