We use our breath as the object of our meditation,
Keeping in mind that our breath will be the anchor for us to slow down,
To practice mindfulness,
And to find that sacred peace within us to restart.
Now we begin to either close our eyes or look down at the tip of your nose with a light,
Unfocused gaze.
Take this time to notice the breath.
Now we begin our three-part breathing.
As we exhale out completely,
Empty out all the air,
We begin to take that big breath.
Breathing in,
Belly inflates,
Ribcage expands,
Chest lightly lifts up.
As we exhale,
Chest relaxes,
Ribcage softens,
Belly shrinks back.
Breathing in,
Belly expands,
Ribcage,
And the chest lightly lifts.
As you exhale,
Relax your shoulders,
Moving the chest to soften,
Ribcage,
And then belly.
Continue to do this on your own with deliberate intention of slowing down your breath,
And at the same time,
Try to visualize the shape of your breath.
If you are at this point in time quite stressed,
Anxious,
Worried,
Frustrated,
Notice the shape of that breath.
Notice the body's feedback of that moment,
Whether that's your heart racing,
Your breath becoming shallow,
Your face flushed,
Your palms sweating,
Tension in a specific part of your body.
Notice without judgment.
And now have your breath be at the focal point of your practice.
Visualize its shape.
And the beautiful part of what you're doing is you can alter this experience by taking that three-part breathing practice.
Breathing in through the belly,
Then the ribcage,
And then the chest.
Exhale,
Relax the chest,
Ribcage,
And belly.
Continue to do that.
And with each breath,
Try as best as you can to maximize the capacity when the breath enters all the way down to the pit of your belly,
Expanding your ribcage sideways,
And growing tall as if feeling the energy shoot up towards the crown of your head.
And with every exhale,
Try to feel your sitting bones root down to the seat.
Breathing in again,
Feel that elongation,
This time perhaps breathing a little bit deeper.
And with every exhale,
Relaxing the shoulders,
Rooting down on your sit bones,
Grounding down through your feet,
Feeling the earth beneath you.
Breathing in,
Expanding that life force.
Breathing out,
Relaxing any tightness in the body,
Letting go.
Breathing in a little bit slower now and fuller.
As you exhale,
Slowly out,
Releasing any tension that you feel both in the body and the mind.
And perhaps at this point in time,
You feel your thoughts a little less cluttered in the mind.
Your goal is to slow down those thoughts or empty the mind and allow your full attention just on the breath.
Now,
Focus for a moment on the sensations that you feel using your five senses,
Noticing the texture of the seat below you,
How your feet are planted,
How your shoulder and your back is positioned against the chair that you're sitting on.
Notice the air that touches your skin.
Notice what you're hearing,
Whether that's within your space or outside.
Notice what you smell.
And if you have your eyes half opened with that soft gaze,
Notice that blur that you're seeing without your full focus.
Perhaps you'll feel different from when you started.
And now shift your attention back to your breath.
Notice the rise and the fall.
And if you had visualized a shape of your breath,
Notice how this compares compared to when you started.
And now fully feel this moment.
Notice the breath moment to moment.
Notice the sensations in your body as the feedback moment to moment.
Shift your awareness back again to your breath and visualizing that shape once again,
Remembering that you can always come back to this practice to protect your peace and learning that what you can control is what's inside of you because we have no control over the chaos and the storms that happen externally.
Continue this practice for as long as you'd like,
Focusing on your breath,
Breathing in as you expand your belly,
Then the ribcage,
Then the chest as you sit up tall in dignity and grace.
And with every exhale,
Relaxing the chest,
Melting tension away,
Relaxing the ribcage,
Then relaxing the belly,
Rooting your sit bones down,
Planting your feet firmly,
Grounding yourself every time you exhale.
When you inhale,
You expand that invisible bubble,
That boundary that you have been creating for yourself to protect your sacred space.
With every inhale,
Feeling yourself nourished by this prana,
Chi,
Life force.
And with every exhale,
Just let go and learning to surrender.
