Welcome to this breath awareness meditation.
This is a great practice to come back to when you need some centering,
Grounding,
If you're feeling anxious,
Overwhelmed,
Nervous.
This practice will help bring you back to your breath,
Bring you back to your body,
Bring you back to the present moment.
If you haven't already,
Go ahead and find a comfortable position.
You could be seated or laying down,
Anything that is supportive for you.
If you choose to sit on the floor,
Consider sitting up on something just to elevate your hips a bit,
To give your spine a little bit more space.
Let your eyes grow heavy and either rest on a vague point in the distance,
Or if it's comfortable for you,
Let your eyes close all the way down.
And give yourself a moment to notice the chatter of your mind,
That inner dialogue.
We often don't give ourselves space to notice it,
To simply be with it.
It's either a distraction from the moment we're in or we try to quiet it.
We try to quiet it,
To silence it.
But here now,
Give yourself space to be with it.
Where does your mind go?
What are your thoughts?
Release the inner chatter.
Let your thoughts go.
And now let your awareness,
Your attention,
Rest on the normal,
Natural rhythm and flow of your breath.
Notice how it feels.
What does it feel like to be breathing in this moment?
Can you be with your breath all the way from the beginning of an inhale to the end of the exhale?
Without effort or force,
Without trying to change your breath.
Simply notice what your breath is doing all on its own.
As you notice your breath more and more,
As you settle into the constancy of your breath,
Begin to notice its qualities.
Is your breath deep or shallow?
Smooth or a little unsteady?
Warm or cool?
Long or short?
Fast or slow?
Our breath is designed to adapt to our environments.
It's designed to adapt to our environment.
It is designed to adapt to our environments,
To our present state.
So as you notice the qualities of your breath,
Notice what it's telling you about yourself in this moment.
Do you notice a reflection of yourself in this moment in your breath?
Maybe your mind is calm,
Your breath slow and steady.
Maybe you're feeling a little anxious and your breath is shallow and quick.
On your next breath,
Take a deep,
Full breath in and slowly let it out.
Wait for your breath to come back in on its own and watch its flow.
And as your breath flows out naturally,
Again observe the movement.
Without inhaling or exhaling deliberately,
Simply watch the breath.
As you watch your breath,
Notice where in your body you feel the breath move naturally.
Maybe you notice the rise and fall in your belly,
The expansion and contraction in your ribs,
Your chest.
Maybe you just notice the soft tickle in your nose as your body breathes.
Notice where you feel the breath move and let your awareness,
Your attention rest there.
Whether it's your belly,
Your ribs,
Your chest,
Your nose.
Notice where in your body you feel your breath move.
It can be easy to get caught up in the world around us,
To get caught up in people pleasing,
To ignore our own core,
The truth of who we are.
But we also can't really be there for the people in our lives if we aren't connected to ourselves.
Put your own mask on first,
As they say.
Turning inward,
Turning toward ourselves can be challenging.
It can be an instinct to avoid being alone with ourselves.
But turning inward,
Turning toward ourselves,
Turning toward our center,
Facing all the parts of ourselves,
Empowers us.
It's through turning inward that we gain the ability to radiate out,
To truly be there for the people in our lives,
In our own wholeness and fullness.
Begin to draw your attention back to your normal,
Natural breath,
Noticing the flow of inhale to exhale,
Exhale to inhale.
As you notice your breath again,
Notice what's changed.
Notice what's shifted.
You can stay here as long as you like,
As long as you are able,
Simply following your breath.
But if you need to move on into the rest of your day,
Let your breath begin to deepen.
Notice as your inhale fills your body a little bit more with each round.
And follow that deep,
Full breath in,
And sigh it out.
Thank you so much for joining this practice.
