The breath is something that is always with us,
It moves through us moment after moment,
Steady and unspoken,
Asking nothing in return.
And yet,
In the rush of life,
We forget it's there.
We forget that within each inhale and exhale lies an anchor,
A way back to ourselves and to our body.
This is your invitation not to just breathe,
But to be with the breath,
To feel its rhythm,
To rest in its steadiness,
To let it guide you back to yourself,
Back to this body,
Back to presence.
Finding a comfortable seated position or lying down if that's more comfortable,
Letting your body relax and settle into stillness,
Closing the eyes,
Take a moment to arrive here,
Releasing any tension you may be carrying in your shoulders,
Your jaw,
Forehead.
Piece by piece,
Let your body begin to rest naturally and effortlessly.
There is nothing to change in this moment here,
Nothing to fix.
Just be here as you are.
Begin by bringing your attention to your body as a whole,
Feeling the points of contact where your body meets the surface underneath of you,
Noticing the sensation of the weight of the pull of gravity holding you steady,
Taking a moment to scan your body from head to toe,
Noticing any areas of tightness,
Of ease,
And everything in between.
There is no need to judge or change anything.
Just simply observe everything going on inside.
Now gently shift your attention fully into the breath.
Without any change or control of the breath,
Can you lean into and feel the natural rhythm as it effortlessly moves in and out of the body?
No need for control here,
Just letting the breath breathe itself.
Notice with your attention where you feel the breath most vividly.
Perhaps it's the coolness at your nostrils,
The rise and fall of your chest,
The subtle expansion and contraction of your ribcage and your belly.
And wherever your attention falls,
Wherever the breath is most vivid for you,
Can you let your awareness stay with the breath for its full duration?
Noticing the inhale as it begins,
Following it as it moves through your body,
Fades away,
The moment of pause,
And observing the exhale as it starts,
Leaves,
And dissolves into stillness.
Notice the space,
The moment after an inhale before the exhale begins,
The stillness after the exhale before the inhale begins.
Know that it's perfectly natural for your mind to wander.
Know that it's just as valuable to notice that your mind has wandered and gently guiding it back to the breath as it is to remain completely aware of the breath the entire time.
Each time you catch yourself lost in thought and bring yourself back,
This is part of the practice and it's showing you that you were practicing.
If you weren't practicing,
You wouldn't have noticed that your mind has wandered.
So continuing to follow the breath,
The entire inhale,
The entire exhale,
The spaces in between.
No control,
No technique,
Effortless breath.
The breath breathing itself,
Resting in its natural rhythm,
Trusting that your body knows exactly how to breathe.
There's nothing you need to do.
Let the simplicity of this moment anchor you here.
The breath is always here,
Offering you a way back to stillness,
Back to presence.
The breath breathing itself,
The breath breathing you,
Softly bringing your attention back to the room that you're in,
Noticing sensations in the body,
The sensation of the body resting on the surface that you're sitting on,
The temperature of the air on your skin,
Bringing yourself back,
Taking a deep breath in through the nose,
Filling the lungs,
Letting it go through the mouth,
And whenever you're ready,
You can open your eyes and carry the sense of calm and connection with you into the rest of your day,
Remembering that your breath is always here,
Always available to guide you back to yourself and back to your body whenever you need it.
And thank you so much for practicing with me today.
I wish you a beautiful day.
