I'm going to take you through a breath awareness exercise and I want you to use this anytime you begin to feel any kind of emotion that is uncomfortable,
Upsetting,
Disturbing.
I want you to do this exercise.
You're sitting comfortably and I want you to allow your eyelids just to close half way so that you're looking slightly down at the ground.
Don't close them completely,
Just half way.
Feel your body.
Feel the position that your body is in.
Allow your shoulders to completely relax.
Make sure that the neck,
The head and the spine are in a straight line and then feel the rest of your body relaxing all the way into a chair or a couch.
Just relax all the muscles of your body.
Feel the ground underneath your feet.
Feel the weight of your feet relaxing on the ground.
Feel your legs relaxing on the couch.
Feel your buttocks supported by the chair.
Relax all your muscles knowing that the couch and the ground are supporting you.
Let go and relax.
Your body is completely supported.
Let all the muscles relax now.
Take your awareness to the top of your head and just scan through your body making sure all muscles are relaxed.
From the head down the facial muscles,
The neck,
The shoulders,
The arms all the way to the fingertips and then the chest and the back,
The abdomen,
The lower back,
The buttocks,
Down the legs and in through the feet and the toes.
And now bring your awareness to the movement of your breath.
Notice the movement of your breath.
Anytime you find yourself being distracted,
If there's a sound outside or a thought in your mind,
Notice both.
Do not judge and let your attention come back to your breath.
In and out.
Allow your attention to be gentle and soft.
Do not control your breath.
Just watch your breathing as if you were watching a wild animal in nature.
You do not want to disturb your breath.
Just notice.
Let go all sounds and just notice the breath as if you're watching an animal in nature that you do not want to disturb.
There is a refinement that comes as you watch the breath.
Let go all sense and desire to control and just feel the breath moving in and out of your body.
Can you trust the breath?
Notice the movement of the breath.
Trust that it will come back in after it's left.
See how deeply you can trust the flow of the breath.
Let it move freely in and out.
Let go and trust.
Keep your awareness coming back to the breath.
Keep your attention focused deeply inwardly on the breath.
In and out.
Follow the breath.
Follow the movements of the breath.
As if you were not only following the breath like an owl following its prey.
See how close you can get to the breath without it noticing.
See how close you can get to the breath without trying to catch it.
Do not catch the breath.
Do not control the breath.
Just follow it as if you were the shadow.
Completely attached and at the same time unobtrusive.
Follow it all the way out and then all the way back in.
And then all the way out.
Letting go deeper and deeper.
Following the breath deeper and deeper.
If thoughts come into your mind that's okay.
Let them come.
And then let them go.
And come back to the breath.
Following the breath deeper and deeper to the origin of your consciousness.
Follow the breath deeper and deeper.
That's it.
Just let go and go all the way down.
See if you can become aware of where the breath originates in your body.
The very impulse to breathe.
Go all the way to the fountain of life itself.
Any distraction that comes in either within the mind,
The body or outside.
Let yourself notice and go back inside.
Deeper and deeper.
More and more relaxed.
As you become more and more alert in order to follow the breath you must remain completely conscious.
Completely awake and alert as you go deeper and deeper inside.
And now I want you to bring your attention back and slowly open your eyes maintaining an awareness of your breath.
Feel your skin on your fingertips with your thumb.
What does it feel like?
If you have relaxed completely and fully you should feel a silkiness.
Good.
As you come back completely keep an awareness of your breath.
That's it.
All the way back.
