Take a moment to make yourself absolutely comfortable in a place where you can be free from distractions.
Sitting tall.
With your back straight,
Neutral spine.
Slowly shift from side to side or forward and backwards until you feel that the crown of your head is directly over your tailbone.
Allowing your chin to relax so that your jaw is unclenched.
Relax your shoulders by resting your arms naturally in your lap with your palms facing up.
Take a second to close your eyes and breathe quietly and slowly in and out through your nostrils.
Taking a moment to settle your attention on the breath.
Noticing the movement of breath through your nostrils and then following that movement into your body.
Observing and feeling the rise and fall of your chest.
The expansion and softening in your body and your belly.
Perhaps you can feel the breath in the back of your body or at the sides of your ribcage or anywhere else.
Notice where it is that you feel the breath most clearly.
And then anchor the mind to that spot.
Prepare with a slow breath in.
And then count your exhale as your breath number one.
Inhale number two.
Exhale number two.
Inhale number three.
Exhale number three.
Exhale number three.
I will continue this count all the way up to ten.
Any time you notice that you've lost count,
Simply drop what you've been doing and begin to count again.
Sigh out if you need to with each exhalation.
Return again to exhale number one as many times as you need to.
Repeating.
Inhale one.
Exhale one.
So you're just as successful in continuing that until you reach your count of ten breaths with minimal distraction.
The goal is not out there ahead of you,
But rather on the tenth breath.
Our goal or aim is to remain present with just this one breath.
Inhale breath number one.
Exhale breath number one.
Allow yourself to sense the breath in your body with all that curiosity and interest in the breath.
Its movement.
Letting whatever it is that allows you to hold your attention to the breath become stronger.
Distractions will arise.
Don't give in to them once you've noticed that you've lost count.
Try not to stay or judge or question why.
Just bring your focus and your awareness back to the smooth flow.
Inhale breath number one.
Exhale breath number one.
Remember that the breath is not a future condition or a future state of mind,
But resides in the here and the now,
Allowing you to be fully present in the moment.
The best part about focusing on the breath is that you can use it to remain focused,
To stay in the moment where it's not a habitual action,
But rather full of a focused intention.
Initially,
It will take effort,
But with practice,
The possibility of staying focused on ten breaths will become as natural as brushing your teeth.
Each flash of distraction,
Each thought that takes you away from your breath,
Let it go,
Allowing yourself to stay present in the moment of the breath count.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Namaste.
