Welcome to the half an hour sitting meditation breath and body.
So the intention for this practice is waking up to the automatic pilot and coming home to our body and the senses.
And we pay attention to the breath,
The body and any sensations and the attitude we carry with us is an attitude of non-striving and letting go and curiosity to our experience in the present moment.
So now just settling in to a comfortable position and perhaps exploring with the different position today.
And maybe if you're feeling sleepy to perhaps choose to sit up with the back away from the back of the chair feet flat on the floor and just taking time to find a place of comfort.
And now moving to sensing sounds in the room.
What sounds are present right now?
And trying to avoid thinking about where the sounds are coming from.
Just perhaps tuning into the pitch of the sound whether it's a short sound or a long continuous sound.
Just bringing the awareness to hearing.
And now asking what is my experience now?
Noticing thoughts,
Emotions,
Maybe any sensations in the body.
And making a choice to allow ourselves to be exactly as we are in this moment.
Practicing a non-striving attitude.
Just practicing being.
And when it feels right gently noticing the movement of the breath.
It's such a constant feature of life that it's easy to ignore.
So now just taking time with it.
Feeling the sensations of the breath as it rolls in and rolls out.
And noticing if we can keep our awareness with the whole in-breath and the whole out-breath.
And just noticing where the breath is showing up most vividly in this moment.
And feeling the movement of the breath and the rhythm.
Riding the waves of the breath from moment to moment.
And as we practice this meditation if at any time sensations in the body become too uncomfortable or thoughts carry us away to the past or maybe the future or maybe emotions arise that are just too difficult just reminding ourselves that we can return to the rhythm of the breath as an anchor or perhaps choosing to return to the sense of pressure and contact sitting bones on the chair or feet on the floor.
And now moving awareness to any physical sensations in the body.
Investigating the experience of a very alive body and how this aliveness is known through the senses.
What is your experience in the body now?
And perhaps there are sensations that are grabbing your attention most loudly.
And now bringing awareness to the breath in the body and to the changing patterns of physical sensations in the body.
So perhaps an expansion on the in-breath and a coming back to neutral on the out-breath.
The changing sensations in the throat as the cool air enters the body.
And the warm air leaves the body.
Maybe the rise of the tummy on the in-breath and it lowering back to neutral on the out-breath.
And perhaps imagining that there is a balloon in the tummy and every time we breathe in noticing that the balloon inflates and every time we breathe out noticing that the balloon deflates.
And as best we can staying with our awareness on these changing physical sensations of the breath.
And there's no need to try and control the breathing in any way.
Just simply letting the body breathe by itself and maybe bringing a beginner's mind to exploring the body as we breathe.
There is nothing that needs to be fixed and no particular state to be achieved.
Simply surrendering to the experience as it is without needing it to be anything different.
Just inhaling and exhaling.
And perhaps the mind has wondered.
Thoughts have grabbed your attention and you might have got caught up in the thoughts.
Just labeling the thought.
Was that a planning thought?
A memory?
And just noticing how connected you are to that thought.
The pull of the thought.
And just noticing without judgment and then gently coming back to the practice.
Back to the sensation of the breath.
And maybe once again asking yourself what is my experience now?
Noticing sensations.
Noticing emotions.
And not judging ourselves for having emotions or thoughts or even particular sensations.
Softening any judgments about having them.
Just noticing.
And once again shining our spotlight of attention to the breath.
Perhaps sensing the breath somewhere different now.
Maybe the cool air entering the nostrils.
Feeling the air as it goes down the throat.
And how the warm air comes up.
The sensation of the air as it leaves the nostrils.
And just taking comfort in being with the breath.
And just noticing any attitudes that are present.
Reminding ourselves that we're cultivating non-striving self-compassion.
And if the mind has wandered off,
Just acknowledging the thought and coming back to the practice.
And now we're going to practice sending a breath all the way down through the body and imagining it leaving through the feet into the earth.
So taking a breath in.
Imagining it going all the way down through the body.
Down through the legs.
To the feet.
Down into the ground.
And maybe if this feels right for you,
Doing this a few times.
And as we do this,
Gathering a sense of earthing ourselves.
Feeling grounded,
A connection.
And when you're ready,
Expanding the attention to include the whole body.
From the soles of the feet to the top of the head.
And just being present to the totality of the experience of sitting here in this moment.
Gathering on to the sensations of the breath.
Noticing how it has been a constant companion in this practice and through our life.
And how the breath brings the whole body together.
And now gathering on to any sensations in the body.
Noticing any new sensations.
Perhaps some familiar sensations.
And bringing attention to the sense of pressure and contact.
So perhaps the chair we're sitting on.
The feeling of the hands on the lap.
Maybe the feet on the floor.
The sense of sitting here in the present moment.
The breath rolling in.
And rolling out down into the ground.
And now bringing our awareness back to sounds perhaps far away,
Distant sounds.
And if there are no sounds,
Noticing what silence feels like.
And noticing any sounds that are nearby.
Just hearing them and acknowledging them.
And when it feels right for you,
Gently bringing some movement back to the body.
And maybe still keeping the eyes closed.
Moving very gently and noticing the sensations.
Bringing some movement to the fingertips perhaps.
And before opening the eyes,
Asking ourselves one more time,
What is my experience now?
What is happening in the body right now?
What emotions are here?
And just allowing the practice to be as it is.
And when it feels right for you,
Gently opening the eyes.
Taking a moment to look around the room.
Imagining seeing it for the first time with a beginner's mind.
Maybe even seeing things that you might not have noticed before.
The breath and body meditation is now complete.
