Welcome to your practice.
Find a comfortable sitting posture on a chair or a cushion.
Invite the eyelids to close.
Straighten the spine but allow the muscles to relax.
Concentration practice helps you train the mind to focus by giving it one thing to do.
And like any other new habit,
This takes time.
And so when the mind begins to wander,
See if you can gently bring it back.
And over time the mind will learn to focus and let go of distracting thoughts on its own.
And briefly scan the body and check in with yourself.
Allow the shoulders to drop.
Soften the muscles of the belly and invite the body into complete relaxation mode.
Take a big nice inhale through the nose.
Hold it at the top.
Now open your mouth and exhale,
Completely emptying the breath.
And we're going to do two more just like that.
Big nice inhale,
Sip it deep,
Pause at the top.
And now open the mouth and exhale,
Feeling a little lighter.
Last one.
Big nice inhale,
Sip it deep,
Pause at the top.
And now open your mouth as you release and let go.
And now you can let go of any control in the breath and trust that your body knows how to breathe.
Notice where you can feel the breath in your body.
It may be in the belly or it may be in the chest or the nostrils.
And so just pick one place where you can feel the breath most easily.
Rest with the sensations of the breath in this one spot.
Notice how the body gently expands on an inhale and how it hugs back in on an exhale.
Continue to breathe in this mindful way,
Remembering that the breath serves as an aid to practice and giving the mind something extra on which to focus.
That this is a practice of focus and concentration.
And the best thing to focus on is your breath.
That the gift of breath is the gift of life.
And so there is no wrong way to do this.
That this is not a competition or a measurement of how well you are doing.
When the mind begins to wander,
Just come back to the breath as many times as you need to.
Watching out for any judgment and letting go of any harsh self-talk.
Continue like this,
Breathing with awareness and building focus.
When the mind wanders just like a precious little child would,
Notice it and with compassion and self-love,
Gently pull it back.
When the mind is concentrated,
Notice that as well and give yourself some kudos.
Now continue with your day setting an intention to notice when your mind is focused and when it wanders.
Being very clear with your intention that there is nothing to fix or change.
That you are working with yourself,
Not against yourself.
That this is simply a practice of awareness,
Self-compassion and self-care.
I hope you have a lovely rest of your day.
