Hello friend,
For today's meditation we will practice mindfulness of your breath and your body.
So let's begin.
Sit upright,
But not uptight.
And at ease.
Quietly explore your form and softly dissolve any immediate tension you notice.
Your breath has a natural rhythm and it requires no intervention from you.
Where do you notice your breath the most in your body?
If your breath is too subtle or hard to pinpoint,
Place a hand on your belly and simply notice the rise and fall of each inhale and exhale that you take.
How are you breathing?
Is your breath fast or slow?
Steady or sporadic?
And as you breathe,
Notice a coolness entering into your nostrils as you inhale,
And a warmness on your upper lip as you exhale.
As you do this,
There is no need to control or alter your breath in any way.
Simply observe.
You might try adding a whisper as you breathe.
For example,
As you inhale,
Silently say to yourself,
I am breathing in.
And as you exhale,
I am breathing out.
I am breathing in.
I am breathing out.
Now calmly feel the next three breaths that you take.
Now feel three more and dive deeper into your experience by noticing the moments when your breath begins,
As it pauses,
And as it ends.
Allow your attention to broaden and drop down into your body.
Label any sensations you notice as you scan through your body now.
There is no need to run through a thesaurus to find the correct word.
Simply notice what word or words arise mentally and softly repeat them to yourself.
And as you do here,
Keep 5% of your attention to naming the sensation and 95% of your attention on the actual experience.
And now direct your attention to your feet.
Notice any sensations in your toes,
To your ankles,
To your knees.
See if you can sense the volume and length of your legs.
Move your attention to your thighs,
Feeling the contact points of the surface beneath you.
Now raise your attention to your chest and feel your beating heart.
What is the rhythm,
The pattern of your heartbeat here?
Lift your focus to your shoulders,
Which is a common vault for stress for many.
With each breath,
Allow your shoulders to drop down and away from your ears.
Here,
Release the weight of the world that you place on your shoulders every day.
Let your awareness glide down into your arms,
Your elbows,
Your wrists and your fingers.
Feel your arms from the inside out,
Moving from bone to muscle,
Muscle to skin,
And skin to air.
Bring your attention to your neck and gently swallow,
Appreciating the ease of this movement.
Relax your jaw,
Soften your muscles around your eyes and behind.
And then feel a sense of lightness arising throughout your face.
Acknowledge the ebb and flow of sensations in your body.
Eventually as these sensations weaken and your attention wanders,
It might be helpful to ask yourself when this happens,
What is happening inside of me right now?
Or can I be with this a little longer?
Move between the gentle tango of air flowing to you through your breath and the essence of sensation that exists within you and your body.
Dance with these as you tether yourself to the present moment and remain here until you hear my voice again.
Begin to return to the space that surrounds you,
Taking a deep sigh and inviting movement in your body.
As you move about your day and your week,
Start to recognize in your everyday life the moments where you are reacting to a story of the past or future,
About yourself or someone else.
And then just as you did here,
Welcome these opportunities to re-harness,
Illuminate,
And awaken to the world simply by tethering your awareness back to your breath and back to your body.
Until next time,
My friend.
Namaste.
