Welcome friends,
Let's find a space for us to sit.
Sitting in a chair or cross-legged on the floor,
Sitting on a chair just moving,
Putting your feet firmly on the ground.
Your hands can be resting on your knees or folded in your lap.
Your back straight and your chin can be tucked in slightly.
With your eyes down at a 45 degree angle or if you like you can close your eyes.
So as we sit here let's enjoy three beautiful immune boosting breaths.
Let's take a deep breath in through the nose,
Breathing in,
And exhale through the nostrils.
Making sort of a sound at the back of the throat as you do so,
Breathing in through the nose,
And gently exhale.
Last one in through the nose and out through the mouth,
Breathing in,
And gently sigh the breath out,
Letting go of what doesn't serve you today.
That's great,
Coming to a normal breath,
And just relaxing into the body,
Feeling that breath in the body.
So I'm just feeling where do you feel that breath.
Do you feel it in the abdomen or in the chest?
You may feel it at the nostrils.
So I encourage you to maybe feel it in the body today and just feeling it there in the belly,
Connecting you with your tummy.
And we think about the last meal that we've had today.
Did we have that meal in a rush or did we take our time to prepare it and enjoy it?
So if we ate it rather quickly we may feel a sense of indigestion,
A bit of reflux perhaps,
And maybe a slight feeling of discomfort.
But if we ate it mindfully and slowly we may be feeling full and light,
And we didn't fill up ourselves completely because we realized we didn't need to eat as much as we were slowing the process down.
Our stomachs told our brain that we were full and we stopped without overeating,
But we gave ourselves time.
It takes 20 minutes on average for our stomach to communicate to our brain that we are full.
Just feeling inside the belly,
The digestive system,
The chest,
What is the feeling like being aware of our bodies as we breathe and as we rest and as we digest perhaps?
Are there any sounds that our stomach is making?
Natural sounds.
As the liquids,
The fluids,
And the solids slowly move through our body,
And this incredible body,
The way that we are able to digest and experience the benefits of what we've eaten,
The way that it is processed and fed throughout the body.
Mind-blowing.
Mind-blowing.
Breathing into the belly and the chest wherever you feel it there.
Breathing in,
I know that I'm breathing in.
Breathing out,
I know that I'm breathing out.
And observe how you feel.
How are you feeling right now?
Are you feeling light or are you feeling heavy?
Are you feeling bright or maybe dull?
And if we're not feeling exceptionally bright and bushy-tailed,
Could it be what we ate last?
Could that be affecting our mood and the way we feel?
So often practicing after a big lunch,
People tend to fall asleep.
But choosing for a lighter option like a fresh salad,
I notice that people are more awake and attentive.
Eating a big chocolate at night before bed may cause us to be sluggish in the morning when we wake up because of the sugar depleting us of our energy and our vitality in the morning.
So to be mindful of our eating and how this affects our mental condition and our emotional landscape.
Perhaps we had that second cup of coffee that's just putting us a little bit over the edge today.
Or maybe we opted for a herbal tea that's just calming and soothing our nervous system.
Checking in with your body,
What does my body want me to eat today?
My mind may want comfort food.
Lots and lots of bread and sugar and all the carbohydrates that may spike my sugar levels and then drop me.
Can you make that connection between what you've had to eat or drink right now and how you feel?
So resting with whatever our body feels like now and accepting how we feel right now.
And knowing that we don't need to judge ourselves.
We may have some intelligent regret and next time we can look after ourselves better perhaps.
But right now this is how I'm feeling and I accept that.
And the breath is also a wonderful form of sustenance that we would not be able to survive with just a few minutes.
Being grateful for everything that sustains us.
Being grateful for everybody that was able to provide us with our meal today.
They've worked hard,
They've put themselves on the line for us.
They've expressed their love for us too.
And we express our gratitude to them.
And we can do this by enjoying every single spoon or fork that we eat.
Eating with gratitude and admiration for how this happened to be here for us.
How fortunate we are.
And now drop the chin down to the chest.
And let's just take in a lovely big deep inhalation,
Breathing in through the nose.
And exhale through the mouth.
And breathing normally.
And when you're ready you can lift your chin and open your eyes.
Thank you friends,
Enjoy your next meal until we practice together again.
Be well.
