Taking a comfortable seat.
On the floor,
On some type of cushion,
Even a straight back chair.
Just making sure your hip bones are slightly higher than your knees.
Feeling the spine elongate like a string of pearls.
Connecting with the posture.
Feel the spine rise.
Feel very tall.
A dignified,
Almost majestic quality to your sitting posture.
And the whole body relaxed.
As they say,
You want to feel as tall as you can possibly be,
While as relaxed as possible at the same time.
Bring your attention to the breath.
Not trying to control or manipulate the breath yet.
But just experiencing the breathing body.
Bring your awareness into the body.
And just experience the expansion and contraction of the whole torso.
As you breathe in.
And a feeling of contracting,
Compressing,
A general feeling of letting go.
Set an intention for this practice.
What qualities do you want to cultivate?
A greater sense of mindfulness,
Enhanced concentration,
Feeling of being embodied.
Perhaps working with feelings of kindness and compassion for people around you,
Friends and families,
Possibly even people you have difficulty with.
A feeling of letting go.
Connecting with a deep sense of simple joy.
Just something that is qualities you want to work on.
Dedicating this practice.
Cultivate this quality to bring kindness and compassion to people around you.
Now bring in your awareness to the breath.
Breathing in through the nose,
The diaphragm engages,
The belly and the abdomen and the torso expands on the inhale and on the exhale,
Just a feeling of letting go.
Let the exhales be nice and long.
Connecting to that feeling of relaxation as you breathe out.
Breathing in,
Torso expands.
As you exhale,
Relax,
Release and let go.
The in-breath should always be through the nose.
The exhale,
Let it be up to you.
We're going to bring in a counting pattern.
What we call the three,
Six,
Nine.
You're going to start breathing out,
Empty out,
Really full exhalations.
And we're going to be breathing in for a count of six.
Going to hold the breath at the top of the inhale for three.
Exhale for a count of nine.
And then hold at the bottom of the exhale for three.
If you find it difficult to breathe out for a count of nine,
What I recommend is breathing out to about a count of five or six through the nose.
And then do the last three or four counts like the sound of a sigh through the mouth.
So I'm going to do two with you and guide it and talk.
And then we're going to do four on your own in silence.
So start with an exhale.
You'll find that it's easier to have a nice,
Full,
Slow,
Deep inhalation as you breathe out fully.
And inhale.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
Hold.
One,
Two,
Three.
Exhale.
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight,
Nine.
Hold.
One,
Two,
Three.
Inhale.
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
Hold.
One,
Two,
Three.
Exhale.
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight,
Nine.
Hold.
One,
Two,
Three,
And four on your own.
Remember,
If the mind wanders,
No judgment,
No worries.
Just note the mind wandering and bring it back to the counting practice.
And one more.
And you can relax,
Let go of the counting.
We're next going to introduce a sound,
What they call the bee's breath.
Really connect with a vibratory feeling within the skull.
You're going to put your first fingers,
The index fingers on your eyebrows.
With your middle fingers,
You're going to close off the eyes as if they're right on top of the eyelashes,
Closing the eyelids.
The third fingers,
The ring fingers,
Go just above the upper lip,
Mustache area,
And then the pinkies just rest comfortably wherever they are in the air or just below the third finger.
And with the thumbs,
You close off the ears.
So you close off the sound.
You're going to take a nice,
Relaxing inhale.
Now on the exhale,
With the lips closed,
Making a sound of a B.
Almost a M sound.
It's also a possibility some people like to do with a Z.
So you could work with a M or a Z,
Whatever feels more comfortable for you.
So take an exhale.
I'll do a couple together.
So take an inhale.
And bee's breath.
And breathe in.
And again.
And four more on your own,
Really bringing that awareness inside.
Feel that vibration in the skull.
And one more.
Let this one draw out.
And bring your awareness into the body.
And let's just be with the breathing body.
And when you breathe in,
You could say,
Slow.
Just a naturally slowing down of the inhale.
And as you breathe out,
A feeling of release.
And completely release and let go on the exhale.
Just experiencing the breathing body.
Feel the breath.
Through the abdomen.
Just this gentle rise in quality.
And as if you're just dissolving with the exhale.
Slow and release.
Breathing in,
I feel calm.
Breathing out,
I ease the body and mind.
This calm,
Clear,
Awakened state.
Just awake and aware of everything going on.
So breathing in,
Say to yourself,
Silently,
Calm.
And as you breathe out,
Ease.
Softening of the body.
Relaxation of the mind and your emotions.
And once again,
The mind wanders.
Just note it.
And then non-judgmentally,
Curiosity and a touch of humor,
Just bring it back to the breath.
Let's take four breaths like this.
Calm and ease.
And let's do one more breath.
And on this exhale,
A feeling of dissolving.
Let this exhale be through the mouth and the sound of a gentle sigh.
Everything just softens and relaxes.
Now letting go of the breath,
And just bring your awareness into the body.
Being with felt sensation.
Not trying to control the awareness,
Just let the mind go wherever it wants to within the body.
Perhaps somewhere you feel a little ache or pain.
Perhaps you want to readjust your posture a bit.
That's fine,
Just be awake and aware to that adjustment.
And if you're experiencing a little ache or pain,
As you breathe in,
Feel.
And as you breathe out,
A feeling of softening.
It's a turning towards an ache or a pain,
Any discomfort,
Rather than a trying to suppress or turn away.
Inhale,
Enhance the sensation.
And exhale,
Just soften and release.
Turning towards.
Re-floating with your awareness throughout the body.
Now letting go of the breath.
Letting go of the focus on the body sensation.
Let your attention move to any sounds.
Once again,
We're not trying to turn only towards pleasant.
Be frustrated or annoyed by unpleasant sounds.
Be open and aware to whatever arises.
And noting.
You could even note pleasant,
Unpleasant,
Neutral.
Just taking a bit of time here.
Open the sound.
Finally,
Turning your attention to feelings or thoughts.
Letting them come and go.
As it clouds on a big open sky.
Thoughts and feelings arise.
And then ride them out.
Let them dissipate with your exhale.
Not turning away.
We're not being frustrated by thoughts.
It's a feeling that anything and everything can be a focus of our attention.
Learning to be with.
Accept.
As we finish up this practice.
I want to bring forth a sense of gratitude.
Many of us,
It's very easy to focus on the problems in our lives.
What's going bad.
Difficulties at work.
Friends or colleagues.
But here we want to do is cultivate gratitude.
Cultivate all the amazing things in our life.
Reasonably healthy.
Grateful for friends and family.
Grateful for the food.
Possibly even simple things.
Out in nature.
Trees.
Birds or wildlife.
Learning to recognize.
To feel just the magnificence of being alive on this planet.
Tomorrow.
For us and everyone around us.
Keeping a perspective.
Not turning mountains out of molehills.
Just tuning and turning into majestic beauty.
The beauty of the world.
As you slowly come out of this practice.
Might want to stretch a little.
Or just bring some movement to your fingers and toes.
Whatever your body needs.
Taking a few last breaths.
Feeling the breathing body.
Cultivating the sense of calm.
Mindful.
Enjoy.
Thanks for joining me.
