#6 - Breath & Metta For Self

Welcome to this mindfulness meditation with Metta for Self.

I invite you to choose a seat and a posture that allows you to be comfortable and pay attention for the next 15 to 20 minutes.

So aligning your shoulders and hips,

Having a straight back with your head lifted up towards the ceiling or the sky,

Inviting the shoulders to relax,

Bringing awareness to your hands and your lap or at your sides,

Wherever they're comfortable,

Uncrossing ankles and legs and having your feet in contact with the floor beneath you,

And closing your eyes or just having a soft gaze in front of you,

Whatever is comfortable and feels right for you right now.

And also while we're setting up our posture and we're preparing to pay attention,

I'll invite you to bring with you a sense,

An attitude of curiosity and kindness to whatever it is that you discover in your meditation today.

Let's begin by finding our breath in our body.

And on your next out breath,

If you could breathe all the way out to full exhalation.

Then when you're ready,

Big breath in,

Filling the belly gently,

Letting the chest expand and then gently breathing out,

Just using that one breath to bring attention and focus into the body.

Now letting go of the breath,

Let's take a moment to do a brief body scan,

Starting with the top of the body,

Noticing the head,

Noticing its balance point on the neck and the shoulders,

Noticing sounds coming in through the ears,

And then bringing attention to the face,

Noticing the forehead and the eyebrows.

And wherever you're paying attention,

If you notice that there's tension or holding or discomfort in some way,

Perhaps inviting it to soften or loosen as you go through your body scan,

Offering that invitation.

So noticing the eyes now,

And then the nose and the cheeks,

Bringing attention to the jaw and the mouth.

On your next in breath,

Bringing awareness to the throat and to the neck,

Moving your attention now down the spine,

All the way from the neck to the base of the tailbone.

Noticing posture and alignment,

Strength,

Discomfort,

And then bringing your attention to the chest.

As you breathe in,

Noticing how the chest moves with that breath,

In breath and out breath,

Perhaps noticing your heart,

Maybe noticing any emotion that you're aware of in the chest,

And then moving your attention down into the abdomen and the low back,

The lower part of the torso,

The pelvis.

So just pausing here for a moment,

Noticing what's there,

And then bringing attention to the buttocks on the chair,

Noticing the contact that you have,

Your body has between the furniture and your body.

Seeing firmness,

Softness,

Temperature,

Edges,

And then extending your attention down the legs,

All the way down past the knees,

Through the ankles,

And then coming to rest in the feet.

Really feeling your feet on the ground,

Noticing if they're warm or cold,

Maybe moving them a little,

Noticing all the toes,

Pressing the heels down,

Noticing how you are grounded at this moment.

And as we continue in our meditation today,

If at any time you feel uncomfortable or overwhelmed,

Then know that you can always come back to feeling your feet on the floor,

Or your seat on the chair,

Come back to these grounded places.

So feel free to open your eyes,

Take a look around you,

Name three things that you can see,

Listen for three things that you can hear,

And notice three things that you can touch or feel,

And just cycle through those three,

Three,

Three,

Until you feel grounded,

Safe,

And then,

If you'd like to,

Feel free to rejoin the meditation.

So let's continue on now,

Bringing awareness to the breath for a few moments.

So taking a moment to find the place in your body that you're most aware of your breath.

And then settling in there,

At the nostrils perhaps,

Or the throat,

The chest,

Or the belly,

Or perhaps it's the entire flow of an in-breath and out-breath,

It's the movement of the air.

So choosing one of those vantage points,

And we're just going to sit with the breath,

Following it with our attention,

In and out.

If you'd like to,

Feel free to use a little tool to help you pay attention,

Giving your mind a little job to do,

So you might count the breaths,

One as you breathe in,

Two as you breathe out,

Or you might describe the breath.

I'm breathing in,

I'm breathing out.

I'm breathing out.

And when the mind wanders away,

Just notice where did it go?

Did it go to thinking?

Planning?

Remembering?

Complaining?

Analyzing?

Notice the habit of your mind,

And then recognize that,

Perhaps name it.

Maybe it's moved to a sensation,

You feel a pain somewhere,

Or it's a sound,

Or a flash of emotion.

Notice where the mind wanders,

Name it if you can,

Just in a simple word or two,

And then bring your attention back to the breath.

This is mindfulness.

It's the coming back to your anchor.

Every time you notice your attention is wandered,

Name where it's gone and come on back.

And if you'd like to extend this part of the meditation and spend a little longer in open awareness,

Then feel free to stop the recording and then resume it after you've spent as long as you'd like in open awareness.

So I'll invite you now,

As we begin our practice of metta loving kindness,

To bring to mind an image or sense of yourself.

Now this might be a photograph or a picture that comes to mind of yourself,

Or if pictures and images don't come easily to you,

No problem,

Simply having a sense of yourself and holding this attention on yourself in the front of your mind.

And as you do so,

I'll invite you to repeat the following statements after me in the quietness of your own mind if you'd like,

Or if you're in a space where it allows it,

Feel free to repeat them out loud.

So I'll give you a moment to find this image or sense of yourself,

Holding it in your awareness,

And then offering these phrases.

May I be free from fear.

May I be free from fear.

May I be free from suffering,

Mental or physical.

May I be free from suffering,

Mental or physical.

May I be strong,

Healthy and vital.

May I be strong and healthy.

May I take care of myself with ease.

May I take care of myself with ease.

And finally,

May I be happy.

May I be happy.

So noticing now what's in your awareness,

What's happening in your body.

Can you name how you're feeling,

What emotion or emotions are present.

And what's happening in your thoughts.

Are there any urges or behaviors that you're aware of?

So noticing your present moment experience,

Coming back to the breath whenever you're ready,

Just following the breath for a few more breaths,

Deepening your breath.

And then when you're ready,

Allowing a full exhalation,

Taking a breath in gently and comfortably filling the belly,

Letting the chest expand,

And then gently exhaling,

Perhaps choosing to end the practice on this breath,

Moving body and opening eyes when you're ready or waiting for the sound of the bell and ending your practice when the tone is finished.