Start by finding a comfortable seat,
With the back straight and upright,
Either on a cushion on the floor or in a chair with your feet planted lightly on the ground.
Lift the crown of the head up towards the sky so that the vertebrae of the spine can become spacious and the neck can gently lengthen.
Now softly close the eyes or lower the gaze towards the floor.
Allow the hands to rest in your lap or on the knees.
Take a full,
Deep breath in through the nose,
Filling your abdomen,
Chest and lungs all the way up to the collarbones.
And then exhale through the mouth with a sigh.
Let's do that two more times,
Breathing in deeply and exhaling completely.
Once more,
Breathing in deeply,
Exhaling completely.
Now gently close the mouth so that you're only breathing through the nostrils and breathe as you normally would.
There's no need to change anything.
Become aware of the body.
Soften the shoulders,
The neck and the muscles of the jaw.
Relax the skin around the eyes and the forehead.
And if you need to move at any point in the meditation,
Feel free to do so.
There is nothing you need to do right now except breathe.
Begin to draw your attention to the physical sensation of your breath.
You might notice the rising and falling of your abdomen or chest as the breath comes in and out of the body.
Or the sensation of the air as it moves in and out through your nostrils.
Perhaps noticing that the air coming in is cooler than the air coming out.
Remember there's no need to change or do anything.
Your mind will wander and this is natural and normal both in meditation and in life.
When it does wander,
Can you gently draw it back to focusing on the breath,
On the inhale and the exhale as it travels in and out of your body.
Try your level best to be kind and compassionate to your mind.
When it wanders,
Gently guide it back to the breath without judgement as you would a child.
We spend so much of our lives judging ourselves.
There's no need for that in meditation.
We cannot force our minds into stillness and that's never the intention with our practice.
The harder you try to not think,
The more you will think.
So don't be concerned with the thoughts.
Acknowledge them as and when they come.
And gently continue to draw the awareness back to the breath.
We're going to sit now for five minutes,
Keeping this awareness on the breath.
Breathing and exhaling.
In environmental crackers.
Here they come.
You You You You You You You You You Take a full deep inhale through the nose and exhale a sigh through the mouth release When you're ready gently open the eyes or raise the gaze Take a moment and decide how you would like to continue with your day Namaste
