Mindfulness Of Breathing For Busy Minds

When your mind feels busy, scattered, or overwhelmed, this practice invites you to gently slow down and reconnect with a sense of calm. Together, we’ll use the natural sensations of the breath as a steady anchor—something you can return to, again and again—helping to ease tension and quieten the mind.

Transcript

Hi, I'm Debbie. Welcome. We're going to do a mindfulness of breathing meditation. First of all, I'd like you to make sure that you're comfortable and actually be fussy with your comfort. If you need to go and fetch a cushion, If you need to adjust your chair, Being seated is probably best but if you want to lie down, That's also fine. Take a little bit of time to take care of yourself and make sure that you're comfortable. And once you're comfortable, Allow your feet to rest on the floor if you're seated. If you need to adapt my instructions because you're lying down, Then do so. So notice the contact of your feet on the floor. Notice where your toes are touching the floor, The balls of your feet, Your heels. Just allow the ground to support you. Notice the contact of your body with the chair, Your bottom on the seat, Your back supported by the cushion. What do those points of contact feel like? See if you can allow yourself to be held by the chair. And now I'd like you to turn your attention to the breath. Don't worry about where you think you should feel the breath, Just notice where you can actually feel the breath. What sensations are you noticing? Perhaps you feel it in the belly, Perhaps you feel it in the chest, Maybe you notice it where the breath enters and leaves the body, In your nose or your mouth. Just notice where it's most available to you. Now I'd like you to return your attention to your torso and I'd like you to be aware of the breath in your tummy and in your chest. Perhaps you'd like to place one hand on your tummy and one hand on your chest if that's comfortable for you to do so. And just notice the sensations of the body expanding and subsiding, Expanding and subsiding with each breath. Don't try to force the breath, Just allow the breath to be as it is. Allow it to be the natural breath. You don't need to do anything, It will keep doing it. See what you notice. Perhaps you notice also change in pressure at the back of your body where your back is touching the chair. How does that feel? Maybe it's like a change in pressure, Maybe different parts of your back are feeling slightly different as you breathe. Perhaps that moves with the in-breath and the out- shoulders. Perhaps they're moving with each breath. Perhaps you notice the sides of your body, Sides of your torso. As you breathe in and out your ribs are expanding and that could also mean the sides. As you breathe allow the breath to saturate your body with kindness. If you have any discomfort or any stress allow the breath to soothe that with each breath. You might notice thoughts or emotions in your body. Just take note of them, Be aware of them and when you're aware of them just gently guide your mind back to the sensations of the breath in the body and try to do this in a kind way to yourself. You don't need to beat yourself up about thinking. Thinking is what we all do but each time that you notice that your mind has wandered off and you've got lost in a train of thought, When you notice it, That's actually successful. You have noticed that you've gone off and you've wandered and you can gently guide your mind, Kindly guide your mind back to your breath and the sensations of the breath in the body and that's what we're doing when we practice. We're training our mind to be aware of what we're doing and where our thoughts and our emotions are and each time we come back to the breath we're using the breath as an anchor, An anchor for the mind. I'm going to allow you to just practice that quietly by yourself for a moment so I will stop talking but then I will come back to you in a little while. So see if you can practice just breathing and each time you think or you notice your thoughts, Gently and kindly guide your thoughts back and your awareness back to the breath in the body, The physical sensations of the breath. What's happening now? If you've become lost in thoughts, That's fine, That's okay, That's what happens. Just gently guide your awareness back to your breathing. What are you thinking? If you've drifted again from the breath, Again that's fine, This is what we're practicing. We will guide our awareness back, Back to the sensations of the breath in the body. Now I'd like you to become aware of the whole body sitting here. Again notice your feet, Contact of your body with the chair and how it's supported. Notice sounds around you inside or outside the room. We're gradually going to bring this meditation to a close so just notice the whole of your body. You might want to move a little, Maybe wiggle your fingers, Wiggle your toes, Roll your shoulders if that's comfortable and when you're ready you can open your eyes and just sit for a moment and allow the effects of the practice to settle. Notice how you feel and when you're ready get up and carry on with your day and if you'd like to please do return and listen to this meditation again if you found it helpful or find some of my other meditations. Thank you for practicing with me.