10-Minute Sitting Meditation: Awareness of Breathing

Dr. Julien Lacaille gently guides you through a 10-minute sitting meditation, in which you practice returning to the present moment by becoming familiar with the sensations of your own breathing.

Transcript

So settling into a comfortable posture,

A seated posture,

One in which you are comfortable and at the same time you're alert.

So lengthening the spine,

Opening the chest,

Relaxing the jaw and the shoulders and making whatever adjustments are needed to be a little bit more comfortable and a little bit more alert.

And perhaps closing the eyes or softening the gaze and becoming increasingly aware of the body sitting right now.

So we're sitting and we know that we're sitting.

And gradually becoming aware of the fact that this body that's sitting here is already breathing.

We don't need to start breathing.

The body's already either breathing in or breathing out.

And seeing if we can direct our attention now to those sensations,

Those sensations related to breathing that we might pick up at the level of the nostrils,

The mouth,

The chest,

Or the belly.

Just picking one area and staying there and seeing if it's possible to get really curious about these sensations.

What does it actually feel like to start breathing in?

Following the in-breath from the beginning to the middle all the way to the end.

And then being aware of the moment where the body decides to breathe out,

Catching the beginning of the out-breath,

The middle,

All the way to the end of the out-breath.

And from moment to moment just tracking this cycle of breathing in and breathing out.

So that when I breathe in,

I know that I'm breathing in.

And when I breathe out,

I know that I'm breathing out.

So just sitting back and watching,

Breathing,

Breathe itself.

Not interfering,

Not controlling,

But just observing,

Being the silent witness that is aware of all these subtle changes.

And noticing when the mind begins to wander away from those sensations into thoughts about the future,

The past,

To judgments,

Maybe distracted by other things like sounds or pain.

And then seeing if it's possible to just acknowledge that the mind has wandered and to then see if you can get curious about the sensations of breathing that are still ongoing right now.

And then letting these sensations related to breathing return to the forefront of our awareness as these distractions just recede to the background.

And if we need to return a hundred times to the breath,

Then we come back every time patiently,

But firmly.

Every time back to this in-breath,

Back to this out-breath.

We're not going anywhere,

Taking your time.

We're going somewhere.

When I breathe in,

I know that I'm breathing in.

When I breathe out,

I know that I'm breathing out.

When I breathe in,

I know that I'm breathing in.

When I breathe out,

I know that I'm breathing in.

When I breathe out,

I know that I'm breathing in.

When I breathe out,

I know that I'm breathing in.

When I breathe in,

I know that I'm breathing in.

Reviews

no background noise was new for me, but i enjoyed this!

Simple, clear and effective. Thank you 🙏

Loved the meditation itself but found the bell at the end to be a bit loud. Would have preferred a softer tone.

I enjoyed the limited guidance setting me up for the moments of silence to focus :)

So glad I found your meditations. Love the pacing and space you give us. With the perfect balance of guidance.
Kind of reminds me of Vipassana. Which I love.
Thank you so much for creating and sharing these gems 💎
🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

Excellent grounding, thank you 🙏

Thank you!! simple and effective.

I return to this again and again. "we're not going anywhere" is somehow so reassuring.

Very helpful guidance and good silence pauses considering that it’s a short meditation - thank you!

Wonderful thank you

Simple yet difficult

Very simple and effective. I really found this helpful. Thank you!

Simple meditation, my favorite. Thank you!

Very good reminder. Thank you🙏

I enjoyed the drawn out pauses between the guide, giving ne time to really focus on my breathing and the sounds around me

With my feet soaking in an epsom salt bath and my rear on an uncomfortable bathtub edge, I was skeptical- but I was there, with my breath, for 10 minutes. Thank you!

References to curiosity about the breath & awareness of breathing in and out really helped me come back to the breath- thank you!

Great guidance for beginner

Great short meditation. Perfect for a quick meditation introduction or for a reminder.

Helped me get over work stress