One of the coolest things about mindfulness and meditation is that our biggest tools to access mindfulness and meditation actually go with us wherever we are.
The one we're going to tap into right now is your breath.
I'm sure you've heard of breath meditation.
So go ahead and snuggle in lying down or sitting because we are going to dive right in getting your seat or lie down comfortable.
I invite you to check in and see if you can make an adjustment,
Even a small one that would make you even a teeny bit,
Five to 10% more comfortable.
And I want you to make that adjustment.
Give yourself grace as you settle in at the beginning and know that you can adjust or move at any point throughout this meditation.
You are not resigned to stillness ever.
That is not natural.
So if you need to move,
Go ahead and do so.
And as you're settling in,
Laying back or leaning back,
Letting yourself feel more and more relaxed,
I invite you to begin to turn your attention to your breath.
We're going to start from the outside in.
So for now,
We don't need to adjust our breath or change it in any way.
For now,
We are simply scientists who are curious and observing,
Noticing what an in breath feels like,
Noticing what an out breath feels like.
Or simply noticing that you are in fact breathing.
That is breath awareness.
Sometimes we overcomplicate things,
But this breath,
It is wherever you are.
Turning your attention to the nose and the nostrils and maybe seeing if you can feel that cool air as it goes into the nose.
You might even notice that more air feels like it's going into one nostril or the other.
That is also completely normal.
And yet another interesting thing to notice.
And if you're feeling stuffy today,
It's okay to allow yourself to breathe through your mouth,
Meeting yourself wherever you are today in this moment.
And just noticing that in breath and that out breath.
Noticing the cool air going in,
You might also notice the warm,
Moist air coming back out.
Noticing that difference in temperature from the cool in breath coming into the nose and the warm,
Moist out breath coming out of the nose.
Start to follow that cool in breath in through the sinuses,
Maybe even into the soft palate and the back of the throat.
Maybe you can even feel it going down through the trachea,
Through the throat.
Just noticing that sense of coolness going in.
And maybe,
Just maybe,
You can notice a sense of cooling in the top lobes of the lungs,
The upper chest.
And if not,
Maybe we can imagine that sensation of cooling going into the upper chest.
And as we notice that cool air coming in,
I invite you next to notice that warm,
Moist air coming back out,
Following it up from the lungs into the throat,
Into the sinuses,
Back out the nose,
And maybe even sensing it gently over the top lip.
Feeling that pathway,
Cool air in and warm air back out.
Turning your attention to the sensation your breath creates in your body.
That sensation of filling,
Filling the lungs like balloons and then releasing and relaxing on the out breath.
We are literally stretching the body from the inside out with the breath.
It's a pretty amazing thing.
The breath is a powerful tool.
So as you inhale,
Maybe deepening or stretching that breath a little bit more,
Sipping in a little bit more air as you fill up those lungs.
And I want you to think,
Release,
Relax on that out breath.
Release,
Relax.
Getting a stretch on the in breath and then releasing a little bit more each time to gravity on that out breath,
Letting the body be a little bit heavier,
A little bit more relaxed.
Inhaling space and exhaling tension.
Stay with this breath cycle for a few more moments,
Stretching and releasing,
Creating space and releasing tension.
Release,
Relax.
Turning your attention to areas of the body that you notice your breath will start with the upper back and upper chest region.
Noticing what an inhale and an exhale feels like in the chest and upper back.
Noticing if you can feel your breath in your mid and lower back.
Noticing if you can feel your breath in the rib cage,
The ribs expanding and stretching on the in breath and then the rib cage releasing and relaxing on the out breath.
And notice how you can sense that all 360 degrees around the rib cage,
From back to front,
Stretching and releasing.
Noticing maybe other parts that aren't so obvious that are affected by the breath.
Can you feel how the breath moves the limbs of the body,
The arms,
The head,
Even the legs?
Can you feel how the breath moves your hips and your legs?
Maybe even all the way down to your toes,
From the very top of your head to the tips of your fingertips and toes.
Your breath is one of the biggest pumps in the human body,
Moving chi and blood,
Fluids,
Helping with digestion.
The breath affects it all.
Taking time to feel the breath and to stretch those lungs helps to improve all of these functions and also mimics a parasympathetic style of breath.
Know that if belly breathing feels really difficult for you,
That is totally normal.
You can achieve a form of diaphragmatic breath also by stretching the ribs the way you just were,
Expanding the ribs out,
Flaring them out and breathing deeply and then releasing and relaxing.
Just like any other muscle,
The diaphragm can be trained over time.
Be gentle with yourself and with your beautiful breath.
You are exactly where you need to be right now and you will get where you're going.
Maybe placing a hand on any part where you felt your breath,
Taking a moment or two of gratitude for feeling this breath,
Taking a couple of deep inhales here,
Nice and slow,
Nice long out breath,
Inhaling in,
Open mouth exhale out,
One more deep breath,
Long release,
Relax,
Exhale out here.
Reorienting yourself to the space that you're in before we jump up from a meditation,
Just listening to the sounds of the room,
Noticing the temperature in the room,
Maybe bringing a little bit of movement,
Wiggling the fingers and toes or taking a nice full body stretch.
Feel free to stay here and rest or gently continue on to whatever the next part of your day is and know that your breath will be there with you anytime you need it.
Bringing in what you need and releasing and relaxing what you need as well.
