So just making yourself comfortable now,
Either sitting down or lying down,
And gently closing your eyes over if that feels comfortable for you.
Just starting with observing your breath,
Just noticing your breath as it comes into the body and then leaves the body,
Just noticing that gentle ebb and flow of the in-breath and the out-breath,
And just using your breath now as an anchor,
Just to connect to this present moment,
Just fully experiencing each breath,
Noticing each in and each out-breath.
Just notice now when your mind wanders,
Because it will most likely wander as minds do,
You'll notice thoughts that pop in and out of the mind.
Just being aware in this practice of noticing when your mind wanders,
And then just gently bringing it back to noticing your breath.
You don't need to sit with the thought or analyze it or judge it,
Just noticing.
As you focus on the breath,
You might notice your attention that's wandered from the breath,
Or you have like a distracting thought,
Or you're distracted by something else,
And you can use what we call a noting or labeling technique to help you sort of detangle from the thoughts and just bring your attention back to the present.
So you can do this in a few ways.
So when you notice that you're thinking,
You notice that you have a thought,
You can say to yourself just something as simple as thinking,
Or I am thinking,
And then bring yourself back to the breath.
Or you can even label a thought that you're having,
Such as planning,
Or worrying,
Or judgment,
Criticizing.
You don't need to think too hard about the word to describe and label it,
Just whatever comes into your mind.
You could even label it as,
This is a work thought,
Or here's a worry thought,
Or this is a planning thought,
Or this is a future thought,
Or even a past thought,
And label it in that way.
So just keeping your attention on your breath now,
You might even like to place a hand on your belly and just feeling that gentle rise and fall of the belly with each in-breath and out-breath.
You might even become aware of feelings that you can also label if that feels right for you.
You can sort of choose a specific name for the feelings,
Such as stress,
Anger,
Or fear,
Joy,
Calm.
So when we know to label our feelings,
We use a kind and compassionate attitude towards ourself and towards that inner chatter that we have in our mind.
To help you bring that compassion to yourself,
You can even label feelings,
Saying things such as,
This is fear arising,
Or I can feel fear,
Or this is anger,
This is annoyance,
Or this is calm.
Just using that kind attitude towards yourself while you're doing so.
Focusing on your breath again for a moment.
Noticing the in-breath and the out-breath.
Just allow all of the experiences you have in this practice just to gently unfold and gently observe and acknowledge what it is that you can notice.
And you can note it if you like.
Or just redirect your attention back to the breath,
Whatever feels right for you.
So you can notice where your mind is right now.
Where is your mind?
So using this noting technique,
Just notice what's in the mind and give it a label.
It helps you to let go of the thoughts or feelings that you have at this very moment and just bring yourself back to your breath.
Noticing,
Feeling,
Observing the breath and the body.
So when we label a thought or a feeling,
We're turning that spotlight of attention just into our mind chatter.
You know,
The constant thoughts that come and go in our minds.
And it's just a gentle way to just observe our mental activity without getting caught up in it or analyzing or judging,
Evaluating.
Just simply labeling it and move the attention back to your point of focus,
Which is the breath for this practice.
Just remembering the aim is just to observe and to be aware and to be present.
So keeping your hand on your belly if that feels right for you.
And just feeling again that gentle rise and fall with each in-breath and out-breath.
Noticing the in-breath and the out-breath.
You can stay for a few moments on noticing the breath or if it feels right for you,
You can open your eyes.
And just noticing yourself in the room or wherever you are.
Noticing your body on the chair or wherever you're lying or sitting.
Might even do a little stretch.
And just bringing that calm focus back to the rest of your day.
