Welcome to this guided mindful breathing practice.
During this session you will hear my voice with instructions and silent stretches in between.
This practice has been designed to allow the body to return to its original state of peace and calm by bringing awareness to the movement of the breath.
So giving yourself this time to find a comfortable position,
To be quiet,
To set your phones and gadgets to silent mode and to simply be as you are.
Allow yourself this time as a gift to be fully present with this practice.
Begin to bring your awareness to where your body is,
Taking a few moments to simply arrive in your seat.
Let yourself feel comfortable but remain attentive,
Allowing the body to become completely still.
Feeling the contact of your skin with other surfaces,
The floor,
The chair.
If you choose to sit on a chair,
You may want to place your hands on your lap or legs.
And if you are lying on the floor,
Feeling your whole entire spine fully supported beneath you.
Just feeling this body as it is,
Where it is.
The eyes can be slightly open,
Looking down gently in front of you,
Or closed if you prefer.
Just sensing the body as it is,
Settling in as you are.
I'm coming to this meditation practice with the firm intention to bring mindfulness and discernment to each moment.
And when you're ready,
Bring your attention to settle on the breath as you feel it flowing in and out of your body.
Focusing on filling your belly as it expands gently on the in-breath and recedes gently on the out-breath.
Begin to shift the awareness to the breath and noticing the way your body responds as you breathe in and out.
There is no need to change the way you breathe,
Just allowing yourself to notice the breath moving in and the breath moving out of the body.
One inhalation and one exhalation at a time.
We breathe about 22,
000 times a day and here we bring our awareness to this breath.
And just keeping your attention on the breath for the full duration of each inhalation and each exhalation.
Riding the waves of your own breathing like a floating seaweed moving up and down on the waves at the seashore.
Fully in touch with the sensation in the belly or at the tip of your nose.
And allowing your awareness to rest at that part of the body where you feel the breath more strongly.
Breath by breath,
Moment by moment.
Allowing the breath to remind you over and over again to be fully present.
To be right here,
Right now.
Not trying to do anything,
Not trying to get to any place,
Simply being with your breathing.
Feeling the breath fully.
Feeling the expansion of the lungs with the inhalation.
Releasing slowly with the exhalation.
Just giving full care and your full attention to each in-breath and to each out-breath.
Shifting from a sense of directing the breath to simply witnessing the breath.
Allowing the rhythm of your breath to remain natural,
Absolutely no controlling of the breath.
If at any point you find that your mind wanders off into thoughts,
Anticipations of the future,
Or even memories from the past.
When you notice that your attention is no longer here,
No longer really on your breathing.
And without giving yourself a hard time,
Just intentionally escorting your focus.
Your attention back to your breathing,
Picking up on wherever it happens to be.
Either on the in-breath or an out-breath.
And continue to observe,
Moving up close to your breath.
Keeping the attention here as if you are riding the waves of the breath,
Fully conscious of the duration of your inhalation and exhalation.
From moment to moment.
And keep doing this over and over again each time the mind loses its focus and moves away from the breath.
Staying fully in touch,
Just this breath coming in,
And just this breath going out.
Using the breath as an anchor to keep your attention right here in the present moment.
And if you feel comfortable with it,
You can expand the field of your awareness around the breath until it includes a sense of the body as a whole.
Sitting here breathing,
Opening to the full spectrum of feelings associated with your body as you sit here.
Awareness filling the body,
Allowing whatever sensations arise to be held in awareness.
Moment by moment,
Watching them come and go without reacting to them as best as you can.
Just observing the play of any and all perceptions,
Sensations,
Thoughts and feelings along with your breath as you sit here fully in touch with this moment.
And as we come to the close of this session,
Recognizing that you have spent this time intentionally nourishing yourself by dwelling in this state of being in order to cultivate a greater awareness of the present moment.
Making time for yourself to be who you are as you are,
And for taking the time and the energy to do this.
Allow yourself the opportunity to return to this mindful breathing on a regular basis,
To nourish yourself in a deep way and allowing the benefits of this practice to expand into the active expression of your life in every domain as it continues to unfold.
