Saying.
Begin by finding a comfortable seated position.
Wherever you are,
Allow your spine to remain long.
Your hands may rest either on your thighs,
Palms facing up or down.
Or allow your hands to lie gently in your lap.
Wherever you are,
Find comfort in your seat.
Once you find a comfortable seated position,
Invite your eyes to close.
Or if you would prefer,
Invite a soft downward gaze in such a way where you're gazing but not seeing or getting distracted by the environment around you.
Now begin to draw your awareness to your breath.
For the next few moments,
Allow your breath to naturally flow in and out.
As you inhale fully and exhale completely.
Exhale fully and exhale completely.
Begin to get curious about the quality of your breath.
Does it feel short or long?
Does your inhale feel longer than your exhale or the other way around?
Does your breath feel soft or jagged?
Smooth,
Rigid,
Shallow or deep?
Without judgment,
Draw your awareness to your experience of breathing in this moment.
Remind yourself that there is no one right or wrong way to be breathing.
How can you take a few moments here to get curious about your experience of breathing in this moment?
If or rather when thoughts or distractions begin to filter into your mind,
No problem.
How can you acknowledge the thought or distraction and let it go with your exhale as you draw your awareness back to your breath,
Back to the here and now?
Just as persistent as your thoughts may be,
The continual practice of bringing your awareness back to your breath will strengthen over time.
As you follow your breath,
Bring your awareness to the sensations of your breath in your body.
Begin to feel the rise and fall of your abdomen.
Next,
Feel the expansion and contraction of your ribcage.
Lastly,
Feel the rise and fall of your chest.
Begin to connect to the sensations of these three parts of breath.
Inhale into your abdomen,
Into your ribs and with a last sip of air,
Breathe high into your chest.
Exhale release the air out of your chest,
Ribs and abdomen,
Pushing out even more air at the base of your exhale.
Inhale abdomen,
Ribs and chest,
Exhale chest,
Ribs and abdomen.
Continue with this rhythm of the three-part breath at your own pace.
If you feel tension to begin to build in the body,
No problem.
How can you acknowledge that tension or tightness and let it go,
Softening into your experience of the three-part breath?
As you inhale into your abdomen,
Ribs and chest,
Exhale chest,
Ribs and abdomen.
Continuing at your own pace.
After a few more moments of breathing in this manner,
Let go of the effort of the three-part breath and allow your breath to return to a natural rhythm.
Feel the sensations of your breath as the air enters and exits your body.
Without judgment,
Begin to notice your experiences in your breath,
In your body and in your mind in this moment.
When you feel ready,
Begin to invite gentle movement to your fingers and toes.
In your own time,
Allow your eyes to softly blink open as you return to the room.
Take a moment to offer yourself gratitude for taking these few mindful moments.
