Just This Breath

We spend so much of our day turning away from the sense of struggle. This meditation offers an alternative. By partnering with just this breath, we invite ourselves to turn towards the experience of this moment, empowered with the mindfulness qualities of acceptance and suspending judgment. We practice showing up to our suffering in a new way.

Transcript

Let's begin together. First, We will tend to body and bringing attention to feet placed comfortably upon the floor, Feeling the support of the floor upon the soles of feet, And feeling the support of the chair upon thighs and bottom, And inviting a comfortable rising up of spine towards sky, Perhaps a shoulder roll or two to loosen and lower shoulders, And arms draping down from shoulders, Hands finding a comfortable resting place, Perhaps hands upon thighs or hands cuffed within lap, Whichever you find of ease and comfort in this moment, Aligning head atop spine and shoulders, Inviting a loosening of jaw, Lips either gently touching or slightly parted, And eyes either opened or closed, Whichever you prefer in this moment. Settling into this posture that balances gentleness to body and wakefulness to mind, Bringing your attention now down your torso, Down your legs, And down into your toes and feet, Noticing the presence of any tension or tightness, And inviting a letting go as best as you can. Bringing your attention now up into calves, Thighs, And hips, Noticing the presence of any tension or tightness, And inviting a letting go as best as you can. Bringing your attention now into belly and low back, Ribs and mid-back, And chest and upper back, Noticing any tension or tightness, And inviting a letting go. Bringing your attention now into arms and forearms and hands, Noticing tension, Inviting a letting go. Bringing your attention now into shoulders and neck and rising up the back of head, Noticing tension, Inviting a letting go. Bringing your attention now across the sides of face and mouth, Rising up across cheeks and nose, Muscles around eyes, Forehead and temple, And arriving at crown, Top of head, Noticing tension, Inviting a letting go as best as you can. And we now practice this act of self-care, Of checking in with body from toes all the way up to head. Now directing your attention to body breathing as a home base of sorts for your focus, Wherever you find it easiest to attend to body breathing. Perhaps the rise and fall of chest and belly, Or the movement of air through nose or mouth. Not needing to manipulate or change your breath in any way, Simply bringing your attention in close to the physical sensations of feeling body breathing in this moment. And when, Not if, When you notice your focus is drifted off, Typically into some sort of thoughts, Be it memories of the past or anticipation of the future, Using that as an opportunity of practicing the mindfulness quality of acceptance, Accepting in this moment that this is what our mind does. Tends to drift away and go off seeking some sort of project or task. That's okay. It's a wonderful capacity of our minds. And in this moment, Also exercising the capacity where we can direct our focus, Bring it back into this moment, Back into the space-time of here, Now, By coming back to focusing on body breathing once again. It can be quite common for finding ourselves perhaps in a moment of some sort of struggling or suffering, Be it physical or mental or emotional, And looking at meditation as, Oh, That's too much for today. I can't do that. Or I've got other things more important than I need to be doing. And recognizing that we can use meditation as, One, An act of self-care and self-compassion in those moments, And a way of being with whatever maybe we're trying not to be with in the moment. And we can really come back to the simple practice of being just with body breathing and discover how potentially refreshing that may be for mind and body, And how it can be a way of caring for ourselves when we maybe, Speak for myself, Actively practicing avoidance, Whatever may be rumbling within, And how this simple act of being with body breathing invites a way of just being with what is in this moment, Calling upon acceptance and suspending judging. Just being with body breathing in this moment as it is. And maybe even that starts to feel like too much. We can even simplify this further. Being with just this breath right now. Having nothing more to be asked of ourselves beyond feeling the inhale, Being with the pause, And being with the exhale, Letting go. Just letting that be all we focus on in this moment. This breath. And again, When we drift away, That's okay. Trusting another aspect of mindfulness, Trusting at some point we'll notice body breathing, And we'll reconnect again with just this breath. And I don't want to suggest that practicing in this way doesn't necessarily solve any of the problems that may be bringing about the suffering and struggling. But cultivating a presence in this way, One, Is just being good and kind, Caring for ourselves. And two, Invites us to show up differently to those moments of struggling and suffering. Showing up with our whole self and seeing what that might bring to those moments. So perhaps looking at this practice of just this breath, Offering a healing refuge of sorts. When we do need to step back in to all that's going on in this moment, How do we show up fully present, Fully aware, Calling upon all of our knowledge, Skills, And experiences? Breathing, Observing this unfolding moment, Letting go, Letting be. Now opening your eyes if they were closed, Visually taking in the light, Reconnecting with surroundings, Maybe some slow gentle stretch or movement as we mindfully transition back into the tasks of the day. And remembering at any time, Anywhere, We can call upon this practice of just this breath as a way of stepping out of the clutter and the chaos and the struggle and the suffering. Being kind and caring to ourselves and then seeing how do we step back in differently? How do we show up differently? Thank you for joining me and may you have a peaceful day.