This is a guided counting the breath meditation.
You can practice this meditation sitting,
Lying down,
Standing or walking.
Come into a comfortable and upright position.
If you're sitting in a chair,
Have your knees and feet separated,
Your feet flat on the floor,
Creating a stable triangular base between your feet and the chair.
Keep your back straight and upright,
Not touching the back of the chair.
If you need any back support,
Don't let this take you out of line.
If you're sitting on a cushion,
Create a stable triangular base between the cushion and your knees resting down.
Keep your back straight and upright.
Sway your body gently from side to side and forwards and backwards to help you find your balance point,
Finding a sense of relaxation and uprightness.
Put your hands together in your lap.
Your spine is straight and long.
Lift your shoulders up,
Roll them back and release them down in a relaxed position.
Your head is straight,
Tucking your chin in slightly as if you're holding a small tennis ball beneath your chin.
The back of your neck is long.
Eyes closed or half open,
Lowered with a soft gaze.
Mouth closed and tongue resting softly against the roof of your mouth.
Breathing through your nose if you can or your mouth if you need to.
Become aware of the sounds around you.
Know that you are here and now.
Become aware of the weight of your body and the contact with the chair or cushion.
Allow yourself to feel the sensations of the breath at the lowest point in your body where you can feel the effortless rising and falling of the breath.
You may feel it in your chest or even in your abdomen.
We are not trying to change or control the breath.
Just follow closely the sensations of breathing,
The stretching and sinking with every in-breath and out-breath.
Follow the whole of the breath from the moment it arises to the moment it passes away.
Now start to mentally count the breath.
Let the count cover the entire breath.
In-breath one.
Out-breath two.
In-breath three.
Out-breath four.
And so on.
Up to ten.
And then coming back to one.
Just counting,
Just breathing,
Relaxed,
Natural breath.
Anytime you get distracted and lose counting.
Just start again.
Counting one,
Two,
Three,
With every in-breath and out-breath.
And one,
Two,
Three with every in-breath.
Keep your mind open,
Allowing any sounds,
Thoughts,
Memories,
Feelings,
Or sensations,
All the processes of life to come and go,
Holding on to nothing and pushing nothing away.
Keep your mind open,
Allowing any sounds,
Thoughts,
Memories,
Feelings,
Feelings,
Or sensations,
All the processes of life to come and go,
Holding on to nothing.
If sounds,
Thoughts,
Feelings,
Or sensations draw your attention,
Just notice them,
But try not to get lost in them.
Keep your mind open,
Allowing any sounds,
Thoughts,
Memories,
Feelings,
Or sensations,
All the processes of life to come and go,
Holding on to nothing.
When you notice you are distracted,
Just gently bring your awareness back to the breath and start counting again.
Congratulate yourself that you noticed that you became aware again.
This is the practice of meditation,
To keep coming back,
To keep waking up to our experience here and now.
Okay.
If feelings or sensations persist and keep calling for your attention,
Maybe feeling some tension,
Stress or discomfort in a certain area of the body,
Then feel it fully,
Stay with it.
Make these body sensations the object of your attention.
And when the sensations change or stop calling your attention,
Then come back to simply counting the breath.
Having said that,
Please step away.
We are not trying to get anywhere or achieve anything.
We are not trying to clear our mind.
Sometimes our mind is calm and our meditation is deep.
Other times we stay on the surface with lots of thoughts coming and going.
Your meditation is equally valuable.
There is no good or bad.
We stay with what is and simply count the breath.
We are not trying to clear our mind.
We are not trying to clear our mind.
You may find as your mind naturally becomes calmer and more settled that it's fine for you to just count your outbreaths.
Outbreath.
One.
Outbreath.
Two.
And so on.
All the way up to ten.
And then beginning again at one.
All the way up to ten.
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When you notice you are distracted by thoughts,
Feelings or sensations,
Just gently bring your awareness back to the breath and start counting again.
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