Hi and welcome to this meditation.
This one is called counting the breaths.
It's
fairly straightforward so I'll ask you to follow your breaths,
Counting them as
you go.
After a short while you'll probably get distracted and forget you
were supposed to be meditating.
When this happens I'll gently ask you to revert
your attention back to your breathing.
Okay so let's begin.
Start with your eyes
open,
Sitting with a relaxed but alert posture,
Keeping your back straight if
you can.
You can sit on a chair or on the floor,
Whichever you prefer.
Now just take
a moment to check in with yourself,
Just seeing how your mind and your body both
feel right now.
Now take a few deep in breaths through the nose and then out
through the mouth.
And then gently close your eyes when you feel ready,
Allowing
the breath to return to normal.
So you want to be breathing through the
nostrils for the remainder of the session.
Notice the heaviness of your
body,
Noticing the weight of your legs,
Of your arms,
Of your torso and of your
head.
Just feeling gravity pulling you down towards the seat or the floor.
Now
gently start to notice any sounds that might be present.
Again the key here is
to allow the sounds to come to you rather than straining to hear any sound,
In particular.
Now start to gently focus your attention on your breathing,
The
sensations of the breath coming in and out or the rising and the falling of the
torso.
You might focus on the breath at the nose or at the chest or at the belly,
It doesn't really matter,
Just choose the one which feels most comfortable for you
today.
If it helps you can start to count the breaths mentally,
Counting one on the
in-breath and one on the out-breath,
Two on the in-breath and two on the out-breath
and so on.
If you reach ten,
Simply return to zero and begin again.
At this
stage it's likely your mind has wandered and you've forgotten to meditate.
This is
completely normal and nothing to worry about,
Just smile,
Let it go and return
your attention to the breath.
Again don't be upset if your mind has wandered.
If
you haven't meditated much before,
Reaching the number three will probably
be a struggle.
So just refocus your attention back on the sensations related
to your breathing and to counting the breaths.
Again don't worry if your mind
has wandered,
There are any thoughts,
So just return to the breath and get out of
your head.
Counting the breaths is a great tool to get out of your head.
By
learning to catch mind-wandering,
You'll become more present in day-to-day life.
So now just return your attention to your breathing,
Counting as you go.
And now
just let go of all effort.
Notice any sounds and the sensations related to
sitting.
Check in with yourself again.
Do your mind and body feel different to how
they felt at the start of the session?
And then when you're ready,
Just gently
opening your eyes,
Taking a moment to stretch out and come back to the room.
Great stuff,
Well done for practicing today.
Hopefully you touched into some
feelings of calm and peace during the session and you're able to take some of
this into the rest of your day.
Have a great day.
