This is a practice focused on the breath and awareness.
I invite you to take a comfortable seat,
Either in a chair with the feet flat,
Or if you would prefer to sit on the floor with the legs crossed or straight out in front of you,
Whatever is more comfortable.
I encourage you to have a straight spine with the back up straight but relaxed,
So the breath can flow easily through the body,
Chin slightly tucked and the crown of the head lifted towards the ceiling,
The hands resting comfortably in the lap in whichever way feels right for you.
Firstly,
Just allowing yourself to feel the breath in the body,
Feeling yourself breathing,
Allowing the breath to deepen.
Take a big inhale,
Breathing into the belly,
The chest,
Feeling that expansion,
Then a long slow exhalation.
Breathing in and a long slow exhale.
And one more big deep breath.
And as you exhale,
Really feeling yourself arrive here in your space,
Arriving in this moment.
You might even like to say to yourself,
I am here.
As the breath gradually returns to normal,
Allowing it to arrive into its own natural rhythm,
No need to force or to control it in any way,
Simply feeling each inhalation and exhalation.
The breath effortless and easy in the body,
Each breath bringing you more and more here.
For the next little while you can leave the world of doing and simply be in this moment.
Feeling with the body breathing,
Settling into stillness,
Settling into presence.
Every breath inviting in a softness.
And as you exhale,
A subtle letting go.
Feeling how each breath comes automatically without you needing to do anything.
The breath here to support you moment by moment.
And as you breathe,
Noticing where you might feel any tension in the body.
And without needing to push anything away,
Just inviting the breath to these areas of challenge,
Seeing if there's a natural dissolving.
Breathing through the face,
Around the eyes and the mouth.
Letting go of any holding you might have in the jaw.
Feeling the shoulders drop down and openness across the chest.
Feeling limbs to be soft.
Feeling the whole body supported by the safety of the chair below.
Knowing that in this moment,
Everything is okay.
Feel safe to stop.
Being with the body breathing.
Being in the breath for the next little while.
And if you find the mind has wandered off,
Caught up in thinking of the future or the past,
This is totally natural.
You can just see this as an opportunity of awareness.
And with no judgment,
Allowing yourself to notice yourself breathing once again.
Coming back to presence.
And becoming aware of any sounds that might be around you.
Perhaps you notice sounds outside of the room you're in.
Rather than attaching a cause or a meaning or judging is good or bad.
Can you simply allow yourself to sense these as a vibration?
The soundtrack of life happening around you.
Letting it flow through.
Now you might notice sounds closer to you.
You might even notice the sound of your own breathing as you gently breathe in and out.
Notice of breath and of sound.
And now bringing the attention to the body,
Alive with sensation.
Can you get a sense of the body's energy?
Perhaps its temperature.
Maybe the touch of air on your face.
The feel of the clothes on your skin.
The pulse in your wrist.
Even the beat of your own heart.
Feeling the body's aliveness in this moment.
The sensation of the body breathing.
Feeling the breath to carry you moment to moment.
Awareness of breath,
Sound and sensation.
Each breath a softening and a subtle letting go.
And becoming aware if there's any feeling or emotion present.
And rather than resisting can you just allow it with a kindness and compassion for what is here?
An awareness of life that is present right now.
And if you find yourself getting caught up in a story,
Just become aware again of the body breathing,
The sounds around you,
Sensation,
Feeling.
Bringing you once more to what is here.
A soft,
Restful presence.
Sitting in this moment breath by breath.
Free space forever A moment by moment awareness.
The whole body breathing.
And now as we've come to the end of the meditation you can begin to deepen the breath again.
Bringing back some gentle movement into the body.
And in your own time becoming aware of your surroundings again and gently and slowly opening the eyes.
