So let's begin by getting into a comfortable position,
Sitting upright,
Dropping down the shoulders,
Relaxing the jaw and feeling the feet firmly planted on the ground.
And we're going to take three deep breaths together.
We'll breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth.
So breathing in and out through the mouth.
Breathing in through the nose and breathing out through the mouth.
And the last one,
Breathing in through the nose.
And as you breathe out through the mouth,
Releasing,
Relaxing and letting go.
And just allowing the breath to return back to its regular breathing pattern now.
Today we're going to focus on the breath.
We're going to use the breath as a breathing anchor to keep us in the present moment.
So first I want you to bring your awareness to the sensation of the breath.
And the first place we're going to bring our awareness to is the nostrils.
So bringing your awareness to the nose,
Feeling the cool air coming in,
Feeling the warm air going out and just following the breath,
Moving in and out,
Noticing the sensation of the breath here.
And now bringing your awareness to the chest.
And I'd like you to notice the sensation of the breath moving in and out of the chest,
Watching the inhale as the chest rises and on an exhale as the chest drops down as the breath releases.
So the rise and the fall of the chest as the breath moves in and out,
Following the breath here for a moment now.
Now bringing your awareness to the belly,
Just noticing how the breath moves in and out in this area of the body.
As you breathe in,
Notice the belly filling up,
Getting bigger,
Inflating.
And as you release and let the breath out,
Notice how the belly falls and deflates.
Just watching the breath here for a few moments,
Flowing in and out.
Now what I'd like you to do is take notice of where you felt the breath the most.
Was it at the nostrils,
At the chest or at the belly?
Check in now with those three points of the body and notice where you can feel the sensation of the breath the most.
This area of the body will be your anchor.
So any time the mind starts to wander away with thoughts or worries,
I want you to bring your attention and your focus back to your breathing anchor.
Watching the breath moving in and out of the body at this point,
Noticing the sensation of the breath,
Following it from the moment it begins,
To the pause,
To the moment it ends,
To the pause.
Watching it flow in and out.
And taking a few moments now to focus on the anchor,
Watching the flow of the breath moving in and out.
And as you continue with this practice,
You might notice that the mind starts worrying or gets caught up in a story of something that's happened in the past or something you might need to do in the future.
And that's perfectly okay.
Don't judge or be critical of yourself.
Just noting that that's occurred,
That the mind has wandered away.
And being gentle with yourself and kind with yourself and bringing your awareness back to the anchor,
Back to the breath.
And knowing that on the in breath,
I'm breathing in and knowing on the out breath,
I'm breathing out.
And watching and following the flow of your breath,
Not trying to change it.
Just watching,
Just following,
Allowing it to be your anchor to this present moment.
Allowing those thoughts and worries to float away and coming back to the anchor,
Back to this moment,
Back to being present.
Just noticing where the mind is.
Is it focused on the breath,
Focused on the present moment,
Or has it wandered away again?
Not berating yourself if it has,
Just saying to yourself,
That's perfectly okay.
That's what minds are created to do,
To think.
And I am now training my mind to be different,
To practice being present,
Which is very foreign to it.
So give yourself the time and the understanding to understand this practice and learn this practice.
You wouldn't be able to learn how to play the piano in one day,
So don't expect to learn how to meditate in one day.
It is a practice.
It takes time.
And the more you do it,
The easier it becomes.
And even on the hard days,
You endure them because you know of the reward.
So just continuing with this practice for a few more moments now.
It is now time to return back to this time and space.
And in a few moments,
You'll hear the sound of the bowl.
And when the bowl ends,
This will tell you that the end of our practice has come.
And you may gently reawaken and open the eyes at the end of the sound of the bowl.
The sound of the bowl is now ready.
