Clarity Of Mind: Breath Awareness

Learn to be more present and respond to life with clarity and ease with this straighforward yet very powerful practice. When we learn to train our minds, it can become our biggest ally. The easiest way to do so, is to concentrate on a single point. In this technique we focus on our breathing as it is always here. Cultivate your inner brilliance in this present moment.

Transcript

Hello and welcome.

My name is Munda Simone and today I will be guiding you through a breath awareness meditation practice.

We focus on the breath as the breath is always present,

It is always here.

The breath is the fastest tool to bring us back into this present moment.

By learning to pay attention to our breath we can learn to pay attention to life with a little more space.

We can learn to proactively respond to life rather than react.

So let's begin by taking a comfortable seat,

On a cushion or a chair,

Anywhere that you feel relaxed yet alert.

We want the spine to be nice and long and the hands to be resting anywhere that feels most comfortable to you.

Allowing the eyelids to rest closed,

Otherwise just finding a space on the ground to gently gaze at.

Inviting some relaxation and ease into your practice by simply taking a few breaths in and out through your nose.

Simply breathing in and breathing out.

Once more breathing in and breathing out.

And again,

Just feeling the breath.

Feeling your body seated here,

Supported by the chair or the cushion.

And I invite you to ask yourself,

What is my intention for practicing today?

This is a way to connect our mind and our hearts as one.

And the intention is one word,

One thing that you'd like to have a little bit more in your life.

Repeating your intention in your mind a couple of times,

Visualizing that in your mind.

And now we'll begin by gently scanning the body,

Starting at the top of our heads and noticing if we're holding on to any tension anywhere in our bodies and allowing them to pass.

So we'll begin in our foreheads,

Gently scanning down our face,

The muscles around your eyes,

Relaxing the eyelids,

The cheeks and the jaw.

Perhaps even parting your lips,

Releasing the tongue away from the roof of the mouth.

And then scanning on the sides of your neck and the back of your neck.

Down to your shoulder,

A place that we tend to hold a lot of tension.

And onto your shoulder blades,

Your middle spine,

All the way down to your lower spine.

Onto your chest,

All the way up to your collarbones,

Scanning down your arms,

Your elbows,

Your forearms,

Your wrists,

Down to the palms of your hand and all of your ten fingers.

Onto your hips,

Your legs,

Your knees,

Noticing your calf muscles,

Your shins,

Your ankles,

The soles of your feet and your toes.

And now that the body is perhaps a bit more grounded and at ease,

Begin by turning our attention inwards and noticing what is present in this moment,

In our inner world.

Observing our landscape of thoughts,

Simply noticing as a thought arises and allowing it to pass,

Just like clouds in the sky.

No need to hold on to it or examine,

Simply notice them from a distance.

Remembering that our thoughts are simple mental events,

Nothing more.

We continue doing our best to watch them from a distance.

And now noticing the quality of our emotions,

Noticing if there is any strong emotion to be experienced in this moment.

We are mindfully noticing what is present without needing to judge or make it good or bad,

Right or wrong.

Simply noticing what is present in our inner world and this moment.

And now shifting to noticing sensations in the body,

Perhaps sensations of digestion or your breath in the chest,

The tip of your nose or the bottom of the belly.

And now I invite you to gather all of your attention from thoughts and sounds,

Any other distractions.

Gather all of your attention to sensations of breathing right at the tip of your nose,

Noticing as the air comes in,

The right nostril,

The left nostril and as it slowly goes out.

And for this part of our practice,

We are using our breath as our home base,

As our object of focus,

Right there at the tip of your nose.

I want to remind you that the nature of the mind is to wonder.

So at any time you notice that you are hooked on a thought,

Worries from the past or plannings of the future,

You just kindly bring yourself back to our object of focus,

The breath,

The sensations of breathing in your body.

At the tip of your nose.

If perhaps you feel your breath most vividly at the rising and falling of the chest,

Towards the rising and falling of the abdomen,

That's okay too.

Gently settle your attention in any of those spots and keep coming back,

Gently returning.

That is the practice of meditation,

Isn't the returning that we are practicing,

The returning to the object of focus,

Our breath,

That is always here,

That is always present.

We are shifting from the thinking mind into the sensations of breathing in our bodies.

You may like to repeat in your mind,

As you breathe in,

I know I am breathing in.

And as you breathe out,

I know I am breathing out.

Simply observing the breath,

Nothing else to do,

Nowhere to go,

But here in our bodies with our breath,

Again and again.

That is the practice of meditation.

Being kind with yourself and returning to breathing once more.

Be kind with yourself and returning to breathing once more.

Be connecting with your breathing again and again.

And as we begin to bring our practice to a close,

I invite you to bring to mind the intention you set in the beginning of the practice.

See it in your mind and together we'll take a full breath in.

Take a pause at the top,

Hold your breath for a moment,

Repeat your intention in your mind,

In that space,

Fill it up with your intention and slowly exhale all the air out.

Once more,

Long breath in,

Take a pause,

See your intention,

Repeat it to yourself,

Let it echo and slow exhale all the air out.

And once more,

Breathing in,

Take a pause,

See your intention,

One last time,

Repeat it to yourself and slowly exhale all the air out.

Take a moment of gratitude for yourself,

For your practice,

For your efforts here today.

And remembering that meditation is a gift that we give to ourselves and it is our practice.

So,

Take a moment and rejoice in your efforts of showing up today.

This practice not only benefits ourselves,

But everyone we come in contact with.

Slowly and slowly bring a little movement to your fingertips,

Perhaps slowly moving your neck and whenever you're ready,

Blink in your eyes back to open,

If you close them.

Welcome back.

Thank you for your practice.

Reviews

Excellent use of pulling the attention back to the breath.

My intention was to be calm, less anxious. I feel at peace. Thank you.

Simply wonderful and great voice. You helped me this morning to calm my frantic mind

Thank you so very much for your guided meditation. I found it to be a great foundation for my practice.

Really liked this. Don’t usually like music but it was just right. Like the fade at the end. I’m an experienced meditator but would highly recommend this for a novice. Nice all around.

Simply amazing! 🤍💎🦋

Beautiful, nurturing practice by a stunning teacher! Love you, Moun 🤍

Love this practice! Great for anyone who needs a little support to find their breath and some space.

Very relaxing, good way to focus. A perfect start to my day.✨💫✨💫

Thank you. So helpful for reducing my anxiety. I’m a wreck.

This was just what I needed this morning M. A calm simple practice. Thankyou namaste 🙏🏽💖

Wonderful, peaceful.

Magical!!! Will be returning to this one for sure 💫

Calming and tranquil

Beautiful. Thank you!

What I enjoyed most is the gentle guidance to stay present. Excellent instruction. Perfect atmosphere.
Highly recommend, especially if you are looking to really float in tranquility :)

I really enjoyed this meditation Moun! I am meditating to control blood pressure and this will help. This is a keeper and I will return to it again. Thanks 🙏

Wonderful, thank you!

Lovely practice!

Calming. Beautiful voice. Beautiful music. 💕💕