In a fast-moving and unpredictable world,
This simple breath practice will help you slow down and come home to yourself.
It's also an important building block in the foundation of emotional intelligence.
It's rooted in science,
It's grounded in presence and it leads the way for the development of self-regulation,
Empathy and values-led action.
And this meditation will simply rest our attention lightly on the breath without forcing or fixing and just simply noticing.
Noticing the quality of the breath will gradually widen the awareness to include the whole body breathing and we'll rest in that presence for a little while.
Noticing what was here all along.
So take a few moments to settle in,
Just arranging the body so that it is relaxed but upright as well.
Feet can be flat on the floor,
Hands on the lap or the thighs or the desk and the eyes can either be open with the gaze softened or you can close them.
And begin with taking a breath in and let it out slowly,
Maybe sighing in through the nose and out through the mouth.
That's it.
Do that two or three times.
And as you breathe out,
Just feel yourself arriving and settling.
And then switching to breathing in and out through the nose if that's available to you.
And there's nothing to fix,
Nothing to change,
We're just arriving,
We're just landing here in this moment,
Letting this moment be enough.
So begin noticing that you have an in-breath and an out-breath,
That you're breathing in and you're breathing out.
Notice how the breath comes in and notice how the breath flows out.
And do this with a very light,
Relaxed touch,
You know,
Just gently.
Just like you might be aware of something else in your experience or your surroundings,
Like a sound,
You're just aware that the breath is here and that it's flowing in and out.
So let it be effortless if possible,
Gentle,
No need to interfere,
Just continuing this awareness of breathing in and breathing out,
Breathing in and breathing out,
Oh yeah,
This is an in-breath,
This is an out-breath.
You might even add a little label that says in and out.
Not rushing,
Not forcing,
Just inviting this awareness of the in and the out-breath.
Very simple,
Very simple.
And now let's start to become aware of the qualities of the breath.
How does the breath feel?
Is it short,
Shallow?
Or is it long and deep?
Is it smooth?
Is it fast?
Is it warm,
Cold?
Just noticing the qualities of the breath,
How is it?
You know how the ocean delivers waves to the shore and the water washes up onto the beach and delivers its energy and the water flows up the sand or the pebbles and then it naturally recedes back in to this wave-like motion,
It's similar to the breath,
You might find that useful.
And if the mind wanders,
That's okay,
It's,
You know,
It's what happens,
We're not trying to make our mind quiet or not have any thoughts,
We will likely find ourselves thinking throughout this meditation and that's perfectly okay,
It's perfectly normal and to be expected,
To be welcomed in fact.
And when you find that happening,
It's really only this gentle returning back to the breath,
Noticing the in-breath,
Noticing the out-breath,
Noticing the qualities of the breath,
How does it feel?
Is it long,
Is it short,
Is it smooth,
Is it deep,
Is it shallow,
Cool,
Fast or slow?
Gradually letting the breath show itself.
And as this awareness of the breath increases,
Start to become aware of where you feel the breath in the body,
Where do you feel it?
Maybe it's at the tip of the nose,
Maybe it's down in the belly,
We feel a rising and a falling.
Maybe you feel it at the nose where the breath enters,
First touches the body,
Might be cool as it enters and warm as it exits.
Maybe you notice a rising and falling down in the abdomen,
A sort of a rising as you breathe in and a falling away as you breathe out,
An opening and a closing or a filling and emptying.
So starting to become aware of the body breathing,
Breathing with the body.
The breath doesn't just reside in one place but the whole body is included.
It is in fact breathing for the body.
So start to expand your awareness into becoming aware of the landscape of the body as you breathe.
So you're now breathing and starting to become aware of the whole body,
The limbs,
The arms,
The legs,
The head.
Can you feel the breath and the body?
So both are included and as you stay with the breath and the whole body,
Can you start to soften the body as well?
Can you invite a sense of the breath soothing the body?
Maybe the shoulders drop slightly or the jaw is softened or the fingers are allowed to be loose.
What would it feel like to invite a sense of breathing comfortably,
Breathing comfort into the body with the body?
Each breath,
Each cycle of the breath soothes and softens very gently,
Very gently the pace of a block of ice melting or snow melting in winter sunshine.
No rush.
You're with your experience in the moment,
There's also this awareness of changing gently,
Gradually,
Softening and soothing,
Soothed by the breath.
Each breath there's a minute undoing,
Just another thread undone in the tapestry of tension.
One breath at a time,
Undoing,
But we don't rush,
We don't force,
We just allow.
And there's nowhere else to be,
Nowhere else to go.
So now we're going to start to transition out of this meditation,
But that is also done slowly and gently and carefully.
You might bring just a little bit of movement to the fingers or wiggle the toes,
Might even take the arms above your head and have a stretch or open the shoulders,
Maybe twist the spine left and right and opening the eyes.
And as you move through the rest of your day,
Can you let the breath be with you?
Can you invite it into your experience as you stand in a queue,
The cashier,
As you sit in traffic?
As you talk in a conversation,
You might notice the breath,
You might notice the breath in other people or pets,
You might just invite the breath into your day,
Invite it along.
And in this way,
You start to develop this practice of coming home into this moment,
Being present in your life.
May you be safe,
May you be well and may you have ease of being.
