The 5 minute breath awareness practice.
Sitting in a posture that is upright,
Comfortable,
And relaxed,
I'd like for us to begin by having you take 3 deep breaths.
Exhaling up the lungs from the bottom to the top,
Expanding the abdomen and chest,
And then fully exhaling all the air from your lungs from the top all the way to the bottom.
And doing this a few more times.
Allowing this deep breathing to settle you into your body and activate that relaxation response.
Then allowing your breathing to resume its natural rhythm.
And for this practice,
The anchor for our attention is the breath itself.
So allowing your awareness to rest on the sensations associated with breathing.
You may notice a slight ascending on the inhale and a slight descending on the exhale.
Similar to the gentle waves on the ocean.
And allowing yourself just to ride that gentle wave.
And knowing that whenever the mind wanders,
You just bring your attention back to that breath sensation.
You may notice that there is a pause at the top of each inhale before the exhale and at the bottom of each exhale before the new inhale.
And if you care to,
You might want to,
With a curiosity and an interest,
Notice what's going on in those moments as a way to help you keep your awareness on the breath.
Knowing that observing the breath isn't the most interesting thing in the world and that your mind will inevitably wander.
Not having a problem with that,
Knowing that it's expected,
Just noticing when your mind has wandered and then bringing your attention back to the breath.
Even though it requires effort to keep coming back over and over,
You can also think of this as an opportunity to rest.
Typically we follow our thoughts all day long wherever they may lead us.
And so choosing to see those thoughts is what they are.
Images,
Some language.
Not pushing them away,
But seeing them as a thought or a worry or a plan.
And then just making the choice to turn your attention back to your breath.
Noticing the sensations associated with the breathing.
Allowing the breath to be your anchor to this present moment.
Allowing yourself to rest and as best you can,
Holding your attention in this moment until the final bell.
