Awareness of Breath Meditation

This 20-minute mindfulness awareness of breath meditation gives you the opportunity to explore knowing intimately the breath, taking time to focus with intention, curiosity, openness and ease to know each breath in each moment.

Transcript

Welcome to this seated awareness meditation practice.

Taking this time to allow yourself the permission to drop into practice.

So finding a seat for you in this moment that affords you the possibility to stay awake,

To attend,

To tune your attention to the breath.

So allowing yourself to either use the support of a chair or a cushion or a pillow to just settle into a seated posture.

And so feeling the points of contact that the body are making with the floor,

The chair,

Or the cushion.

Becoming aware of these points of contact and just allowing yourself as you tune into these points of contact any subtle adjustments that might need to be made to allow the body a comfortable yet alert and dignified posture.

It can be helpful to attend to the body in particular ways when sitting.

And so if choosing to sit at a chair for this practice,

Seeing if you can just let the body,

The torso support its own weight,

Not really needing to use the back of the chair,

Just being upright under the own strength of the body in this moment.

And allowing yourself to take notice of maybe how the pelvis is situated as you sit.

Just allowing if it's comfortable for you for the pelvis to have a subtle and slight tilt forward so that there's no strain,

No discomfort that's being placed in the low back.

And moving up from the pelvis and just examining the way the torso is being supportive.

Seeing and sensing this part of the body,

Maybe reaching up a bit towards the ceiling,

Just lengthening the body out to prepare the body for this sitting practice.

Maybe checking in with the shoulders,

Noticing if there's any tension there,

Not needing to do anything particular with it,

But just see if you can settle in and let the body allow itself to fully take the seat in this moment.

So the shoulders might feel comfortable if they are somewhat aligned over the hips.

And then moving up from the shoulders to the neck and to the head,

Feeling the head extending towards the ceiling,

Maybe allowing just a slight and subtle tuck of the chin.

So as you tune into all these various points in sitting,

Seeing if you can just embody for this moment the experience of sitting.

Allowing yourself right here,

Right now.

And so allowing now with this sitting posture to bring into awareness an intention you may have for practice.

And an intention can be some quality,

Some experience that you may want to allow to be cultivated during your experience of meditation.

So that might be to experience peace,

Calm.

It might be to experience clarity or kindness,

To seeing what comes in to awareness as you contemplate for a moment what intention you want to set for practice.

And then once you've allowed yourself to attend to what that intention might be for practice,

Fully sensing and feeling in this moment the willingness to hold that while you practice.

And now allowing the intention to just move into the background of awareness and bring now into the foreground of awareness the breath.

So allowing yourself to observe the inhale as it moves into the body and as it moves out of the body.

Just observing this gentle and subtle rhythm,

Not needing to control or force it in any particular way.

Just simply being present for the breath.

Sometimes it's helpful to pick a particular location in the body in which the breath feels somewhat vivid.

So that might be at the nostrils,

Or the chest,

Or the abdomen.

Or it might be to just simply observe the entirety of the breath as it moves through each of these regions in the body.

But whatever feels right for you in this moment,

Just allowing your attention to rest on the breath.

Letting this breath be the central point of your attention.

Noticing that the mind may wander.

May wander to planning.

May wander to reminiscing.

And in this practice,

In this moment,

Just simply observing that experience as the mind wanders and then gently bring the attention back to the breath.

Just being present to this breath in this moment as it is.

Curiously opening your awareness into the breath.

When the mind wanders or the attention is drawn to other points in the body,

Maybe even sensations in the body that may be calling for attention.

This practice,

This moment,

Just simply observe that experience as it happens.

And without judgment,

Without criticism,

Just come back.

Come back into the breath and being present to the breath just as it is right now.

This breath is with us at every moment and gives us in every moment an opportunity to be present.

To be fully aware and awake of our experience just as it is breathing.

Seeing if you can stay with the entirety of the breath.

So observing it at the point at which it becomes the inhale and moves into the body,

Expands and fills the body.

And then the point at which it shifts from the inhale and becomes the exhale and begins to move out of the body and releases and contracts the body a bit.

So staying with,

Observing the subtle qualities and changes that happen in the body as we breathe in and as we breathe out.

If distraction arises,

Your attention is pulled away,

Simply notice that.

Simply observe this pull as an opportunity to awaken into the moment and then return to the breath.

Just this breath,

Just this moment.

Seeing if you can invite in as you are aware of each breath,

A non-judgment,

Curious and open stance to being with the breath.

Just allowing yourself permission to attend to the breath in this way.

Letting each breath,

Each moment be a new arrival as it is in each moment if we meet it with the willingness to just be present to it as it is.

Sometimes our attention may be drawn to difficult thoughts or to difficult sensations or maybe even difficult emotions in the body.

And our tendency is to want to judge,

To do something to or to possibly even ignore these experiences and in this practice right now,

Seeing if you can just give yourself permission to notice if those difficulties or distractions or pulling away from the breath happens and when or if it does,

Simply giving yourself permission to observe that experience and then return to the breath,

Returning back to the breath again and again and again,

Letting the breath be the point of focus,

The space in which the body and the mind can just rest as the inhale comes into the body and the exhale leaves the body.

Feeling and sensing your capacity to be present to the breath in this way.

To allow the attention,

The mind,

Body and the heart to just rest and letting the breath be the central focus,

Letting the breath be a coming home,

A knowing,

A grounding force within you in this moment that you can return to.

Just being with this breath in its full experience as it is.

And just a few moments,

I will ring the bells to signal the end of this practice and taking a moment right now to allow yourself to tune back into the intention for practice that you set and just by allowing that to come back into your awareness at this moment,

Observing right now your experience of that intention,

What that feels like right now in the mind or in the body or in the heart.

Just giving yourself a moment to acknowledge whatever experience is present and a moment to give gratitude or thanks to yourself for being willing to practice and being willing to continue to meet yourself in each moment just as it is.

I apologize.

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