Finding a position that feels comfortable and with open eyes just looking around and noticing your surroundings,
Colours,
Different shapes of objects,
Objects that might be far away,
Objects that might be moving and just gently now closing your eyes and noticing what your body is touching,
Your feet against the floor,
Your bottom and back supported by a chair or perhaps as you lie flat and turning your attention now to any fragrances,
Floating in the air.
Can you taste any flavours in your mouth?
And how does your mouth feel?
You might like to run your tongue around your teeth and gums,
Just noticing the different textures and surfaces.
Is there a light breeze touching your skin or perhaps a heater or the sun?
And what can you hear?
Sounds coming from nature,
Man-made sounds.
You're bringing your attention now to your breath.
You're just noticing the cycle of your breath as you breathe in and out.
Here's your breath,
Deep,
Perhaps shallow,
Is it fast or slow?
Just observing and noticing where in the body you feel your breath the most,
Perhaps at the tip of your nostrils as you breathe in the air and then as you exhale a slight change in temperature as the air moves out through your nostrils.
Or perhaps as the air moves down your throat and into your chest and abdomen,
Noticing the rise and fall of your shoulders and chest and abdomen.
Embracing that beautiful air and just noticing from a distance the cycle of your breath.
There's no need to change it at all.
Your body knows exactly what it needs to do.
You might like to envisage the figure eight as you breathe in,
Tracing this figure eight in your mind,
Moving up,
Over,
Across and then as you exhale down,
Across and around.
This beautiful,
Constant companion of yours,
Your breath.
Observing each cycle,
Being unique and exactly what your body needs.
Now just sitting for a moment,
Just observing the caress of this beautiful breath.
Observing it as it moves up,
Around,
Across and down in this image of the figure eight.
