Namaste.
Welcome to the meditation on cultivating a sense of heightened awareness.
Please make yourself absolutely comfortable,
Seated or lying down.
Making sure that you're warm,
Body completely relaxed,
Closing your eyes and becoming aware of your breath.
Often the act of simply noticing changes the breath.
But see if you can allow yourself to be present with the breath as it is at this present moment.
Without judgment,
What do you notice about the quality of your breathing?
Observe if you're breathing in through the mouth or in through the nostrils.
Notice whether the breath is short or long,
Shallow or deep.
Is there a difference between the length of the breath in and the length of the breath out?
And please allow this breath to be just the way it is.
As you take a moment to make a list of observations of what it is that you find.
So at first silently saying words to yourself to identify the nature of your breath,
Whether it's shallow,
Short,
Gasping,
Uneven,
Ragged or hurried.
Over time as you practice this meditation,
You might try to drop the words and just really feel the breath.
And now deliberately breathe in and out through your nostrils if you're not already.
And I'd like to invite you to take three deep,
Relaxing breaths.
So taking one long deep breath in,
Filling up the lungs and then exhaling just as long as possible.
That same breath as it leaves your body.
Taking a second deep breath in,
Easy and patient and becoming completely relaxed on the outgoing breath.
Now you take your last breath in,
Making it deep and slow and then gently exhaling a long,
Smooth,
Free flowing breath.
Even if you find that your breath does not follow this pattern right now,
It's absolutely fine.
Just observe without making any kind of judgments or getting frustrated.
As you continue to breathe in through your nostrils,
A steady and patient breath,
I'd like to ask you to invite your attention back to your body,
Noticing what's present within the body.
Is there any tightness,
Any pain,
Or are there areas of softness and spaciousness and joy?
Allowing yourself to continue to be very inquisitive about the sensations and even being open to them without any judgments.
I'd like to ask you to allow whatever sensation you notice in the body to just exist with you.
And if a particular sensation or area of the body is speaking to you,
Let us turn our attention towards it completely.
Being absolutely aware of whether that sensation is trying to say something to us.
As you move your awareness towards this area with curiosity,
With being open to whatever it has to tell us,
Be fully accepting of this sensation in this moment.
And silently describe to yourself what you're feeling.
Perhaps the sensation has a temperature,
A warmth,
Or a coolness.
You might find there's a color,
A shape,
Or a size.
Or you might feel absolutely nothing at all.
And just notice that.
Whether you feel something or not,
Let's remain open to the possibility that whatever you're feeling may change.
You may even feel it changing right here and right now.
As you try to describe the sensation,
As you observe it and attempt to give it form,
Whether it's changing or not,
Whether we notice sensation in the body or not,
We've noticed something and we've learned a little bit more about ourself.
Once again,
I'd like to invite you to take three deep,
Full,
Relaxing inhale and exhale breaths.
One long breath in to prepare and then a long full breath out.
Feel your lungs and your belly expand and contract on the breath in as well as the breath out.
Now that we've taken a little time to connect with the body and the breath,
I'd like to ask you to please observe your state of mind.
Noticing the type of thoughts and emotions that are present.
And whether you relate to these thoughts and emotions to either the quality of your breath or to the physical sensations in your body.
You may or you may not.
And that's absolutely fine.
So let's continue to notice without judgment if there are certain thought patterns at play in the mind.
Allow yourself to stay open and curious and allow for whatever is present and welcome it in and ask yourself what it's trying to teach you.
This meditation is meant to guide you to just simply notice and acknowledge without self criticism or even self blame and to simply acknowledge any anxiety or stress or joy or contentment.
Anything that's present to allow it to just exist and be in that space.
You might find that it changes and moves around and that's also absolutely fine.
Often our breath,
Our body and our minds know far more than we do about what will bring calm in their own way.
They are trying to teach us to find a way to be present and joyful and be in the moment.
So ask what the breath,
The body and the mind are trying to tell you and then listen.
Listen with an open curiosity.
Listen without expectation and listen with love in your heart.
Further breath,
Body and mind can be used to guide us to a richer existence.
Namaste.
