Hello and welcome to this practice.
Today's meditation is going to be focused around conscious breathing.
So to begin we're going to find a comfortable space to position our body that may be seated on the floor,
Maybe in a chair.
If sitting for any reason is uncomfortable for you then you can also lie down for this as well.
So just take a moment or two to get the body comfortable.
Position your legs where you can stay still for an extended period of time and if you are sitting then just make sure you're lengthening through the spine and sitting a little bit taller.
Rest your arms wherever they are comfortable and then we'll just softly close the eyes.
So now we are seated and comfortable.
Let's just bring our awareness to the sensations within the physical body.
Just notice how the body feels.
Become aware of the sensation of the body and the surface beneath you whether you are sitting or laying.
Just feeling that connection point between you and the floor or chair.
As your awareness is in the body if you start to notice that there is quite a lot going on for you,
Perhaps many sensations are present,
Just allow your awareness to kind of move from one sensation to the next with a sense of ease and flow.
So we're not really holding on to any one sensation,
Maybe not being bombarded with a whole host of things at the same time but just picking out parts and allowing us to move from one to the next,
One to the next.
We're just gonna shift the awareness now moving from the body and into the mind and into the mental state.
Just getting a general sense of the mind and what may be in there today.
A sense of the feeling within the mind.
Any thoughts that might be present.
And in the same way that we allowed our awareness to move from one thing to the next when we were watching the body,
We'll do the same with the mind.
So if we find that there are a lot of thoughts present just allow them to come and go.
We're not holding on to any particular thought or feeling and we're not pushing anything away either.
So just finding that space in between where we have this sense of detached awareness,
Just observing and witnessing the mind perhaps from a little bit of a distance.
And now just gently pulling away from the mind,
Bringing your attention to the forehead.
We'll just see if we can soften this area a little more and then allow that softness to move down into the eyes,
Releasing all of the small muscles that surround the eyes.
Softening the cheeks,
Letting the jaw slightly part and the tongue just settling into the bottom of the mouth.
So now that we've brought our focus into the sensation of body and mind,
We'll take this now onto the breath.
So there is no need to change the breath but just watch the inhale and exhale moving in and out of the body.
And as we watch the breath we may choose something to focus on.
It might be the feeling of the body moving with the breath,
The physical sensation of the chest,
Ribs expanding.
We might choose perhaps the sensation of the air passing through the nostrils as it comes in and out.
Maybe focusing on the rhythm of the breath or the speed of the breath.
Whatever you decide to focus on,
Just try and keep your awareness fully with that.
Just observing the breath coming and going as it wants to with its own flow,
Its own rhythm.
And if at any point you find that your mind becomes distracted and your focus is taken away from the breath,
Just come back to it.
Notice when you have lost your focus and bring it back to the breath.
So just continuing with this practice for a minute longer,
Watching the breath and being fully present with however it wishes to be.
And if at any point you notice your focus has been lost,
Just bring yourself back to the rhythm of the breath.
Okay,
So just allowing your awareness to come back into the body.
And as we bring ourselves out of practice,
Just take a slightly deeper,
Longer breath.
Just allowing your energy to come back.
And then wherever you are in your day,
I hope the rest of it is filled with presence.
Thank you very much for your practice.
