Welcome to today's practice.
My name is Karen and thank you so much for joining me.
In this meditation,
We are going to be sitting for roughly 10 minutes as we anchor our attention to our breath.
This is a very simple technique,
Just focusing on our inhales and our exhales as we try not to get too caught up in our passing thoughts.
So before we get started officially,
Just make sure that you are in a comfortable seated position.
Allow the hands to come and rest on the knees,
The thighs,
Or in your lap.
Let's close the eyes down together.
Soften the shoulders,
Letting the shoulder blades just melt down your back.
Unclench the biting surfaces of the teeth.
And to start,
Let's take a few rounds of deep,
Beautiful breathing together.
Breathing in and out of the nose.
Take that first nice big inhale.
Fill the lungs,
Fill the body all the way up to the top and then through the nose once again,
Just exhale.
Breathing it all the way back out.
Two more times,
Just like that.
Nice deep breath in.
Slow,
Long breath out.
One more time,
Breathing in through the nose.
Taking in a little bit more air this time.
Expanding the lungs and now through the nose,
Exhale.
Releasing and letting it all go.
Allowing your breath to return to a natural state.
And we're just going to take a moment here to settle into our bodies,
To settle into the space that we are in.
And to even just settle into this time,
This moment.
Knowing that you are exactly where you are supposed to be.
That right now in this moment,
This is the most important thing.
Feeling the weight of your body.
Feeling any clothing or fabric touching your skin.
Feeling the air in the room.
Noticing the temperature.
And being aware of any sounds that are happening around you.
And just allowing them to become part of the background.
And as we settle into this space,
Let's return our attention back to our breath.
Reconnecting to the inhales and the exhales as they pass.
Noticing the pace of your breath today.
Noticing the depth or the shallowness of your breath without any judgement.
Trusting and knowing that the body knows how to breathe.
Tuning into that rhythm.
That rising and falling sensation.
As the body breathes in and the body breathes out.
Anchoring our awareness on our breath.
The mind will invite you to wander away.
To become distracted and getting caught up in the thinking mind.
But every single time you notice that the mind has wandered away from the breathing,
You just return.
Coming back to the very next inhale.
The very next exhale.
Breathing in and breathing out.
Just following that natural rhythm of the breath.
Flowing in.
Flowing out.
Becoming effortless.
Like waves on the shore.
And if today your mind is really busy,
You're having difficulties staying connected to the breath.
I'm going to invite you to start counting the breath as they pass.
Counting one on that very next inhale.
Two on the exhale.
And then three and four as you gently climb all the way up to the number ten.
And then starting again at one.
And again every time the mind wanders away,
You notice you have stopped the counting.
You just come back.
Coming back again and again as many times as you need.
Training the mind to connect to the breath.
Our anchor to the present moment.
Now releasing the focus of the counting and even releasing the focus on the breath.
So just for a moment here,
You can simply be exactly how you are.
With the eyes still closed.
Just reconnect to the space you're in.
Gently come back to your physical body,
The weight of your body.
And again before opening your eyes,
Just notice how you feel here.
Moving into this feeling,
This energy.
And taking it with you,
Carrying it throughout your day.
Gently open up your eyes.
Thank you so much for joining me and until next time,
May you be happy,
May you be healthy,
And may you always be safe.
