This is a 10 minute mindfulness of breath meditation,
Part of Manchester Mind's Mindfulness for Stress course.
Coming to sit.
Finding a posture that's going to work for you.
Establishing a posture that embodies wakefulness and dignity.
So allowing the chair to fully support you.
Feeling the sit bones sink into the chair.
Feeling the contact of the feet against the floor.
Legs uncrossed.
And having the hands wherever they feel comfortable.
Maybe resting on the legs,
Palms turned up or down.
Or perhaps resting on the belly if that's better for you.
Lower body stable like a mountain.
And with a nice straight spine,
Upright but not uptight.
Head lightly resting on the neck.
Allowing the shoulders to drop.
And if it's comfortable for you,
Allowing the eyes to close.
But if you prefer to keep them open,
That's fine too.
Having an unfocused gaze though.
Allowing whatever you're sitting on to fully support your weight.
Giving yourself up to gravity.
And settling in.
And becoming aware that you're breathing.
No need to change the breath in any way.
Instead,
Allowing the body to breathe itself.
With a gentle awareness of the breath as it moves through the body.
So you might notice the breath most obviously in the belly.
Stretching as you breathe in.
Letting go as you breathe out.
It might be more noticeable for you in the chest.
As it rises and falls.
Or perhaps it's most obvious in the nose.
Where the air meets the breath right at the tip.
There's no right way to breathe.
Choosing an area where the breath is most obvious.
The belly,
The chest or the nose.
And resting the awareness here for this meditation.
Bringing an awareness to any sensations of the breath.
In the chest,
The belly or the nose.
Even if it's very subtle,
That's okay.
Resting the awareness there.
With a kindly curiosity.
As best you can being aware of the full in breath.
And the full out breath.
Feeling the breath sensations in the belly or the chest or the nose.
And remembering we're not trying to get a blank mind.
Get anywhere special in this meditation.
Using the breath to focus the awareness on.
And every time you notice the mind has wandered.
Gently noting where it's been.
And bringing it back to the breath.
In the belly,
The chest or the nose.
In a short meditation you may have to do this many,
Many times.
That's okay.
It's not a mistake or a problem with your mind.
Minds like to think.
This is an opportunity to train the brain.
Settling onto the breath as a focus.
Allowing the body to breathe itself.
With a light awareness.
Watching as the breath moves in.
And the breath moves out again.
Having a sense of each in breath and each out breath.
Noticing the rhythm of the breath.
So perhaps the in and the out breath are the same length.
Or maybe they're different.
No right way to breathe.
Noticing whatever's here for you.
Resting the awareness on the breath.
In the belly,
The chest or the nose.
Breath moves in.
And breath moves out.
Nothing else to do.
Watching the body breathe.
With a narrow focus of awareness on the breath.
In those points in the belly,
The chest or the nose.
And noticing when the mind has wandered.
Seeing where it's been.
Thinking or planning.
Reflecting back on the day.
Thinking forward to whatever's happening later.
That's okay.
Minds like to think.
Soon as you notice the mind has taken you away from the breath.
Gently and kindly bringing it back.
Noticing the breath in the belly or the chest or the nose.
Noticing the sensations of the breath.
Watching the breath as it comes in and comes out of the body.
Letting each breath come and go on its own.
Bringing a kindly curiosity to your awareness.
Adopting the attitude of a kind parent to the thinking mind.
Not a prison warden.
So once you notice the mind has wandered,
Gently and kindly bringing the awareness back to the breath.
Each time bringing back,
That's a moment of awareness.
A moment of mindfulness.
It's not a failure if the mind wanders.
Focusing on the breath.
Rhythm of the breath moving in and out of the body.
Body breathes itself.
Sitting.
Watching.
Air moves in.
Air moves out.
Breath moves in.
Breath moves out.
Resting the awareness on the breath.
And bringing the attention back each time the mind wanders.
Noticing the movements of the body.
Breath moves in.
Breath moves out.
Maybe the movements are very subtle and that's okay.
Resting on the belly,
The chest or the nose.
Following the breath as best you can.
Following the whole duration of the in-breath.
The whole duration of the out-breath.
Breath sensations.
Moving through the body.
Fluxing and changing moment by moment.
And shifting the awareness so you have a sense of the body as it's sat on the chair.
Notice the points of contact between yourself and the chair.
Your feet and the floor.
Your hands wherever they're resting.
Perhaps noticing the air temperature against the skin and the feel of the clothes.
Having a sense of the posture and the facial expression.
Turning the attention outwards to any sounds happening around you,
Inside the room or outside.
And then whenever you're ready,
As we draw the meditation to a close,
You can open your eyes.
