Welcome friends to the Breath Meditation practice.
My name is Mark Joseph and I'm happy to guide you today.
Choosing a comfortable seat,
Whether you're sitting on the floor or on a chair,
Just make sure that you are stable and solid and awake,
Alert,
Relaxed but alert.
So if you're sitting on a chair,
You're two feet firmly on the ground.
If you are on a cushion,
Your legs crossed,
Your back reasonably straight,
Your shoulders level,
Your hands can be on your knees or in your lap.
Finding that quiet place.
Your chin,
Just tuck it in slightly and you can lower your eyes if you like.
You can close them,
Just helps us to just go a little bit more within.
That's it.
Feel gratitude for yourself for doing this practice today.
For respecting that little inner voice that encouraged you to visit this and to sit.
You really are making yourself a great offering and others as well.
Releasing any tension,
Anxiety or obstacles that may be going on.
This is taking a nice deep inhalation through the nose and slowly release out the mouth.
Let go of what doesn't serve you today.
Let it go.
Let's take another deep breath in,
Breathing in through the nose and slowly exhaling out the mouth.
Let go of what doesn't serve you,
What's holding you back,
What's in your way,
What's causing you anxiety,
Frustration,
Sadness.
Let it go.
Let it go.
Coming now to a normal breath.
We can be happy.
We can be happy for choosing a path,
A mindful way to make us more resilient,
To make us more emotionally intelligent,
To manage whatever stress is going on.
You've chosen the right way.
You can feel happy about that.
Coming home to your breath.
Finding the breath in the body.
It may be in the abdomen that you feel it.
It may be in the chest or at the nostrils.
Just choosing one place where you can just rest your awareness there.
That's it.
And breathe normally,
Smoothly,
Softly,
Quietly.
Don't try and focus too hard.
Just ease back a little.
The mind gets a bit agitated if we try and force it too much.
Relax into it.
Just the gentle awareness of the in and out breath.
Breathing in,
I know that I'm breathing in.
Breathing out,
I know that I'm breathing out.
Breathing in,
I know that I'm breathing out.
If your mind starts to wander,
That's normal.
That's what the mind does.
Gently encourage your awareness to stay at the breath,
But just treat it as if it was a naughty little puppy wandering.
We wouldn't hurt the puppy in order to come back.
Gently encourage it.
Just to stay with us.
Every time we do this,
We are strengthening the prefrontal cortex of our brain.
As it gets thicker,
We are able to focus for longer.
We are able to manage our attention,
Our awareness,
Without being distracted,
Which is really the key to mental health and happiness.
Choosing what you want to focus on and what you don't want to.
Having the choice,
Building that choice and just watching the body breathing,
Breathing itself.
If it was up to us to breathe,
We may forget,
But the body just breathes itself.
We,
An observer,
In the process,
Using the breath as an anchor,
Just to ground us into this present moment in the here and the now.
Relaxing your mind even more.
Letting go of the intensity of our focus,
So that we're just touching it like soft cotton wool,
Touching our awareness on the breath.
Feeling the body move with every inhalation.
There is an expanding or rising.
Every exhalation of falling or contracting.
Coming now to the end of this practice.
Just dropping your chin down to your chest.
Let's take in another beautiful deep inhalation through the nose.
Breathing in,
Exhaling slowly up the nose.
Another big breath in.
Slowly releasing up the nose.
And last one,
Breathing in and release out the mouth.
Just observing how we feel.
Do we feel any difference?
Do we want this quality of mind to stay with us throughout the day?
We make a dedication to explore with curiosity,
To unfold the layers of our minds,
So that we may be happy and well and be safe.
And so that all beings may be happy well and safe.
Thank you,
Fritz.
