Okay,
Are you ready to practice?
We're going to take all the skills and knowledge that you've learned in the past few minutes,
And we are going to apply those to a breath awareness meditation,
Whether this is your first time practicing or maybe your 75th time practicing a breath awareness meditation.
I hope you took a little bit out of our workshop today and will be able to transform and build the practice that works for you,
That you can keep up with again and again and again until forever.
So I'm going to give you few seconds to settle into your favorite meditation position.
Remove the distractions.
Settle in,
Focus on the breath.
And then I'm going to take myself away so that you can find your center,
Go inward,
And really enjoy your breath awareness meditation practice.
I hope you enjoy.
Thank you so much.
Hello and welcome to this breath awareness meditation.
Today we will be focusing on our breath pattern to help us settle in and calm the body.
Begin by finding your most comfortable position.
Whether that be seated or reclined.
Remove all distractions,
Settle in,
And begin to breathe comfortably.
Inhaling slowly through the nose and exhaling slowly and evenly out through the nose.
As you breathe,
Notice the pathway the air is taking.
Follow the breath into the throat.
Then down into the lungs.
Then even deeper down into the belly.
Allow your abdomen to expand fully.
360 degrees around the front,
Side,
And back.
Until your body is full of air.
Then follow the reverse of the path as the air escapes out the nose,
Traveling up from deep in the belly,
Through the lungs,
The throat,
Then finally out of the nostrils.
Continue to follow your breath down and up the spine for a few more breath cycles.
Now let's observe the quality of your breath.
First,
Notice the weight and temperature of your breath.
Is it warm or is it cool?
Does it feel light?
Or does it feel dense?
Observe these qualities without judgment.
And let the breath keep flowing.
Begin to visualize your breath as something you can see.
Assign your breath a color.
And imagine it dancing in and out of your body.
With each breath cycle.
In your mind's eye,
Watch as the air moves down the spine.
Then back up the spine before it evaporates into the space around you.
Next,
We'll observe,
Without judgment,
How long it takes for you to inhale and how long it takes for you to exhale.
Experiment with the deepness of your breath.
Striving to empty the body completely of all air before filling up again.
Next,
Let's explore the timing of our breath.
We will begin with a balanced breath.
Making the inhales the same length as the exhales.
First,
Exhale all the air out of your lungs.
We will start with a four second inhale.
Breathe in for four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Pause it full for a beat.
Exhale with control for 4.
Three,
Two,
One,
Pause.
Inhale again for 4,
3,
2,
1.
Pause.
Exhale for 4,
3,
2,
1.
Continue with this breathing pattern.
Inhaling for four.
Pausing at the top.
Exhaling for 4.
Pausing at the bottom.
Now begin to slowly lengthen your exhales,
Starting with 5 or 6 seconds.
Inhale for four,
Pause at the top.
Exhale for 6,
5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Continue with this new cadence for a few breath cycles.
Now you can attempt to lengthen the exhale even more,
Perhaps extending it to 7 or 8 seconds.
Inhale for 4,
3,
2,
1,
Pause.
Exhale for 8,
7,
6,
5,
4,
3,
2,
1,
Pause.
Continue with this breath cycle for a few more rounds.
Make this your last round of breathing.
With the timing.
And then you can return to natural breathing.
As you find your natural cadence.
Allow yourself to become fully immersed in your breath.
When distractions arise,
Thoughts,
Tasks,
Or emotions.
Observe them.
Note their presence.
But let them pass.
Become an observer of your distractions and return to the sensation of your breath.
Continue to breathe.
Come back to noticing the quality of your breath.
The weight.
The temperature.
The link.
Revisit the visualization and color of the breath as it travels up and down the spine.
Notice if any of these qualities have shifted since the beginning of your practice.
Continue to breathe and focus on your breath.
To close our practice,
Take one last inhale.
Nourishing the body with everything it needs.
As we exhale this time,
Audibly exhale through the mouth.
And picture old,
Stagnant energy escaping from your body.
After the release of your exhale,
Return to your normal breathing cycle.
And begin to invite small movements back into your body.
They could be as small as wiggling of fingers and toes.
Or as large as a giant stretch,
Perhaps the arms come above the head.
Or maybe out to the side,
Expanding through the heart space.
When the time feels right,
Gently blink the eyes open.
And continue on with your day.
Thank you so much for joining me for this meditation practice.
