Breath Awareness To Anchor Into The Present

This short five minute practice is perfect for those who are new to meditation or for those who only have a short time to practice. In this meditation, we focus on the sensation and awareness of breath. We do this by using the breath to help anchor our thoughts to the present moment.

Transcript

In this meditation we'll bring our focus to our breath,

Starting by finding a comfortable seat,

Whatever that looks like for you,

Resting the hands and the lap,

Either palms facing down or allowing the palms to face up.

You can allow the eyes to close or maybe keeping the eyes open with a soft gaze,

Taking a deep breath in through the nose,

Opening the mouth and sighing it out,

Allowing the mouth to close,

Starting to breathe in and out through the nose,

Becoming aware of how the breath feels,

Where you feel that sensation of the breath in the body.

Maybe it's the cool air coming in through the nose,

The warm air leaving the nose,

Maybe it's the rise and fall of the chest and the collarbones,

Maybe you notice the belly expanding on the in-breath,

Contracting on the out-breath,

Maybe you start to notice thoughts coming up and seeing if you can be aware of when the mind wanders,

Noticing the thoughts that come up,

Gently bringing your attention back to noticing the breath,

Noticing the inhale and the exhale.

You might have begun to notice the breath beginning to deepen on its own,

Maybe it feels smoother,

The inhales a bit longer,

Slow exhales.

Whenever you feel yourself becoming distracted by thoughts or sounds or physical sensations,

Seeing if you can bring your attention back to your breath,

Using the breath as an anchor for your thoughts,

Helping to bring you back to the present moment,

Noticing how the body feels here,

Maybe the shoulders begun to relax,

Muscles in the face soften,

Maybe you feel more relaxed at ease,

Feeling the breath coming into the body,

And the breath leaving the body.

We'll take a big breath in through the nose,

This time opening the mouth and letting it go,

Allowing the breath to return back to its natural rhythm.

You can slowly start to blink the eyes open,

Taking in your surroundings.

I hope you've enjoyed this meditation and I hope you go on to have a wonderful day.

Thank you.