Hi,
It's Julie Potichar for the Balanced Mind Meditation Center,
And this is a short,
Affectionate breathing meditation.
So find a comfortable position,
Either seated on the floor on a cushion or in a chair or even lying down.
And we're going to take three nourishing breaths in through our nose and out through our mouth together.
Now let your breathing find its natural rhythm.
And we're going to do just a short systematic relaxation to make sure that you're really relaxed.
Relaxing your eyebrows,
Relaxing your jaws,
We hold a lot of tension in our face without even realizing it.
Relaxing the inside of your mouth,
The root of your tongue.
Using a slight smile to the outside edges of your lips.
Dropping that smile down into your throat and relaxing your throat in your neck.
Letting your shoulder blades slide down your back.
Dropping that smile that you had in your throat down into your chest center,
Into your heart center.
Noticing what's there.
Dropping down into your belly,
Relaxing your abs.
Let your hips release.
They're perfectly supported by the cushion or the chair or the floor.
Relaxing your thighs and your knees,
Your calves,
Your ankles and your feet.
And then softening your hands.
You might want to place your hand on your heart or where you find it most soothing for a moment or two.
Just to remind yourself that you're giving loving attention to yourself during this meditation.
Now finding your breath where you notice it most easily.
It could be the tip of your nostrils where when you breathe in it's a little cooler than when you breathe out.
It could be the rise and fall of your belly,
The rise and fall of your chest.
Wherever you notice it most easily.
That's where I want you to watch yourself breathing in and watch yourself breathing out.
I know that I am breathing in.
I know that I am breathing out.
Feeling your breath for a while.
Don't worry about how often your mind wanders.
Just gently and lovingly bringing it back to your breath.
Letting your body breathe you.
There's nothing you need to do.
See if you can feel your whole body breathing.
Slowly moving with the rising and falling of the breath like the movement of the sea.
Coming back to the motion of breathing,
The feeling of breathing if your mind has wandered.
And now releasing the breath and allowing everything that comes to awareness to be just as it is.
And have a balanced day or evening.
This has been Julie Potichur for the Balanced Mind Meditation Center.
Thanks for breathing.
