Hello,
My name is Viv Hamilton and this is a short guided mindfulness meditation on following the breath.
Just coming into a comfortable seated or lying down position.
Allowing your eyes to close if that's okay or softening your gaze whichever you prefer.
Just allowing your awareness to turn inwards.
Just bringing your focus and awareness inside into the body.
Just imagine your awareness dropping down from the brain,
From the mind into the body.
And breathe.
Maybe allowing a few nice slow deep breaths.
Just in your own time.
Maybe sighing out the out-breath.
Just notice a few times just noticing how that feels,
Really connecting with that felt sense.
How it feels to really engage with the breath,
Breathing the body.
Just noticing what's going on.
If there's lots of thinking,
Referencing into the past or into the future.
Just notice what's going on.
And seeing if you can imagine your thinking and your thoughts as something in the background of your awareness.
So we're not trying to change anything,
Push your thoughts away or resist them.
Just noticing they're there.
This is very normal.
Noticing that the thinking is a very normal thing.
So we're not trying to stop the thinking or push your thoughts away.
We're trying to change our relationship through our practice with our thoughts,
With our thinking and our habits of thinking.
And we're bringing a gentle,
Mindful attitude,
Non-judgmental attitude to our practice today.
So go gently,
Go slowly.
And be aware that sometimes when we start out practicing it can feel really strange,
It can feel a bit uncomfortable,
A bit frustrating.
Noticing if you're trying to achieve or gain something,
Get to something.
Just notice if these thoughts are there.
And that's okay.
You can maybe imagine the thoughts as a very energetic puppy who's trying to have great fun and joy.
Dragging you around and chasing you everywhere.
And maybe just gently guiding those thoughts and that puppy back again and again to where you want the puppy to be.
Sit.
Imagine saying to the puppy,
Sit.
And again,
Come back,
Sit.
Be gentle.
So notice the tone of your thoughts,
Your internal dialogue,
Your voice,
Your inner voice.
How do you talk to yourself?
Is it harsh?
Is it gentle?
So again,
Without judgment,
Just noticing.
And then bring your awareness to your breath.
So just noticing first of all that you're breathing.
Something we take for granted and we really don't pay any attention to very often unless something goes wrong.
So this can feel a bit odd,
A bit strange at first,
Noticing the breath.
In this practice it's really grounding and really important to start to connect with your breath.
Your breath is your life force within your body.
We're just noticing how the breath breathes the body.
So notice where you feel the breath the most,
Maybe at the nostrils.
Cooling air coming in to the lungs.
A warmer air leaving the body.
Maybe at the back of the throat,
The upper chest,
The lower chest around the diaphragm or down in the belly.
So we're not trying to change how we breathe at this moment,
We're just following the breath.
Maybe allowing the breath to deepen.
Notice where it goes.
And then maybe starting to think of the breath,
The ebbing and flowing of the breath in and out of the body.
Not just the sea ebbs and flows onto the beach.
This natural,
Intelligent life force that is effortless just happens all by itself.
If your mind wanders off that's okay,
This is normal.
Just notice as soon as the mind wanders off,
As soon as that puppy starts wanting to drag you away and play with you,
Just bring it back.
Stay.
Sit.
So you make the decision.
You're in charge.
You have decided to sit.
To stay.
With each in breath,
Silently bringing to mind the word in.
With each out breath,
The word out.
In and out.
Just carry on repeating and following the natural flow of the breath in and out.
Just carry on doing this for a moment or two.
Noticing if your mind gets distracted,
Gently coming back to the breath without judgement,
Without critical thinking.
As soon as you notice a judgement or a harsh critical thinking,
Just as soon as you notice it,
Come back to the breath,
Let it go.
Instead be mindful of being gentle.
Bring this gentle attitude to yourself and to that puppy who wants to drag you away,
Distract you into thinking.
And now just letting go of the in and the out.
Letting the breath settle back.
Letting go of any holding or any control that you're trying to exert.
Just letting it be.
And then notice how you are in this moment.
So has anything changed?
Anything shifted?
Maybe not and this is absolutely fine.
No expectations of that.
Or maybe you've noticed that your mind is quieter.
Maybe you feel a bit calmer,
More at ease.
Or maybe you're more aware of the distractions in your busy mind.
Maybe it surprises you.
Maybe you're frustrated,
Agitated,
You're jing.
Wanting to be somewhere else,
Do something else.
This is all part of the practice.
So just letting it be.
Coming back to this moment,
Knowing that you're okay in this moment.
Bringing that beginner's mind to your practice again and again.
As the practice comes to a close,
I hope that you've enjoyed this practice.
I hope that you've been able to have some awareness.
You've been able to bring yourself a little bit to here and now.
And I hope that you will continue to practice.
I thank you for practicing with me today.
I wish you all the best,
Lots of love.
Namaste.
Namaste.
