Welcome to this classic mindfulness practice,
Mindfulness of the breath.
You deserve this moment that you've carved out for yourself,
Giving your body the right to be here now as we settle.
Why am I practicing this?
Simply for being more connected,
Grounded,
Present,
Aware.
Let's get into this.
In order to settle into the moments,
We need to remind ourselves that this is about the art of allowing,
Allowing all of our experiences to be.
So with this practice,
There's no need to change or alter anything.
It's simply about being with what is.
Notice how your feet are making contact with the floor,
Noticing the different areas of pressure from each foot.
As you do this,
Let this be.
Noticing any judgements your mind may make about this experience,
Being with this.
Even when there's a difference in pressure from each foot,
It doesn't need correcting or fixing.
It's an invitation for us to drop further and further into this experience.
And as you've been doing this,
The natural rise and fall of your belly has been continuing its cycle.
Slowly tune into this experience and rest your awareness here.
In breath,
Out breath.
Tuning into the subtleties of this experience,
Such as the way your clothing may move against your skin or any other experience that only you have this felt sense of.
Notice any subtle experiences from the breath,
Specific aspects that only you can acknowledge when you fine tune into them.
And of course,
Again and again the mind does want to carry you away.
Every single time you notice distraction is a win,
Not a moment of failure and an opportunity to come back to the waves of your breath.
And now moving your awareness inside your body and notice how your body breathes.
Feeling the texture,
Sensing into the texture of your breath.
In breath,
Out breath.
Maybe there's a different felt sense experience from the in breath compared to the out breath.
Two very similar experiences,
But when we tune into them,
We notice just how different they are.
Noticing everything else to be,
The sounds around you,
The sensations,
The thoughts coming and going in your mind.
Everything can happen whilst you anchor to your breath.
Noticing thoughts that hook you and carry you away compared to the thoughts that just come and go in the background are a different experience.
Mindfulness is about letting everything be,
And this includes the thoughts in our mind coming and going,
Coming and going,
All taking place whilst you connect to this anchor that you have chosen.
Staying with this point of connection,
Thoughts coming and going,
Sounds coming and going,
Thoughts coming and going like cars on a street,
Or clouds in the sky,
As you remain connected to your point of focus,
Staying with the experience of your breathing and this time fine tuning into the temperature of your breath,
The cool air coming in and the warm air as it leaves.
See if you can fine tune your awareness to exactly where this takes place.
Notice exactly where the cool air takes place.
Notice exactly where the warm air takes place.
This is your point of connection.
This is your focus.
Everything else just happens.
And moving awareness from the physical sense experience of your breath to the sound of your breathing,
No matter how soft or subtle this may be.
Sometimes this can be likened to waves on a beach.
And now as you've been focusing your attention upon the sound of your breathing,
If you wish to,
You can open your awareness further to include both the sound of your breathing and how your hands are gently resting in this moment.
If you find that you need an anchor,
Feel free to come back to the experience of the waves of your breath or the experience of your hands and the pull of gravity.
Then when you're ready,
Open up again and allow everything to be absorbed in this moment.
Notice how you are the witness to all of your experiences,
Taking the time to thank yourself for opening up a space to practice this.
And so,
In these last few moments,
This meditation will be drawing to an end.
