This meditation is for basic breath awareness.
Begin by finding a comfortable seat or laying down.
Ensure that your spine is supported and if there's any sensation really nagging at you,
Shift or try a different position until you're fully comfortable and relaxed.
As you start to settle in,
Notice the parts of you that rest against the ground.
Maybe that rest on the cushion or chair if you're seated.
See if you can imagine you're rooting down into those support,
Maybe leaning into it.
Once you're rooted,
Allow for some extension through the spinal column and reach gently out of the crown of your head all the way up to the sky.
Of course,
If you're laying down,
Just imagine energy flowing,
Reaching out of the crown of your head.
Relax your jaw.
You might move it back and forth a few times and let it settle with gravity.
I invite you to leave your lips parted and soften your tongue.
Allow your shoulders to melt down away from your ears.
Bring your awareness to your breath.
You might notice it right at your nose,
The cool air coming into your nostril.
Maybe there's warm air going out.
Or maybe you notice your breath in your rib cage or your chest,
Your belly or your back.
Notice where you feel the sensations of breathing in your body.
Where does the breath feel most obvious?
Can you shift the breath in your body?
Can you send the breath to different spaces to breathe evenly into your torso,
The sides of your rib cage,
The front and back body?
Now allow your awareness to flow down into your belly.
Notice the rise or expansion in your belly as you inhale and the hollowing or contraction of your belly as you exhale.
One could imagine kind of a surrender as you inhale and a gathering in as you exhale.
And continue to be aware of your breath.
As you breathe in,
Aware you're breathing in.
As you breathe out,
Aware you're breathing out.
When your mind wanders kindly and gently,
Maybe even with a smile,
Bring it back to your breath.
Now we'll bring in some visualization of your diaphragm as you breathe.
Inhaling,
Feel where you can visualize your diaphragm,
The dome of the rib cage,
The muscle underneath the rib cage.
With the inhale,
It moves down,
Making space for air in your lungs.
With the exhale,
It contracts back up and into the rib cage.
If you're comfortable with that visualization,
You might add on the dome of the pelvic floor moving as well.
You might feel it move or it could just be an energetic intention.
Inhaling the dome of the diaphragm and the pelvic floor move down,
Release.
Exhaling they both move up and in,
Gently lifting,
Gently contracting.
Inhale to release and fill.
Exhaling to contract and gather in and up.
You might spend another minute here working with the diaphragms or if not,
Just return to a regular breath,
Noticing the inhale and noticing the exhale.
Gently drawing your mind back whenever it wanders.
Good.
I invite you to stay here as long as needed or desired today.
Spending time with your breath,
Your anchor,
Your vital life force energy,
Prana.
If you're ready to close,
Go ahead and slowly open your eyes if they were closed.
Returning back to the present moment,
Back to your day with that peace that comes when we rest in the present moment.
And carry that peace and presence with you into your life on and off your yoga mat or your meditation pillow.
We close with gratitude.
