Full Body Breath - 20 Minutes

In this 20-minute practice, you'll be asked to follow your breathing at the belly. You'll then be invited to gradually increase the scope of your awareness, until you eventually feel the breath throughout your body. Breathing in this way can make you more aware of the subtle sensations that can be experienced throughout the body, and in doing so, can help to take you away from your busy thoughts. For some, longer meditations may lead to mental fatigue; stop if you feel discomfort.

Transcript

Today's practice is called full body breath. And what I'll invite you to do is initially focus on breath sensations at the belly area. And then I'll instruct you to gradually expand the scope of your awareness to the rest of The body. And by the end of the session you might realize that actually you can feel subtle sensations Related to the breath throughout the body. And when we're really tuned in and focused on these subtle sensations throughout the Body, We're giving the mind less energy and we're giving the body more energy. And in doing so, This can put us into a slightly calmer, More peaceful mental state. Okay, So sitting with a straight back if you can. With a relaxed but alert posture. Closing the eyes. And beginning by taking a few nice and big in-breaths through the nose and then releasing Through the mouth. So breathing in. Letting go. Closing the lungs. Letting go. Final one. And releasing. Allowing the breath to return to normal. Closing the mouth. And breathing through the nostrils for the remainder of the session. Let's just briefly check in with the state of the mind. It's likely that there is busyness in the mind, Distractedness in the mind, Or a whole Host of other states. But approaching the mind with a spirit of curiosity, Thinking, Okay, This is how the Mind feels, There's nothing to worry about, And it's completely fine for the purposes Of today. We'll briefly take a moment to feel grounded, Becoming aware of the points of connection Between the feet and the floor, Your legs and the seat. And then moving on to listening out for any sounds that might be present in the room right Now. Allowing hearing to unfold exactly as it wants to. Louder noises are fine to notice. An absence of noise is equally fine to notice. No effort is required here. Now dropping the focus on hearing, And I'd like you to focus on the belly in as much Detail as you can. In particular, Focusing on the sensations of the breath at the belly area. It might feel like the belly is expanding and then contracting, Or even inflating and Then deflating. And if you pay close attention, You'll notice that each breath differs slightly from the Last one. You'll feel different senses of pressure at different parts of the belly in each breath Cycle. Seeing if you can stay connected to the fullness of the breath in the belly area. If it helps you to focus, You can use the words here on the inhale and now on the exhale As breath anchors. No need to say the words out loud, Just using them as an anchor in the mind. Now expanding the scope of your awareness to include the entire torso area. So you're feeling the fullness of each breath throughout the torso. So as well as noticing breath sensations at the belly, You might be feeling the chest Expanding, The shoulders rising and falling, And even in the back you can subtly feel the Spine adjusting and readjusting on every breath cycle. Expanding the scope of your awareness once again. So as well as feeling breath sensations in the torso, Seeing if you can feel them in The legs and in the arms too. So in the legs you could subtly notice the weight distribution of the body changing in The thighs with each breath cycle, And the arms ever so subtly rock forward and backwards With each breath. And finally expanding the scope of your awareness to include the head and the neck as well. And now seeing if you can experience the breath throughout the body. Feeling the full body breath and the multitude of ways in which each breath impacts the body. Staying with the body, Feeling the fullness of each breath, You can feel energizing, Realize That the breath is the life force, The center of our experience right now. And when you feel ready to just letting go of all remaining effort, And doing absolutely Nothing for a few moments, Becoming aware of any smells or sounds in the room, And finally Checking in with the mind, Seeing if there's any subtle change from earlier. And when you feel ready to, Gently opening the eyes, Coming back to the room, And waking Up and stretching the body if it feels good to. Congratulations for turning up and practicing today. I wish you a great day.