Hey there,
This is Ryan.
Welcome to this short awareness of breath meditation.
This meditation is all about connecting to the breath,
Surrendering into the breath.
So first of all let's just settle into the body and settle into our seats,
Making sure you're comfortable in a relaxed and alert posture with a straight spine.
You might find it helpful to gently close your eyes,
But if you'd rather do this meditation with your eyes open that's perfectly fine.
And we'll take a few deep cleansing breaths,
So in through the nose and let it out with an audible sigh.
We'll do two more of those,
In through the nose and sigh it out.
Deep breath in through the nose and letting it go with a sigh.
And coming back to your normal breathing pace now.
I invite you to notice any sounds that you might be able to hear in your environment.
Perhaps that sounds outside or sounds coming from in the room where you are right now.
We don't need to give these sounds a narrative or a story,
We're just acknowledging them.
Now drawing awareness inwards and noticing the sensations of sitting.
How does it feel to be sitting in this moment?
Perhaps you can feel your feet on the floor.
How about your clothes on your skin or your skin against the air?
Again,
Not judging or striving for these things to be or mean anything,
Just noticing what's there.
The breath can be the bridge between the mind and the body.
It can be a fantastic tool with which to compassionately,
Non-judgmentally navigate the mind.
To identify when we're lost in thought or distracted and gently bring ourselves back into the body by using the sensations of breathing.
First of all,
I'd like you to pick an anchor for your breathing.
For most people this is either the nostrils where you can feel the air coming in and out of your body or the abdomen where you can feel the rising and falling of your chest and tummy with each breath.
Just choose the one that feels most comfortable for you.
There's no need to control the breath or try and make it be any certain way,
Just noticing how it is.
Whatever the pace,
The pattern or the depth is absolutely perfect.
I invite you to cover each breath with awareness,
Focusing on the sensations at your chosen anchor.
Can you fully cover each of these sensations through every moment of the inhale,
The pause at the top and again through each moment of your exhale,
Noticing all the sensations involved with breathing.
I'd like you to notice the sensations of breathing itself.
For most people that's going to be the tip of the nose where the air enters and exits the nostrils or in the rising and the falling of the chest or stomach as the air enters and exits your abdomen.
Whichever one you choose is absolutely fine.
We're not trying to evaluate the breath and we're not trying to control the breath,
We're simply noticing it as it occurs.
So that means if you find your breathing shallow,
That's fine.
If you find your breathing deep,
That's fine.
The pattern,
The pace is really not important.
We are gently controlling the breath as it comes in.
We are gently covering the breath as it is with awareness.
In the beginning it is inescapable that you will be distracted by the contents of the mind and that's absolutely normal.
This is the mind being the mind.
So when you notice that you've been swept away by thought,
Just notice that you've become distracted and then without judgment choose to bring your awareness back to the sensations of breathing.
And again if you notice you've become lost in thought,
Without judgment,
Choose to bring your awareness back to the sensations of breathing.
And if you notice you've become lost in thought,
Just notice that without judgment and bring awareness back to the sensations of breathing.
Notice that you've become distracted and then without judgment bring your awareness back to the sensations of breathing.
And if you notice that the mind has wandered,
Now is the moment to non-judgmentally bring yourself back to the sensations of breathing at your chosen anchor and begin again.
Initially it can be frustrating or discouraging to realise just how loud the mind can be.
If you do feel this way,
I encourage you to see each moment of acknowledging distraction,
Each moment of choosing to draw your awareness back to the breath.
I invite you to see that as a moment of pure mindfulness.
I invite you now to take a deep breath in through the nose and then gently sigh it out through the mouth.
And we'll do that one more time.
Deep breath in through the nose and letting it go with a sigh.
And whenever you're ready you might like to bring some movement back into the body,
Maybe your wrists,
Your ankles,
Your neck,
Rolling it out.
Open your eyes and thank you so much for allowing me to guide you today.
I'll see you next time.
