Hello.
This meditation practice is an invitation to experience the full spectrum of breathing as a way of anchoring the attention on the aliveness of the body and experiencing the energy of the body from the inside.
Please assume whatever posture you will be comfortable in for the next few moments.
It may be seated.
It may be lying down.
It may be standing.
Perhaps we can begin by taking three slightly deeper breaths in together.
So breathing in and breathing out.
Once again,
Breathing in and out.
And let us do that one more time.
Breathing in deeply and letting it out.
Now please allow your breath to assume its natural rhythm,
Its natural in and outness.
Seeing if it is possible to leave the attention anchored on that rhythm.
And noticing what else arises in your present moment environment.
There may be sounds.
Perhaps you are aware of the temperature of the air which surrounds you.
Perhaps there are thoughts generated by your mind or some sort of commentary about your present moment experience or some reflection of the past or a leaning towards the future and planning.
Please know that whatever you are experiencing is a completely valid experience,
That there is no need to manipulate your situation in any way.
That it is perhaps even unhelpful to aim for a particular state of being or a state of mind.
But that it is in the noticing and the gentle leaning towards this experience where the practice is most vivid.
And now turning the attention to where in the body your breath is most vivid,
Where it is most apparent,
Most clear to you.
Perhaps it's in the belly with the diaphragm rising and falling.
Or maybe higher up in the rib cage which inflates,
Expands and deflates as you breathe.
Maybe it's in the shoulders rising and falling.
Do you notice the coolness of the air as you breathe in and how much warmer it is as it exits the body.
Perhaps it's a combination of the points I just mentioned.
So however you experience the breath most vividly,
See if it's possible to leave your attention anchored to that sense of breathing.
Very felt,
Very real sense of aliveness inside the body.
Noticing how and at what point the in-breath becomes the out-breath.
The out-breath.
How the inhalation momentarily suspends and there is a point,
A high point of no breath before you begin to soften and exhale.
At the other edge of the breathing cycle,
At the end of the exhale,
There may be a space,
A pause,
A point of no breath again before you begin to inhale.
Is it possible to leave your awareness in that space?
To fill the edges of that space with your attention,
With your interest.
And with a knowing that at any point if you become distracted by other sensory experience or the movement of the mind,
That it's always possible to return to that space to inhabit the breath fully,
To experience the aliveness of the body.
To turn towards the capacity of the body.
To hold the breath.
In just a little while I will ring the gong to end the practice.
My invitation to you is to extend this sense of breath awareness to your next activity,
Whatever that may be.
Whether it's active or passive.
And to finish an offering of these words by Shunpo Blanche Hartman,
Who once wrote,
The refreshing air wells up from the bottom of my breath and pours over my head.
What a pleasant evening.
