Welcome to this breath awareness meditation,
Also known as mindful breathing.
This meditation can be used to regulate our breath in times of stress and anxiety.
Our breath,
Which can subconsciously change in difficult and stressful situations,
Can often become irregular,
Rapid,
And sometimes shallow.
You may even notice you're holding your breath in the tension of certain situations.
Using this meditation practice to bring full awareness to your breath and ground yourself to the present.
This meditation practice may also be used as a first aid tool to use when challenging emotions and situations arise for you.
During this meditation,
We will pay intense yet curious focus to our breath in a variety of ways.
If it becomes difficult for you at any time,
You may choose any other anchors during this practice to ground yourself,
Such as any sounds around you or the contact of the chair or your feet on the floor.
Again,
A reminder,
If the mind wanders at any time,
Just gently bringing your attention back to your breath.
Let's begin by settling into a comfortable position,
Gently closing your eyes,
Or keeping them open with a soft gaze.
Starting with several long,
Slow,
Deep breaths.
So I'm breathing in fully and exhaling fully.
Taking a deep inhale through the nose,
And a slow exhale through the nose or mouth.
One more deep inhale,
And a slow exhale.
One more inhale,
Hold at the top,
And a slow exhale through the nose or mouth.
Again,
A deep inhale through the nose,
Hold at the top,
And a slow exhale all the way out.
Now returning your breath to its natural rhythm,
Trying not to change it in any way.
As you turn more deeply inwards,
Beginning to let go of the noises around you.
If you are distracted by sounds in the room,
Simply notice them and bring your attention back to your breath.
Now bringing your full attention to the sensations of the breath,
Noticing each in-breath as it enters your nostrils,
As it travels down to your lungs and causes your belly to expand,
And noticing each out-breath as your belly contracts and the air moves up through the lungs,
Back up through the nostrils or mouth.
Inviting your full attention to flow with your breath,
In and out.
Noticing wherever you feel the breath the most,
Perhaps at your nostrils,
Your upper lip,
Noticing how the air enters your nose,
Goes to the back of the nose or the throat.
Perhaps you notice the breath more at the mouth or the chest,
Perhaps the belly.
Wherever you feel your breath the most,
Paying full focus to this area just for a few moments.
Perhaps noticing how the inhale is different from the exhale.
You may experience the air as cool as it enters your nose and warm as you exhale.
Just simply breathing here as you breathe,
Not striving to change anything about your breath,
Trying not to control your breath in any way.
Just observing and accepting your breathing experience in this moment without judgment.
Paying attention to each inhale and each exhale.
If your mind wanders to any thoughts,
Any plans or problems,
Simply notice that your mind has wandered.
Watching the thought as it enters your awareness as neutrally as possible.
Then practice letting go of the thought as if it were a leaf floating down a stream.
In your mind,
Placing each thought that arises and placing it on a leaf and watching as it floats out of sight down the stream.
Then bringing your attention back to your breath.
Your breath is an anchor you can return to over and over again when you become distracted by thoughts.
Now for the next few moments,
Mentally labeling your in-breath and out-breath using the numbers one and two.
Breathing in,
One.
Breathing out,
Two.
Breathing in,
One.
Breathing out,
Noting two.
In,
One.
Out,
Two.
Not forcing your breath in any way.
Allowing your out-breath to follow your in-breath naturally.
Not rushing in any way.
Counting one at the end of the in-breath and two at the end of the out-breath.
Now continuing just for a few moments here at your own pace.
Being fully aware when you are breathing in.
Being fully aware when you are breathing out.
If your mind has wandered,
Just noticing it and bringing it back to the breath gently.
Now shifting your attention just a bit to the breath,
But imagining you are breathing in a relaxing color.
Perhaps a blue or green or purple.
And when you inhale,
Imagining breathing in these colors.
And when you exhale,
Imagining breathing out the color bright red.
In your normal rhythm of your breath,
Breathing in relaxing blues and greens,
And exhaling out reds.
Noticing any areas of your body that might be stiff or tense or stressed.
And seeing if you can direct your breath to that area.
Being curious of how this changes your experience.
And next,
Pretending to breathe in the colors blue and green and directing those colors to those tense areas.
Perhaps stiff areas in your body such as your jaw,
Your forehead,
Your eyebrows,
Your neck,
Shoulders,
Your back.
Breathing in and coloring those areas blue and green and breathing out the color red.
Inhaling in calming and soothing colors.
And breathing out stressful and tension colors such as red.
And also exhaling out any stress or tension that has built up.
And now returning your breath to its natural rhythm.
Breathing in,
Breathing out.
Follow the air all the way in and all the way out.
Mindfully being present moment by moment with your breath.
If your mind wanders away from your breath,
Whether it is a thought,
An emotion or a sensation that hooks your attention.
Just gently guiding your awareness back to your breathing without judging it.
And now expanding your attention and your awareness to your entire body.
Noticing how the breath flows through the entire body in and out.
Paying attention to how your chest and your belly rise when you breathe in and out.
And now your chest and belly relax as you breathe out.
And as this practice comes to an end,
Sending a sense of gratitude to your breath.
And now your breath is a refocusing tool or an anchor that you can come back to over and over again.
And when you're ready,
Gently opening your eyes and coming back fully alert and awake.
And now your breath is always with you to ground yourself and gently bring you back to the present moment.
And now your breath is always with you to ground yourself and gently bring you back to the present moment.
And now your breath is always with you to ground yourself and gently bring you back to the present moment.
