Come into a comfortable seated position,
Aligning the crown of your head directly above the base of your spine.
Relax your body,
Softly close your eyes.
Taking one hand,
Place it over your belly and one hand placing it over your chest as you begin to observe your breath.
Notice how it feels to breathe.
Observing what moves when you breathe.
Noticing the difference in movement beneath the hand that is on top of your belly and the hand that is on top of your chest.
Noticing where your breath goes when you breathe.
Are you a chest breather or are you a belly breather?
Feeling this without judgement,
Without resisting or without attaching to whatever comes up.
Noticing if your breath is fast and shallow or if it feels perhaps slower and deeper.
Noticing if your breath is smooth and regular or if perhaps it feels a little choppy and erratic.
Again no judgement,
No stories.
Simply observe the different nuances of your breath.
Notice if there are any involuntary pauses in the breath.
You might notice these either during the inhale or exhale or perhaps at the end of either or both of the breaths.
Paying close attention to your breath as you allow it simply to come and go by itself.
Simply watching and observing the breath.
Becoming the witness to your breath.
So no need to breathe in any particular way.
Just allow for your natural breath to flow easily in and out of your body.
This is the practice of pure awareness applied to breathing.
You're not thinking,
Not judging,
Not comparing,
Not trying to figure anything out.
Just remaining in a soft,
Open state of alertness and presence to your breath.
Keep resting your attention on the ebb and the flow of your breath.
Observing your inhale and observing your exhale.
Sensing that you are breathing.
Notice where do those sensations and feelings of your breath occur in your body.
Where does the breath go when it flows into you?
What does the breath touch?
Just simply allowing the breath to come and go by itself in exactly the way that it wants.
No resistance,
No doing.
Just the simple act of being and allowing.
Now gently just releasing your hands from your chest and your belly,
Allow them to rest back on your thighs.
And just remain in this alert awareness of your breath for a few more moments.
When you're ready,
Just very softly,
Very slowly beginning to open up your eyes.
Retaining this sense of calmness,
Of groundedness as you carry on through the rest of your day.
