Hello and welcome.
Today's meditation is going to be on the breath.
Take a moment to get yourself comfortable in whatever seated position that works for you.
That could be seated on the floor,
Cross-legged,
It could be on a chair,
But wherever you are try to find a place where you can have the spine stacked and long.
We want the spine to be long but we don't want to be rigid.
So trying to find that balance between lengthening but also softening.
When you found that place take a moment to close down the eyes and with the closing of the eyes let's see if we can allow the face to soften completely.
Particularly the space of the forehead,
Between the eyebrows,
Around the eyes and the whole of the jaw.
And then just softly bringing your awareness on to your breath and just resisting the urge to change the breath in any way initially.
But instead just fully focusing on the breath as it draws in and out of the body.
Notice where the breath sits within the body.
For some of us this will be more in the chest,
For some of us this will be more into the abdomen.
And then very gently we're going to start to allow the breath to become a little bit deeper and a little bit more purposeful.
So we're actively trying to draw the breath further down into the belly but also further into the sides of the ribs and the sides of the waist and even into the back.
So the breath is expanding throughout the entire torso but again we're not forcing or pushing.
There should still be ease and softness within the body.
We're just gently inviting the breath to become deeper and longer.
And then at the end of your next inhalation I want you to take a little pause.
Pausing with the breath in the body for just a moment before you exhale and let it all go.
And then again after the next inhalation taking a little pause.
And it's not a constriction or a holding of the breath,
It's just a little pause in that space at the top of your inhalation.
Pause there just for a couple of moments for as long as feels easeful before you let the exhale release.
And just noticing how it feels in that space at the top of the inhalation.
Is there a quality,
A feeling,
A sensation within that space?
And then at the end of your exhalation we are now also going to add a pause.
Pausing just for a couple of moments as long as feels easeful and comfortable before drawing the next breath in.
And again just getting curious within that space.
Does it have a quality,
A feeling,
A sensation?
Does it differ to the pause at the top of the inhale?
Continuing like this for just a couple more rounds.
The main focus being on the pauses between the breaths.
And the quality,
Feeling,
Sensation of that pause.
Let the next one be your last.
A gentle pause.
And then softly allowing your breath to return to its natural rhythm.
And just get curious with your natural breath now.
Notice how it feels.
Notice where you feel it in the body.
And if it feels different now compared to the start.
And then you can stay here for as long as you like.
I hope you've enjoyed today's meditation.
Thank you and see you soon.
