Mindfulness Meditations,
Guided by Una Keeley,
Professional MBSO,
Mindfulness Based,
Stress Reduction Instructor.
12 minute awareness of breathing meditation.
Choosing a time and a place where you'll be warm and comfortable.
And arranging things so that you won't be disturbed as you practice.
Acknowledging now that you are choosing to give yourself this time to support your health and nurture your wellbeing.
Taking this opportunity now to settle into the posture in which you will practice this guided meditation.
So you may like to throw a fleece or something light around your shoulders if this feels comfortable for you.
Allowing this to be a time in which we set aside the usual mode in which we operate.
That of more or less constant doing.
And switching now to a mode of non-doing.
Of simply being.
Adjusting the body so it allows you to be upright and dignified.
Embodying a quality of alert wakefulness.
Whatever that might mean for you in your body in this moment.
So taking some time now to settle into the posture that is right for you.
Taking the subtle or perhaps not so subtle adjustments needed.
Finding the position that allows the greatest degree of stability and stillness.
Finding the posture that allows breathing to happen with the least amount of effort or difficulty.
Sitting upright but not stiff.
Embodying a sense of kindness for ourselves within the posture.
Having a sense perhaps of the shoulders balanced comfortably above the hips.
And the head balanced comfortably over the shoulders.
And allowing the hands to settle on the lap.
Simply resting the palms facing either up or down or perhaps you might like to cup them together one inside the other palms facing upwards.
Allowing the shoulders to relax now and to drop slightly.
Inhabiting this posture,
Allowing a growing sense of stillness and stability.
And embodying a quality of alert attention.
Letting go now of any sense of tightness or tension.
Allowing the body to soften and to just breathe.
Noticing that breathing is happening now in this moment.
Noticing the natural flow of the breath from the inside.
Letting go of any need to alter or to change the breath in any way.
Just noticing where you feel the breath in your body moment by moment.
It might be in the abdomen.
It may be in the chest area or perhaps in the throat.
Or perhaps you may be noticing the sensation in the nostrils.
See if you can feel the sensations of breath.
One breath at a time.
Noticing the continuous flow of when one breath ends and the next breath begins.
Simply being with your breathing.
Not trying to do anything,
Not trying to get any place.
Simply being with breathing.
Giving full care and full attention to each breath.
Each in-breath and each out-breath.
As they follow one after each other.
Now as you do this you might notice the mind starting to wander off into thoughts,
Fantasies,
Anticipations of the future,
Worrying,
Perhaps thoughts of the past,
Memories.
When we notice this has happened,
Practising,
Acknowledging where the mind has gone and then gently returning the attention back to the breath and allowing the breath to be the anchor for our attention.
When you notice that your attention has wandered and is no longer focused on your breathing,
Practising being kind with yourself and acknowledging to yourself this is not a problem,
This is very natural.
You can perhaps say thinking thinking or wandering wandering softly to yourself as a way of acknowledging this and then gently redirect your attention back to the breathing.
The wandering away of the mind and the refocusing on the breath is the practice.
Following our breathing breath by breath,
The in-breath,
The out-breath.
Allowing our attention to follow the breath moment by moment.
Staying with each breath.
From time to time getting lost in thought and returning again and again to our breath.
Being kind with ourselves each time we notice the mind has wandered.
So we'll stay with this for a short while in silence.
And now when you're ready allowing the eyes to stay closed and beginning to let the body move in whatever way feels right for it.
So perhaps allowing the fingers to begin moving,
The toes allowing the hands to move and the feet and slowly allowing the movement to get bigger.
And when you're ready you can begin to open your eyes and go about your day.
