G'day,
It's Rachel here.
Thanks for joining me for this brief breath mindfulness meditation.
I invite you to prepare by finding a comfortable seated position and allowing your eyes to be gently closed.
I will begin with the gong.
To begin I invite you to join me in taking a nice deep breath in filling your lungs right up.
And then as you exhale gently and slowly allow your body to relax as you let all the air from your lungs go as you breathe out.
And as you allow your breath to return to its natural and gentle rhythm,
Breathing in and out through your nose with your mouth gently shut if that's possible for you.
I invite you to direct your attention right now to the area of your belly,
Wherever your focus,
Wherever your awareness is right now,
I invite you to get it and direct it at the area of your belly so that on the very next in-breath with your attention on your belly you feel and notice the physical sensations that are there in the area of your belly as you breathe in and out.
If you want to I invite you to place one hand on your belly.
Doing this makes it easier for your awareness to make a connection with the sensations that are present in the area of your belly as you breathe in and out.
With the benefit of your hand resting on your belly you might notice the sense of rising and falling.
You might notice other sensations in the area of your belly as you breathe as well.
Warmth or coolness,
Tingliness,
Heaviness,
Tightness,
Whatever it might be,
There's no right or wrong.
Right now focusing your attention on the area of your belly,
Feeling and noticing all the physical sensations that are there to be felt right now as you breathe in and as you breathe out.
If you notice that your mind wanders away at any moment,
It might wander to a thought about the past or the future,
It might wander to a distracting noise or wander off to another part of your body.
It's okay,
The wandering mind is natural and normal.
We want to train it to be where we've asked it to be.
So we invite our attention back to the place we've asked it to be,
To be focused on feeling the sensations in our belly the moment we notice that it's wandering.
Feeling the sensations in the area of your belly as you breathe in.
Focusing your attention there,
Feel and notice the sensations as you breathe out.
You notice your mind wander the moment you notice that it's wandered.
The kind,
Gentle but firm attitude,
Just bring your attention back and feel the sensations in your belly again as you breathe in and out.
Feeling your hand rise and fall on your belly with each in-breath and every out-breath.
Bringing your attention back to your belly the moment that you notice that it might wander anywhere else.
Feeling your hand rise and fall on your belly with each in-breath and every out-breath.
As we conclude with three gongs I just invite you to allow your eyes to gently open when you hear the gongs but keep your attention on your belly.
Notice the three gongs chime so that you can develop the ability to still feel the sensations in the area of your belly as you go about your day with your eyes open.
Doing this little practice at the end builds that capacity to stay connected to the sensations in your body as you breathe as you go about your day.
Feel the sensations as you breathe in.
Notice the sensations in the area of your belly as you breathe out.
The area of your belly.
Feel the sensations as you breathe in.
Feel the sensations as you breathe out.
Feel the sensations as you breathe in.
