Welcome to this 10 minutes of mindfulness meditation.
So let's start by assuming a comfortable posture.
So your torso is neither too upright nor too slouchy.
Your chin is slightly tucked in so your head is resting effortlessly on your neck and your shoulder.
You can rest your palm on your thighs.
And let's start by taking three slow and conscious breaths.
So breathe in through your nostril,
Feeling in your belly and your lungs.
And then go ahead and breathe out through your nostril,
Completely emptying the air.
One more in-breath through the nostril.
And out-breath out the nostril.
And one last time,
Breathing in through your nostril.
And very consciously and slowly breathing out through your nostril.
Go ahead and resume a natural rhythm of your breath.
At this time,
Try not to control your breath.
Make it faster or slower.
In fact,
You are not controlling your breath in any way here.
But rather simply staying aware of the way your body breathes.
You are completely aware that you are breathing in when you breathe in.
And you are completely aware that you are breathing out when you breathe out.
If you catch yourself getting distracted or agitated by sounds in your environment,
Whether it is sound made by your family members or sound outside,
Like the sound of traffic or the birds chirping,
Here try to notice that the sound is not a distraction.
But rather that it simply is.
So as you rest your gentle awareness on the sound,
Try not to push it away or chase after it.
Simply notice it and go back to being fully aware that you are breathing in when you breathe in and that you are breathing out when you breathe out.
If you catch yourself getting distracted or agitated by the pain in your body,
Whether it is tensed neck or shoulder,
Or the pain in the lower back or the tightness in your legs,
Simply rest your gentle awareness on those sensations.
Rather than trying to fight it,
Simply stay aware of those sensations.
And with that,
You send a sense of relaxation,
Flexibility and release of those tensions.
Let those sensations just be.
Bring your awareness back to your breath so you are completely aware that you are breathing in when you breathe in and you are completely aware that you are breathing out when you breathe out.
If you catch yourself getting distracted or bothered by the pain in your body,
Or bothered by the thoughts on your mind,
Simply rest a gentle awareness on those thoughts.
Try to see that it is not a distraction of your meditation,
But rather something that just is.
Simply rest your gentle awareness on those thoughts.
Not so much the contents of the thoughts,
But rather the fact that your mind is thinking.
You may label that phenomena as just thinking and bring your awareness back to your breath so you are completely aware that you are breathing in when you breathe in and you are completely aware that you are breathing out when you breathe out.
If you catch yourself being self-critical for getting distracted or agitated by the sounds in your environment,
The discomfort in your body,
Or the thoughts on your mind,
Simply rest your gentle awareness on that.
Not so much the content of the judgment,
But just the fact that you are judging yourself.
You are not trying to push it away or run after it,
Nor are you believing that judgment.
Again,
Bring your awareness back to the breath so you are completely aware that you are breathing in when you breathe in.
You are completely aware that you are breathing out when you breathe out.
As you maintain this relaxed,
Flexible,
And open attitude,
Anything that we normally consider distraction or a bother becomes an object of meditation.
Slowly bring your awareness back to your body.
Perhaps you can feel your toes by wiggling it,
Feel the sensation of being seated on the chair or the floor.
You can wiggle your fingers.
You can feel the muscles in your face by smiling to yourself.
Go ahead and thank yourself for taking this time to understand your mind,
Befriend yourself,
And to truly practice authentic self-care.
