Hello,
My name is Lucy Chan and I'm going to guide you through a mindfulness of breathing meditation.
Beginning by finding a comfortable but alert posture.
Maybe on a chair or some cushions.
And when you feel ready,
Gently closing your eyes or casting a soft gaze in front of you.
And beginning by bringing presence into the body.
Finding a sense of how your body is feeling right now.
And noticing the contact between the body and the chair.
Feet on the ground.
Watching that support from the earth beneath.
Perhaps taking in a few deep embodied breaths.
Arriving a little bit more with each out breath.
And seeing if there's any areas in the body that can soften a little.
Perhaps in the face.
Can the face soften and rest?
The shoulders.
Can the shoulders drop a little with each out breath?
Maybe the belly.
Can the belly be soft?
Noticing the support from the ground beneath.
Seeing if you can release any unnecessary tension into the ground.
Releasing a little with each out breath.
And now beginning to get a sense of the sensations of the breath in the body.
Understanding where the breath is moving in the body.
And beginning to notice where the breath feels most alive for you in the body.
Perhaps it's the air flow through the nostrils.
The gentle rise and fall of the chest.
Soft in and out of the belly.
Maybe it's a sense of the breath elsewhere in the body.
Noticing where in the body the breath feels most vivid for you.
And gently beginning to rest your attention here.
Beginning to follow the natural rhythm of your breath.
Noticing the changing sensations in the body with the breath.
And when you notice your mind has wandered,
As all minds do,
That's okay.
Gently guiding your attention back to the breath in the body.
Almost as if a toddler or a puppy has wandered off.
Just gently guiding them back with kindness.
Moving home to the breath in the body.
Perhaps noticing the sensations of each in-breath.
Noticing the gentle inner massage of each in-breath.
Noticing how the in-breath nourishes you.
Noticing your attention on the vitality of each in-breath.
Noticing your attention on the vitality of each in-breath.
Perhaps noticing the sensations of each out-breath.
Noticing how there's a natural letting go with each out-breath.
Seeing if you can let go of unnecessary thoughts or projects.
And resting your attention on the ease of each out-breath.
Noticing your attention on the vitality of each out-breath.
Perhaps noticing the pause at the end of each out-breath.
A moment of stillness before the in-breath begins.
And perhaps following the whole of the in-breath and the whole of the out-breath with your attention.
And if you find that there is a certain project or worry that's vying for your attention,
That's okay.
No need to follow that storyline right now.
Seeing if you can just gently put that down for now.
Allowing it to fade into the background as you anchor yourself to the breath.
Okay.
It doesn't matter how many times your mind wanders away.
The very nature of the practice is to wander away and then to remember to come home.
To come back to the breath as many times as is needed.
Perhaps noticing the quality of the breath.
Is it long or short?
Deep or shallow?
Smooth or rough?
Simply noticing without needing it to be any different.
Noticing where your mind is now.
Gently bring it back to the focus of the breath in the body.
And from this point,
Expanding your awareness to get a sense of your whole body breathing.
Expanding your awareness further to include sounds.
The sound of my voice,
Perhaps more subtle or distant sounds.
All these last few moments dropping any practice.
Allowing yourself to rest in presence just as you are.
Gently breathing.
Gently breathing.
Gently breathing.
