Come into a comfortable seat.
You can be sitting on the ground in a chair.
If you choose to sit on the ground,
Prop up your hips on a cushion or a pillow.
And if it's most comfortable for you,
Come to a laying down position.
Make sure that your back is feeling supported so you can be a straight spine.
We will begin by entering into a mindfulness of breathing.
Start to turn your awareness to the facts that you are breathing and notice the quality of your breath.
If your inhales are long,
Notice that they're long.
If your breath is short,
Notice that it is short.
Try to avoid any labels of it being right or wrong,
Good or bad.
And just notice the breathing as it is.
Now follow the track of your breathing starting first around your nose and your nostrils.
See if you can feel the soft breeze of your breath across your upper lip.
Feel the cool temperature of your inhale through the nose and the warmth as the breath exits your body.
And now begin to track your breath a little deeper,
Moving up through your nose,
Passing behind your eyebrows and your third eye,
And moving down your throat.
See if you can feel the cool temperature of your inhale down your throat and the warmth as the breath exits your body.
Now follow your breath into your chest,
Feeling the way your lungs change shape as you breathe in and they expand outwards.
And feel the contraction of your lungs as you breathe out,
Moving in towards your center.
Now notice where you feel the most physical sensation of your breath.
When you find your mind starts to wander away from the sensations of your breath,
Practice labeling of whatever has distracted your mind.
If your attention is drawn away by a sound,
Label it as hearing.
Hearing.
If your attention is distracted by a thought,
Label it thinking.
Thinking.
If you begin to notice any sensation in your body like an itch or a physical discomfort,
Label it feeling.
Feeling.
And then return to your awareness of your breath.
Now let's take a big breath in together and expand all your lungs,
Fill up to the very top,
And then take a soft sigh out,
Letting it go,
Sealing our practice here.
And thank you for practicing with me today.
Namaste.
