Welcome to the Life Breath Meditation.
Find a sitting position that allows you to be alert,
Your spine straight,
But not rigid,
And relax.
Now close your eyes and rest your hands in an easy,
Effortless way.
Take a few moments to scan through your body,
And wherever possible,
Soften and release obvious areas of physical tension.
We begin the practice by establishing our home base.
While there are many possible anchors for meditation,
Like sound or body sensations,
The most common,
And the one we'll be exploring here,
Is the breath.
Breathe naturally and simply notice where the breath is easiest to detect,
And where the breath also feels pleasant,
Or at least neutral.
You might be paying attention to how the breath feels as it flows in and out of your nose.
Perhaps you feel the movement of your chest,
The rising and falling of your abdomen,
Or you feel your whole body expanding with the inhale,
And deflating on the exhale.
Take some moments to bring your attention to the sensations of breathing in one of these areas.
A relaxed attentiveness.
There's no need to control the breath.
Rather,
Sense your breath,
Much like you'd listen to sound.
With a relaxed awareness,
Discover what the breath is really like,
As a changing experience of sensations.
This life breath is your home base,
A place to rest and be aware.
So in these next few moments,
Simply relax as the breath comes in,
Noticing what it's like,
And relax with the exhale,
Letting go,
And again noticing the immediate experience of sensations.
Notice where your attention is.
You might find your mind wandering off.
This is completely natural.
The mind is conditioned to wander at a different topics.
When you become aware of it,
You might use a soft and friendly reminder that this is normal,
And bring yourself back to your life breath.
Listen to the sounds around you,
Relaxing your body,
Relax your heart,
And without any judgment,
Just allow yourself to gently return again to the inflow and outflow of the breath.
Let the breath be an invaluable connection,
A home base that reconnects you with your own presence.
As you resettle with the breath,
You might notice other experiences.
Maybe the background sounds of cars,
Or wind,
Or birds.
You might feel sensations of warmth or coolness.
Whatever's in the background can be there without drawing you away.
Continue to rest with your breath with the intention of noticing when you drift off into thought.
If you discover that the mind has drifted again,
Simply pause,
Re-relax,
And open your attention,
And without any judgment,
Gently come back to this moment.
Remember that your thoughts are not the enemy.
You don't have to clear your mind of thoughts.
Rather,
You're developing the capacity to recognize when thoughts are happening without getting lost in the storyline.
So every time you notice that you've drifted,
Or that you've gotten lost in your mind,
It's an opportunity to strengthen your ability to focus on it,
And pull back to where you want to be.
It's the mindfulness part of mindfulness meditation.
Now let's gently come back into our breath,
And as you notice the mind getting quieter,
You might sense the peace that arises when you relax even more,
And immerse your entire awareness into the inflow and outflow of the breath.
Be aware of the beginnings and endings of each breath.
Fully here,
Aware in this moment.
You can practice this meditation as a way of quieting and collecting your mind at any time of the day.
Simply bring a full yet gentle attention to the breath,
Relaxing with the inhale,
Relaxing more with the exhale,
And then continue on with your activities.
For now,
Remember you can pull your focus back to this moment of breath anytime you like.
As we end this meditation,
When you are ready,
Open your eyes and allow the relaxation to stay with you for the rest of your day.
