This mindful practice is your breathing anchor practice,
Where you root your awareness into the present moment like an anchor that roots a ship to one place.
This will help you to dissolve anxiety,
Decrease stress,
And allow the body to heal in a relaxed,
Peaceful state.
So to begin,
Get as comfortable as possible.
Being seated is best,
But you can do this in any posture such as standing or even walking.
My guidance here will assume that you're sitting,
But adapt the instructions to whatever posture you've chosen.
Sitting with your back upright,
Get relaxed with your spine following its natural curves.
See if you can establish a comfortable position that feels dignified,
Alert,
And yet relaxed.
Allow your body to settle,
To rest down into gravity,
Letting it be supported by the floor beneath you.
Gently close your eyes or soften your gaze.
Just get comfortable.
Closing our eyes allows us and our awareness to settle by lessening external distractions.
Gradually allow your awareness to gather around the sensations of the breath in your body.
Notice where you feel your breath most strongly.
I invite you to be curious about your actual experience,
Letting go of what you think should be happening,
And being with your experience without judgment.
Now very gently rest your awareness within the whole torso.
Can you feel your belly swelling on the in-breath and subsiding on the out-breath?
Can you feel any movement and sensations with the breath in the sides and the back of the body as well?
Gently coming more and more in tune with your body,
Just a little bit more deeply with a sense of kind curiosity towards whatever you're experiencing as you breathe.
Remember to be accepting of whatever happens.
See if you can pinpoint precise awareness of the sensations and movement of the breath in the body as they happen,
Moment by moment,
Being careful not to strain.
Allow your awareness to be utterly receptive as it rests upon the natural movement of the breath in the body.
Allow the breath to be saturated with kindness as it rocks and cradles the body,
Soothing any stress,
Pain,
Or discomfort that you may be feeling.
Now become aware of any thoughts and emotions.
Remember that mindfulness isn't about having a blank mind.
It's normal to think mindfulness is the training where you cultivate awareness of what's actually happening physically,
Mentally,
And emotionally.
So you can gradually change your perspective and feel you have more choice in how you relate to life.
Can you look at your thoughts and emotions rather than from them?
Can you be aware of what you're thinking and feeling without either blocking the experience or getting overwhelmed by them?
Remember that thoughts are not facts,
Even though we often think that they are.
As you develop perspective on your thoughts and emotions,
Including undermining ones,
Can you let go of being so caught up in them?
Notice how they're continually changing one moment to the next,
Exactly the same way your breath is always changing.
Your thoughts and emotions are not as fixed,
As solid,
As you perhaps thought.
Using awareness of the movement and sensations of your breath in your body as an anchor for the mind over and over again.
Follow the breath all the way in and all the way out.
Each time your awareness wanders,
As it will,
Simply note this and return to the anchored breathing.
Time after time after time,
Moment by moment,
Making sure that you're very kind and patient with yourself,
Even if you have to start over again a hundred times.
It's okay.
This is what the training is all about.
And remember that each time you notice you've wandered is a magic moment of awareness,
A moment where you've woken up from a distraction,
A moment of choice.
So when you catch yourself wandering off,
You're succeeding in the practice,
Just as you're succeeding when you manage to stay with the breath.
What's happening now?
What are you thinking?
Just note this and guide your awareness back to the sensation of the breath in the body over and over again.
And now gently bringing the breathing practice to a close,
Gently open your eyes and be aware of the sounds around you inside and outside the room.
Feel your whole body and gradually,
Gently begin to move,
Making sure that you give yourself time to make a smooth transition from the breathing anchor practice to whatever you're doing next.
I hope you enjoyed this mindful moment.
Have a blessed day.
