Awareness Of Breath & Loving-Kindness

A short meditation on awareness of breath with elements of loving-kindness. It helps to reconnect you with the present moment and deal with stress. It is an excerpt from Wednesday Mindfulness Session recorded live in the College of Natural Health, Sydney.

Transcript

So,

Begin by settling down and allowing yourself to be fully present and recognize that for the next couple of minutes you'll be sitting in this room together and the world can wait for you.

With your back straight,

Not rigid,

Allow natural rhythm of your breath to take over and to guide you.

You may want to close your eyes and begin by taking a couple of deeper mindful breaths as I guide you.

Breathing in through your nose and exhaling through your mouth.

In,

Hold,

And out.

In,

Hold,

And out.

And one more time in,

Hold,

And out.

And breathe normally.

Relax.

Now,

Check in with your buddy.

How do you feel?

Recognize how all the tasks,

All the stress,

Everything that is happening during this week impacts your natural ability to relax and to rejuvenate.

Recognize those tensions,

Discomforts,

Anything that your body tries to show you.

And this is a very good way of recognizing what is going on with you.

Paying attention to your body.

Now turn your attention towards your breath.

Recognize whether your breath is long or short,

Deep or shallow.

Breath can be a gateway to your awareness.

So for the next couple of minutes,

We're paying attention to this simple activity of inhaling and exhaling without trying to change it in any way.

But simply allowing to guide us through the experience of being here.

Grounding out and centering in this present moment.

Notice that the breath can be refuge from anything that bothers us.

Anything that may come our way and it seems to be too overwhelming to take.

You can always turn your attention to your breath and find refuge there.

There's not a single situation in your life when you actually stop breathing for an extended period of time.

Your breath is always with you.

Always present and always now.

Also you may notice that every time you inhale your muscles tense up a bit as a natural part of the inhale.

But also your muscles relax every time you exhale.

And you may want to emphasize that exhale phase.

Your body let's go off the tension.

So you require energy.

Focus on the inhale.

You need to calm down and relax.

Focus on the exhale.

Inhale energizing,

Bringing more vitality into your body.

Getting fresh supply of oxygen.

And exhaling is the relaxation.

Letting go.

Allowing all the stale and used up energy to leave your body.

During this process you may also recognize that there's no other place you want to be or no other thing you need to do right now.

Simply be present.

And although you may return to all the tasks after we finish,

In this moment you're really safe.

And you really can focus on yourself and what's being given to you right now.

To support this simple statement that we are intrinsically good and we don't need to change anything to be good or to be better.

Let us add a simple affirmation to the in-breath and out-breath.

When you breathe in you may say quietly in your mind,

May I be well.

When you exhale may I be happy.

Breathing in may I be well.

Breathing out may I be happy.

And notice what impact those words have on your body.

How do you feel saying that?

Now to continue those two simple affirmations that you breathe in and breathe out.

You may want to bring some meaning to it.

And truly recognize that you are well and you have everything you need to be happy in this present moment.

Breathing in may I be well.

Breathing out may I be happy.

And at any given moment your mind might wonder,

Being distracted by the sound or body sensation or thoughts.

And that's normal.

There's no need to stress out because you have choice to make or to stay with that scenario or simply bringing yourself,

Simply bring yourself back to this present moment and to your affirmations.

Breathing in may I be well.

Breathing out may I be happy.

And at any given moment your mind might wonder,

Being distracted by the sound or body sensation or thoughts.

And at any given moment your mind might wonder,

Being distracted by the sound or body sensation or thoughts.

And at any given moment your mind might wonder,

Being distracted by the sound or body sensation or thoughts.

And at any given moment your mind might wonder,

Being distracted by the sound or body sensation or thoughts.

Breathing in may I be well.

Breathing out may I be happy.

Now to conclude this short practice.

Bring your awareness back to the surroundings.

First recognize all the sounds that come to your ears.

Then recognize your feet touching the floor.

Your hands in your lap.

Sense of touch.

Now you may want to wiggle your toes just a bit to bring more of those sensations of your fingers.

Tilt your head gently to the left,

To the right.

And for last time take another deeper breath through your nose.

Hold it and exhale through your mouth.

And when you're ready open your eyes.

And this is the end of this short practice.

Thank you.

Reviews

Love this meditation, helping me return to a simple breath awareness. Beautiful ❤️

Simple, soothing, great pace with good amounts of silence. May I be well, may I be happy 🙏

Always relaxing, calming. Good way to start my day🙏🏼

Great practice for waking up and taking care of yourself!

Thank you Tomek. I find your voice and your manner very comforting and the breathing exercise and affirmations were very helpful.

Very relaxing just the remedy for my Monday morning anxiety. Thank you Tomek. Namaste

Excellent, really put me in the present moment. 🎁

Beautiful and centering, as always. Thank you, Tomek! Grateful for you.

This was SO helpful in a moment of distress! Absolutely love your work, many thanks and blessings 🙏

Thank you for this wonderful meditation ✨. You have such a soothing, calming voice and presence.

I had to replay thiscthree times before I could comment,because it relaxed mevso much I kept falling asleep! Beautiful... Thank you

I feel so happy and relaxed after this! Thank you Tomek!

Thank you Tomek! Very lovely

Very nice meditation! It was an added pleasure with the Loving Kindness affirmations. Thank you!

Very well done.

This was a great take on breathing mindfulness. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard a separate focus applied to the in-breath for energy and the out-breath for relaxation. This technique allows each breath to offer you whatever you need. The mantra of “May I be well; may I be happy” is also a helpful addition to this practice.

Really lovely meditation, gentle voice, nice affirmations. Thanks 🙏

Thank you Tomek. Your voice is soothing to me and your guidance always indicates your deep knowledge. ❤️

Simple and thoughtful. Not too much speaking which allowed me to get centered!

I feel this was exactly what I needed right now. Thank you! 🙏🏻