In this guided meditation we are going to explore the breath.
So to start,
Make yourself comfortable either lying down or sitting up.
For this introductory meditation it's important that you are relaxed and not concerned about posture or technique.
There's no need to fret about a straight back and there is certainly no right or wrong way in which you follow the guidance here,
Or in any meditation for that matter.
Just scan your body for any tensions and be prepared to let them go.
Be aware of the tiny muscles in your forehead and your cheeks and let them slacken along with your jaw.
Pay attention to the position of your tongue and let it drop to the bottom of your mouth.
Move your head gently from side to side to free the muscles of your neck.
Wriggle your fingers and imagine tension flowing from your shoulders down your upper arms through your elbows and wrists and leaving your body from your fingertips.
Do the same with your toes and allow tension in your pelvis to flow down your legs to your knees and down your shins and calves,
Through your ankles and out through the tips of your toes.
Now take a deep in-breath through your nostrils and out through your mouth with it slightly open and we'll begin.
Now unless you are an extreme diver or super fit most people would find it difficult to hold their breath for much more than a minute or three.
This is a good thing as without thinking about it for the most part our body breathes for us without our conscious involvement.
This keeps us alive during the day but most importantly at night when we are asleep.
So place your hands on your belly so the middle fingers touch and breathe in so the middle fingers part and then breathe out so they touch again.
So just now take five in and out belly breaths just like that.
So how was that?
Did you lose count?
If so that's a good thing.
The other good thing you did was in getting the belly to move in and out.
This is how a baby breathes.
When we do this we cannot help but engage our diaphragm which is a much more efficient way to breathe.
As we get older and more sedentary we tend to do shallow breaths powered by the small intercostal muscles in our ribcage.
Starting the day with a few belly breaths or doing them when we switch to a new task is a great way to energize ourselves over the course of the day.
So the main function of the breath is to act as the life breath.
So on the next in breaths become mindful that what is happening is that our lungs are bringing in a mix of oxygen and nitrogen.
This is what we call air.
On the next out breath carbon dioxide is expelled from our lungs.
This is of course magical in its own right that we do this without thinking.
What is doubly or even triply magical is that trees and plants breathe in carbon dioxide and expel oxygen.
The biosphere we are a small part of as we share this journey together on Spaceship Earth is both balanced and intelligent.
You can think of the whole biosphere as breathing together.
But the breath does much more than just keep us alive.
Let's explore some of its other uses.
Just think about this for a moment.
The normal human mind is only capable of holding one thought at a time.
So if you think about the thought you are having it gets replaced by the thought you are now having about the previous thought.
So let's just muse on that notion for a while.
Now meditation is not about having no thoughts at all but in coming to a new relationship with our thoughts.
So the reason the breath features in so many meditation is because when we focus on the breath our inner chatter,
Our monkey mind tends to go quiet.
So for the next seven in and out breaths just focus on the in and the out breath and more specifically on the small pause between the in and the out breath and the out and the in breath.
Do that now at your own rhythm,
Speed and depth of your breath.
Лад Again,
Did you lose count?
Did your mind wander away from the breath?
Did you experience any new thoughts?
Did you have to bring yourself back to focus on your breathing?
These are all perfectly normal.
So before we wrap up this meditation,
I'd like to bring your attention to two often unrecognised aspects of our breathing.
The first is that for most people we only speak on the out-breath.
Try and speak on your next in-breath and you'll see what I mean.
The second,
Often hidden aspect of the breath is that we generally only smell on the in-breath.
So find an object close to you,
Or just smell your hand or your sleeve.
And with your mouth closed,
Bring the object to your nose and really take a long sniff in and notice how you become aware of the aroma,
No matter how slight.
And breathe out through your nostrils and notice how the aroma lessens.
Next,
Hold your breath for a few seconds and you may be able to pick up low-level aroma and breathe in again to activate your smell receptors.
So you can either open your eyes now and pause this meditation,
Or why don't you give yourself a treat of some me-time?
You know you are worth it.
Just look durian-y in the soundscape and until the ending bell become one with your breath.
And when the bell does sound,
See it not as an ending bell,
But as the starting bell for the rest of your life.
Breathe well.
