Simple Breathing Exercise

During this meditation, I guide you through the breathing exercise I like most. It is simple and is the foundation of any meditation. I hope you enjoy it. Breathing is the basic action of the human body. Without it, we would not be having this conversation. Sharon Salzberg says that breathing is the best and easiest meditation focal point (or home base) because we have it with us all the time.

Transcript

Centering the present posture,

Let the sensation of breath be your home base.

Let the comforting rhythm draw you in,

Give your mind and body permission to unplug from the world.

Rest and refresh in the moment,

Letting go of what's happened and what's next.

Notice your living breathing body now,

With mind clear and calm.

Distractions,

Let go and return.

Dullness,

Let go and uplift.

Alternatively,

Taming the busy mind and waking the dull mind.

Now raining outwards,

Scanning attention,

Gathering as much awareness as you can into your center,

Your inner core,

To come into your stillness and rest as you sit with mind poised at the vital point where you sense the pulse of breath.

Now relax your centering focus.

Let some more clarity and calm ripple out from your core to gradually diffuse through the rest of your torso,

Like oxygen in your blood,

As if you were waking up in your body for the first time from the inside out.

Feel your heart and lungs,

Chest and shoulders,

Feel your abdomen,

Elbows and hips.

Sense your awareness of breath at a time,

Rippling out your limbs,

Down the leg to your feet,

Down the arms to your hands,

Up through the neck and jaw,

To your ears,

Face and crown.

Now with your awareness spread through your whole form,

Try sensing your whole body,

Not as solid as you think or see,

But as one life vessel of breath and mind,

More airy and fluid,

Permeable and translucent,

Like a person-shaped bubble of life.

So let's sit together like this with awareness filling every tissue and cell,

Just being with your whole living body,

Treating yourself to savoring just being.

Now when you're ready,

Slowly open your mind to your outer physical body,

The sensation of cushion or chair,

The air on your skin.

At your own pace,

Slowly open your eyes,

Making an intention to bring breath awareness into choice moments of your daily life.