Namaste.
To begin,
Sit in a comfortable position,
Perhaps cross-legged on a meditation cushion or sitting in a chair,
Your back supported,
Or even laying down on a bed.
As you sit or lay in your comfortable position,
Take a big inhale in through the nose,
Exhale it out through the mouth.
We follow that up with two more clearing breaths.
Big inhale in through the nose,
Exhale out through the mouth.
Inhaling deeply,
Exhaling out through the mouth.
Become aware of the feeling of the surface that you're sitting or laying on.
Perhaps feel the floor or the cushion underneath your sit bones,
Or the softness of the mattress or mat underneath your hips,
Your shoulder blades,
The back of your head.
Take a moment to settle down,
Ground yourself down into this surface that is supporting you.
Perhaps beginning to feel all the tensions,
Any tightness in your body and muscles,
Begin to melt away.
You can inhale deeply and when you exhale,
Visualize sending some soft,
Light,
Bright,
Comfortable,
Relaxing energy into those tense and tight areas that you may be holding anywhere in your body.
We begin this mindful meditation by focusing on the breath,
The sensation of breath,
Or noting every inhale and exhale mentally.
You could begin by inhaling in through the nose and then exhaling naturally out through the nose once more.
Inhaling deeply,
Exhaling completely.
It might be more convenient and easier for you to focus on the sensation of your breathing.
So take a moment now and focus on where you feel your breath sensation.
Some people feel it in their nostrils as a coolness of inhalation and a warmness of exhalation of air through the nostrils.
Some people feel it as a rising and falling of their chest or perhaps an expansion and a contraction of their belly.
So take a moment now and go where it is in that body you feel the sensation of breathing and use those sensations as your point of focus.
Inhaling,
Exhaling,
Rising,
Falling,
Expansion and contraction.
Follow just one breath at a time.
One inhalation and one exhalation.
It may help you to note down mentally and in a relaxed and calm manner the breath pattern,
Perhaps through saying in and out.
In and out.
Just a soft,
Smooth,
Almost imperceptible notation in your mind of your rhythmic breath pattern.
If you're following the sensations of your breath,
Simply feel these sensations.
Try not to give them a name.
Just focus and go into the feeling of inhaling and the feeling of exhaling in your body.
Following just one breath.
One breath at a time.
Sometimes images or even sounds or emotions,
Pictures and memories may come into your mind,
But they may not be strong enough to distract you.
Just let those images,
Emotions and sensations flow through you.
Acknowledge them and let them go.
Just like birds flying over a lake.
They come,
They cast their shadow and they leave.
Stop grasping too tightly on these feelings and sensations.
Your goal is to simply complete one breath.
One breath at a time.
You may feel the expectation of fulfilling that breath.
It's like going to dinner at your favorite restaurant.
You see the waitress coming with your dish.
You don't rush up and run after the waitress,
But you are happy in your expectation as she puts your meal in front of you and a smile forms on your face.
So is it too with your breath?
As you see your breath coming,
The expectation of fulfilling that inhalation.
Finding the beginning,
The middle,
The end of each inhalation.
Stopping and finding the beginning,
The middle,
The end of each exhalation and pausing.
And finding those magic moments of stillness in between each inhalation,
The pause and each exhalation and the stillness after each breath.
Sometimes the thoughts,
The pictures,
The memories that may cross our mind might be strong enough to distract us and we find that we have left off from the rhythm of our breath and we've been carried off to another place,
Far from our breath.
This is the magic moment.
This is the moment where you can come back,
No judgment and simply begin again.
No judgment for yourself that you have lost your breath.
Fill yourself with kindness and compassion.
Practice this kindness and compassion for yourself.
Coming back and beginning again.
The chance and the promise to begin again and follow simply one breath.
No expectation,
No judgment on yourself.
In our meditation practice,
We may begin again hundreds of times.
This is okay.
There is always the opportunity to practice non-judgmental compassion for ourselves first and foremost.
This is your magic moment in every meditation practice.
The point where you let go and begin again.
Itís okay now to let go.
Exhale completely.
And big inhalation to seal the practice with Aum.
Breathing in.
Aum.
Namaste.
