Hello and welcome to your journey to mindfulness.
My name is Letitia and today I'll share with you a guided meditation on the breath using the mantra soul hum.
So we'll use this mantra,
This sound so that the mind can rest.
Rather than trying to stop thoughts,
We give the mind something rhythmic and steady to return to.
In this way the mantra becomes like an anchor helping the attention to soften and settle.
Soul hum is one of the most natural mantras we can work with simply because it is already woven in the breath.
As we inhale we can already sense or hear the sound so and as we exhale the sound hum.
So during this meditation nothing is forced.
We are simply allowing the breath and the sound to move together like two currents flowing in the same direction.
Traditionally soul hum can be understood as or translated as I am that or I am here.
But you don't need to hold on to any meaning for the practice to work.
The effect of this meditation comes from the repetition and the rhythm.
Over time the mantra will gently draw the awareness inward away from effort and from doing and into a quieter and more receptive state.
If at any point the mind drifts that's completely natural simply come back to the breath and to the gentle repetition of so on the inhale and hum on the exhale.
So let's begin.
Find a comfortable posture lying on your back or sitting.
If you are sitting try to keep your spine straight and let your shoulders drop so you might be sitting into a chair or against the wall to support the back of your body.
Close your eyes if it feels safe and comfortable and begin watching your breath starting by simply noticing the breath breathing normally without trying to change anything for now simply observing the in-breath and the out-breath letting the breath flow freely and gradually let your breath slow down letting the breath lengthen making a conscious effort to slow the breath down until it is quiet even and the breath is fairly long and the breath is fairly long from the moment you sat down to the moment your breathing became deep and silent be conscious of every changes that may have happened and are still happening in yourself bring your attention to your belly feeling it rise or expand gently on the in-breath and fall or recede on the out-breath simply keep the focus on your breathing being with each in-breath for its full duration and with each out-breath for its full duration as if you were riding the waves of your own breathing every time you notice that your mind has wandered off the breath notice what it was that took you away and then gently bring your attention back to your belly and the feeling of the breath coming in and out your breath should be light,
Even and flowing like a thin stream of water running through the sand a quiet breath,
So quiet that a person sitting next to you cannot hear a graceful breath,
Like a river breath is the bridge between the body and the mind when we try to meditate,
It is extremely common to have tension in the muscles and noisy thoughts in the mind the nervous system is the arbiter between the tense body and the noisy mind and one of the best ways to regulate that nervous system and in turn the body and mind is through the breath now introducing the mantra to help us manage the mind the mantra SO HUM as you breathe in,
Silently repeating to yourself SO and as you breathe out breathing in completely,
SO breathing out completely,
HUM keep going with this in your own time allowing the breath to feel full and expansive SO HUM keep silently repeating the mantra to yourself for the next couple minutes or so let your breath be light and even and let yourself gently ride the waves of the breath SO HUM feel free to keep practicing this for as long as you need if you are ready to slowly come out of the practice start by letting go of the mantra simply keeping the awareness onto the breath remaining with the eyes closed just a little longer and then letting go of the mantra becoming aware again of the sensations in your body of the room,
The space you are sitting or laying in and when you are ready you can gently blink the eyes open and take as much time as you need to slowly come back into the world thank you so much for sharing the practice with me today I hope that you will have a beautiful day and I'll see you next time
