Mindful Breathing and Relaxation

Welcome to this mindful breathing and relaxation meditation.

You can practice it lying down on a bed or on the floor or by sitting in a chair.

But just make sure that you're comfortable and that you're away from any distractions for a few minutes.

And then slowly just be aware of your whole body and close your eyes if that's more comfortable for you.

And now to start with and to create awareness of your breathing,

We begin by taking in some deep breaths through your nose and then breathing out through your mouth slowly and deeply.

So inhaling through your nose and exhaling through your mouth.

As this is a good way to de-stress,

To become aware of the breath and to connect with the breath.

So inhaling through your nose and exhaling through your mouth.

Deepen the inhalations and deepen the exhalations as you go slowly into this relaxation.

And then slowly begin to breathe in through your nose and breathe out through your nose.

And just notice the rising of the chest and the abdomen as you breathe in and then the falling of the chest and the abdomen as you breathe out.

Just letting the breath to find its own natural and smooth rhythm as you become aware of the present moment.

As you become mindful of the present moment.

Just riding the waves of in-breaths and out-breaths.

Letting them be first and then slowly,

Slowly deepening them.

Nourishing your body with each in-breath and then relaxing with each out-breath.

Giving yourself this time to nourish yourself,

To increase your well-being and to improve the body's capacity to heal.

Breathing in and breathing out.

Noticing the chest and the belly rise and fall as you deepen the breath,

As you deepen your relaxation.

Just remember to inhale as long as you exhale or maybe your exhalations can be a little longer.

As we deepen our breath we're increasing the oxygen levels in our blood and we are removing the toxins from our blood and from the cells of our body.

So energizing the body,

Rejuvenating the body as we inhale and then relaxing the body as we exhale.

Allowing the breath to be smooth and to be nourishing.

And then slowly we observe the whole body for any tension you may be holding and we try to relax each part as we go along.

So bring your awareness to your head and the back of the head and just notice any sensations,

Any tension you're holding in this area.

So breathing in and letting go of any tension you're holding as you breathe out.

Relaxing your head and the back of the head completely now.

Bring your awareness now to your face,

Your chin,

Your lips gently closed,

Your nose,

Your eyes and then slowly sinking your eyes into their sockets and relaxing further.

Observe your forehead and relaxing any tension in the forehead.

Just letting go completely and sinking into the mat.

Feeling relaxed,

Completely releasing any tension from the forehead,

From your face as you go deeper into this relaxation.

Then with the next out breath bring your awareness to your shoulders and your neck and just noting what you find in this area.

Notice if there is any tension or stiffness in this area and then relaxing the shoulders and the back of the neck completely as you breathe out.

Feeling relaxed and heavy now and at any time your mind wonders whether it's planning or remembering something just let it wonder and then slowly but firmly bring it back to the breath.

And then slowly bring your awareness to the front of the body and notice any movement in your chest and your belly.

Notice your heart beating,

Your lungs expanding,

You just notice any activity within your stomach and if you can just deepen the breath and then breathing out any tension,

Any tightness from your stomach,

From your belly,

Allowing the belly to be soft and to be comfortable.

Noticing your lungs as you expand,

As you inhale and as you deflate,

As you exhale.

Observe the abdomen rising and falling with your inhalations and your exhalations and then bring your awareness to your arms,

Your upper arms,

Your lower arms,

Your palms and your fingers.

Relaxing your arms completely as you breathe out.

So feeling heavy now,

Going deeper into your relaxation.

Releasing any tension from your shoulders,

Your arms and then just letting go of any concerns you have in this area.

And then bring your awareness to your back,

Your upper back,

Your middle back and then to your lower back.

Notice any sensations,

Any tension you have in your back as you breathe in and as you breathe out,

Just letting go of any tension you're holding in this area and relaxing further.

Notice the wideness in your back,

Notice the connection between the back and the floor or the chair.

Sinking further into your relaxation and allowing the body to feel heavy and relaxed.

And then bring your attention slowly to your legs,

Your upper legs,

Your lower legs,

Your ankles and your feet.

Imagine breathing into your legs and then breathing out slowly as you relax completely.

And just observe that by bringing awareness to the breath,

We begin to feel completely relaxed,

Totally at ease and we are able to release any tension from our bodies,

Just deepening the breath and relaxing completely.

And then slowly coming back to the present moment,

Letting the body know that there is nothing else to do right now,

Just simply being here as human beings rather than human doings,

Feeling comfortable in this present moment and experiencing the freedom of this present moment.

And then slowly we come to the end of this mindful breathing meditation.

Notice how you feel in this present moment,

Notice the calmness and the peace surrounding you.

Notice the stillness of this present moment.

And so we conclude this meditation by showing our gratitude to ourselves for allowing us to have this me time,

For allowing us to experience the gift of this present moment.

Namaste.