Welcome.
Today we're going to be doing an exercise called torso breathing.
All I'll do is invite you to notice the sensations of your breathing throughout the torso.
Just make sure to begin that you're sat comfortably,
Either on a cushion on the floor or equally on a chair.
Closing your eyes,
And taking a moment just to see how your mind feels at the beginning of this session.
The mind could feel busy or distracted or lethargic perhaps.
Just see what's happening for you and try and approach the mind with a spirit of curiosity rather than judgment.
It's like this is how my mind feels right now and that's perfectly fine for this practice.
Taking a moment to feel grounded.
Noticing the points of connection between your feet and the floor or your legs and the chair.
Getting a sense of being supported by the ground beneath you.
And equally feeling the weight and the solidity of your body.
Moving away from the body and just spending the next 30 seconds or so listening out for any sounds that might be present in the room.
Doesn't matter what you can hear.
Dropping the focus on your hearing.
And instead starting to connect with the sensations of your breath throughout the torso.
So you might be noticing the belly seemingly inflate on the inhale and deflate on the exhale.
A sense of the chest expanding then contracting.
And even also a sense of the shoulders rising and then falling with each breath cycle.
If it helps you to focus on your breath in the torso,
You can count the breaths in your mind beginning at 1 all the way up to 10 and then beginning again if needed.
Really connecting with these torso breaths.
You might realize how much actually happens in the torso with each breath cycle.
And as well as feeling sensation or movement at the front of the body,
You might also notice that the back moves subtly with each breath as well.
You might notice the spine adjusting and readjusting.
Or a sense of the entire torso almost expanding and then contracting,
Including at the back.
It's perfectly natural that the mind may have wandered off and you've become distracted.
All you need to do is maintain a positive attitude,
Mind wandering is totally normal.
And revert your attention back to your torso breaths.
Seeing if you can make the most of each torso breath.
Feeling the breath fully throughout the torso,
A sense of the entire torso expanding on the inhale,
Contracting on the exhale.
Really seeing if you can tighten up your focus for the last minute or so of the session.
And just letting go of all effort,
Dropping the focus on your torso breaths.
Starting to connect with sounds or smells that might be present in the room.
And to finish,
Just checking in with the mind once again.
Just noticing if there's a subtle change from earlier.
And then when you're ready to,
Open your eyes,
Come back to the room and congratulate yourself for practicing today.
Have a great day.
