Find a tall and comfortable seat so the spine is both alert and spacious.
You can close your eyes or pick a gazing point in front of you on the floor so that the eyes are steady and relaxed.
Start very simply by noticing the inhale and exhale.
Without changing the breath,
Without pulling the breath in or forcing the breath out,
Just noticing as the inhale arrives,
Followed by the exhale.
In being more aware of the breath,
You might notice the tendency to want to breathe a little deeper or more fully.
Allow the breath to do what it wants,
What it feels best in this moment.
It might mean breathing out of the mouth and then returning back to breathing in and out of the nose,
Gently,
Easily.
Allowing it to be deeper if it needs to for one or two cycles and then returning again to the normal breath.
And if the attention strays or if the mind becomes distracted with outside noise or the thoughts,
Just invite the awareness and attention back to the breath.
Just like we would invite a friend to come over,
We invite the breath back,
The attention back.
And they can coexist easily with one another,
The breath,
The attention in this space,
In this body,
In this moment.
With the breath arrives the attention.
And also with the attention arrives the breath.
Just coming and going easily in and out of the nose,
Inhale,
Exhale.
And if it's helpful labeling the breath as inhale and exhale to give the attention something a bit more concrete to focus on.
You might notice where in the body you feel the breath.
Just noticeably perhaps in the chest or in and out of the ribs where the lungs are or in the belly.
It might be a more general space like the whole torso,
Even the shoulders or the neck.
You might find a place in the body that feels rigid and allow the breath to move into that space.
With each inhale and exhale,
Allowing that area to soften,
Allowing the breath to travel as it needs to throughout the body or just simply in and out of the nose.
That's most beneficial for you today.
You might notice how the breath feels in and out of the nose.
It's often more cooling on the inhale and through the nostrils,
A little bit warmer on the exhale out of the nostrils.
Again,
Not pulling the breath in or pushing the breath out,
Just letting it move as it does without us ever having to tell it what to do.
It moves naturally like a wave throughout the day.
It supports us whether we move quickly or are still in this moment here,
Rising and falling like the tide.
Difty distractions arise.
Again,
Just inviting the attention back to float on the waves of the breath.
It's moving with one another.
And finally,
Perhaps even acknowledging the breath,
Offering gratitude for the work it does,
For the literal lifeblood it offers in every moment,
The nourishment it offers our hearts,
Lungs,
Organs,
The inner workings of our body.
Move with the breath.
Function with the breath in these beautiful,
Miraculous ways in every moment.
And taking these last few moments here to acknowledge and offer gratitude and make space in the heart for this incredible ability to breathe,
To be alive in this moment,
Even in stillness,
Allowing each breath to fill both the physical and metaphysical heart space and deep appreciation for this gift.
And as you're ready,
If you like,
You can breathe out of the mouth.
Breathe normally again.
If it feels comfortable,
You can place the hands together at the center of the chest and let the chest rise up into the chin and the chin bow into the chest,
Surrendering the mind into the heart and the heart to the mind.
Thank yourselves just for taking this moment to be aware of your breath today.
Namaste.
