Things can get a bit tense and stressy in your teenage years.
Things can be a bit challenging,
Lots of things to juggle,
Lots of emotions changing,
Lots of body changes,
Fitting in with your peer groups,
Increase in study,
Can get a bit reactive at times like this.
Mindful breathing can help you increase your resilience and just get a little bit more emotional awareness just by paying attention to the breath.
Breathing is a great easy thing to do that can help you be more focused and less reactive in challenging circumstances.
So find somewhere to sit comfortably or lie down and rest for a few minutes and I'll take you through a practice to just breathe.
So put your hands on your belly and as you take a big breath and breathe in,
Notice how your hands rise up with the belly up and out.
Notice that the top part of your body lifts right up and then let the breath go and breathe out for as long as you can until your belly collapses in and under your hands again and you feel your shoulders slump down.
Do this a couple of more times letting your body flop and relax as you breathe out.
So taking a big breath in,
Belly rising up,
Top part of your body lifting,
Let the breath go,
Breathe out as long as you can until your belly collapses under your hands and your shoulders slump.
And one more time.
Great,
Just let your breath happen normally now and settle down into that chair or if you are lying down just allow your legs and arms to uncross,
Your hands down by your sides letting your body relax a bit.
Not interfering or changing your breath anymore.
Now as you breathe out just allowing the body to soften a little bit,
Flop a little bit.
If you are sitting,
Keeping fairly upright but relaxed.
And now is the time to notice that you are thinking.
The mind is always thinking and that's its job so just let it be.
Maybe just notice what the thoughts are but then unless they hold you let them go.
We don't push our thoughts away,
We don't hold on to them but we notice them.
So just noticing now the sorts of things that are running through your mind.
See it like a picture perhaps,
Running past,
Just noticing,
Letting it go,
Noticing,
Letting it go.
Because right now we are just paying attention to your breath.
Not making yourself do anything else.
Just keeping your mind very gently focused on the breath and noticing the movements in your body as the breath goes in and out.
Noticing how your body feels.
Noticing the breath going through the nose.
Maybe feeling it in your chest and then your belly still moving in and out.
You can leave your hands on your belly or you can put them down by your side.
It's up to you.
Just taking some time out,
Just to breathe,
Just to settle,
Just to relax a bit.
Noticing the stuff on the mind but letting it go.
If you find yourself thinking into some of those things going through your mind that's ok,
Don't try and stop it.
Just let the thoughts be no problem and then bring your mind back to the body,
To the breath and be gentle.
Some people find counting can help to stay focused on the body and on the breath.
So if you want you can count each breath.
Or maybe each in breath one and out breath two.
I prefer to say in and out.
You choose whatever is comfortable for you.
Just notice how your body feels.
How the chest rises,
How the belly moves up and then collapses.
And each time you breath out just get a little bit softer,
A little bit more relaxed.
Letting go of all the things that are on your mind.
All the things that might agitate your feelings.
Being aware of them because they are there but once you have noticed them just letting them go.
And we are just resting here,
Pressing and paying attention to the breath.
Just breathing in and out,
In and out.
Maybe counting one and two.
Maybe just concentrating on the feelings of the rise and fall of the belly.
And if you feel two,
Maybe following that breath as you breath in,
Taking it down through the throat,
Chest,
Abdomen,
Belly.
And then out from the belly,
Abdomen,
Chest,
Throat.
Just surfing it really.
On a surfboard,
Following the breath in,
Following the breath out.
A nice steady rhythm,
Things quietening down a bit.
Just following the ebb and the flow of the breath.
Not hanging on to any thoughts or feelings.
Noticing what's there and letting it go.
Noticing and letting it go.
It's all normal,
We can do this a hundred times,
A thousand times.
It's the practice of just staying with the breath.
No problems,
No judgements,
No hassle.
Just staying with the breath is the practice.
It's that that's going to build.
Resilience,
It's that that's going to help you become much more aware of what's happening in you,
Aware of your emotions.
And of course once you're aware of that,
You can begin to have a look at what's moving in you and be a little less reactive in some of these more challenging circumstances.
Just taking time out to just breathe,
Calm yourself,
Steady yourself just by focusing on the breath.
Just by counting the breaths.
Just resting here now for a couple of minutes,
Feeling the movement of your body as you breathe in and as you breathe out.
Noticing how the body and mind is getting quieter.
Feeling the breath.
That's good.
So any time then that you get a bit agitated,
A bit unsettled,
A bit nervous,
A bit fed up,
A bit angry,
Just find a place,
Close your eyes and just breathe,
Keeping a gentle focus on the breath until you're ready to carry on.
