Mindfulness Breath In The Body

In this practice, we observe the different areas where we can feel our breath moving in our bodies. By gently resting our attention in each area, we can experience the breath moving in and out. By observing the movement of the breath, it creates a feeling of space and stillness in our body and mind.

Transcript

So let's come and settle in and prepare ourselves for our practice. You might settle in cross-legged today, Seated, Or you might be sitting on a chair or even lying down. Whatever position you choose today, Just make sure you're comfortable. You probably had a busy day today, Or you're probably planning to do too many things. Whatever the day behind or ahead, Just let go of that and find that comfortable position first to sit. So let's bring some awareness. We can think about awareness as a kind of space of which from all the senses are coming. So if it's comfortable, Your body sensing comfort, Good temperature, Relaxing, Let's bring awareness to our senses. And as we bring awareness to our senses, Let's help us navigate through the world as well. So let's come and close our eyes. And if you prefer, You don't want to close your eyes, That's perfectly all right. I like to close my eyes, Just turn my gaze inward. We'll bring more attention to our senses, Senses of touch, Smell, Sounds, Whatever is there. So with eyes closed, Let's move through the body to find a strong, Stable posture. Maybe we can lift the crown of the head up, Feeling our back and neck start to extend. I slowly rock the body side to side, Finding that comfort position. Or maybe we go forward and back, Relaxing the back and the hip. So find that sense of center and balance in your body and comfort. Now that the posture is relaxed, Let's do a few long inhales and exhales. Simple as that. With every exhale, Relaxing through the body and staying in this moment as it is right now. Normal breathing. And in today's practice, We notice how the mind continually produces thoughts, Whether we like it or not. And with practice, We can recognize these thoughts, Guide our attention to our object, Our focus, Our anchor. Which today, This anchor is going to be a different part of the body so we can see the breathing moving. So let's begin the practice, Gathering our attention and placing it at the edges of our nostrils. Just noticing if you can feel the sensation of the breath moving here. Let's create some space and awareness. Awareness of that senses around the nostrils. Any light tingling sensation. Any movement. A sense of the air as moves in and out. We might notice some sounds associated with the breathing. Maybe a slight difference in temperature with inhale and exhale. Or maybe one smoother than the other. One softer than the other. Just notice. So notice if the mind has wandered right now. Just recognize that and gently guide, Guide it back to your breathing through the nostrils. Today we are going to use the meditative attitude of beginner mind. This is when we let go of any sensing knowing we have. Knowing what breath is, How it feels like. So we absorb the breath as if we are feeling it for the first time. We never had it before and we experience it for the first time. So as we rest here observing the feeling of our breathing, Let's move our attention now from the nostrils down to the chest. Imagine a moment to pay attention fully on your chest only. Notice you start feeling the gentle expansion of your ribcage. And noticing perhaps the breath changing directions going toward the chest, Maybe deeper. And allowing the body to become more relaxed and feeling stillness. You might notice a subtle movement in the shoulder, Front, Back of the shoulder. Might notice some subtle movement at the top of the stomach. Or maybe sensing the clothes that touches the skin as you inhale and exhale from that chest. Letting the chest expand and contract with every breath. Check in and see if the mind has wondered as this is the nature of the mind. We don't fight with it, No wrestling, Just recognize it if thought has arrived. And bring awareness back to that chest, Focusing on your breath. Let's now take our attention back to our belly. Let's take a moment to allow the attention to stay here in belly region. Let's connect to that bigger mind, Wondering what the breath feels like in our belly. Fascinating feeling the belly expanding like a balloon and contracting back. Staying with that beautiful movement in that belly, Wondering how the belly is expanding with the breath. Connecting with the breath. Bringing a special attention to the quiet space in your belly. She can see where your attention is now and if it has wandered again, Bring the attention to the breath. Now we are going to take our attention to the entire body and breathe through the entire body to relax it even more. So notice as the body expand and relax through the breath and allow that exhale to be soft and smooth, Noticing the soft movement in your body as you're breathing in and as you're breathing out. The breath is something we can access at any moment if we notice we have stucked in some thought and if the mind is jumping through many thoughts and if we have lost our focus. By connecting to the breath in and out, We create a little bit of path and this path gives the mind time to reset and perhaps the thought that just came, My leaf, Might just disappear without engaging in it. So we're going to try to relax the body before we do our silent meditation for a few minutes. Seeing the breath in your toes, Heels relaxed. Your legs, Knees, Calf, Thighs all resting as you're breathing in and breathing out. Head, Lower back, Middle, Upper, All soft and relaxed. Belly, Chest, Shoulders, Arms, Fingers, All resting and breathing in and out. Legs soft, Face soft and relaxed. The whole head, Ears are resting and relaxing. Stick a deep inhale and exhale. Let's get ready for our silent meditation for a few minutes and stay in this beautiful and relaxing position. 15 minutes even. Lane. Nessa, Be careful. You you you you you you you you you you you thank you for your practice and have a wonderful day