Welcome to this mindfulness of breathing practice.
For the next 10 minutes we will be placing our attention on the wonderfully dynamic,
Faithful and really life-giving process of breathing.
So before we begin we'll just adopt a posture that's dignified,
Stable,
Alert and that also feels comfortable.
So you might be sitting on a cushion on the floor or on a chair or you might even be lying down in bed and that's fine too.
With your eyes I would challenge you to just leave them open with a soft downward gaze.
It can be quite useful skill to get used to being mindful in a formal sense with your eyes open so that when you're practicing mindfulness informally in daily life it feels,
The skill feels perhaps a bit more transferable because you're used to doing it with your eyes open anyway.
So I'll just invite you to try that and now we'll just take a few moments to check in with how we feel in our body.
How does it feel to be in your body right now?
Do you notice any sensations in a particular area?
Maybe tightness or warmth or a sense of cold?
So just noting how it feels to be in your body.
I might also like to check in with how you're feeling.
So are there any particular emotions that you're experiencing at this moment?
Or have you had any thoughts that have been going around in your head today?
So with kindness just try and let those thoughts or emotions or the physical state that you're noticing just let all of that be without clinging to it or trying to run from it.
Just accepting the state and all the features of that state.
Just let it be.
Now we'll just move into,
Move our attention to the breath.
So wherever you feel it,
Notice it the most.
Just follow it.
So we're following that inhale and space in between and the exhale.
Just being aware of how it feels simply to be breathing.
Notice that the process is changing moment to moment.
You might notice the rising and then the falling of your chest or abdomen.
Or the air against your nostrils.
Or it might even be the sound of your own breathing that's most obvious to you.
So just being really open to all that you notice about your breathing.
If you become distracted by the thought or it could be a sound,
Be accepting of that because it's natural.
Just watch how thoughts may arise but they also disappear.
Whenever you become distracted,
Simply replace your focus back onto the breath.
That inhale and the exhale,
It's continuously happening.
So there is that continuous presence of something to hold onto when you become distracted.
Remember that we're not trying to manipulate how we're breathing or change anything about the experience that we're having.
This is one of those rare moments where you don't need to act.
You don't need to change the state.
Simply notice.
Everything that you've done before,
This moment and everything that you've done that you will do after this moment doesn't need to affect this moment.
Inhale,
Exhale.
Just following that movement,
Watching how it continues and the sensations that unfold from moment to moment.
Just remember,
Every time that you find yourself distracted,
Be accepting of that and simply get back to your breath.
It's always there.
Now just expand our awareness from our breath to include our whole body in our awareness.
Just note how it feels to be breathing in your whole body from head to toe.
What's that like in this moment?
We can get caught up often in thoughts and storylines and forget how to feel,
To just simply feel in our bodies right now.
When we do that,
We experience a sense of stillness,
Even if it's only momentary.
We can access this stillness and this source of peace whenever we need to.
For the next minute before we end,
We'll just return the attention again to the breathing,
To that sensation of air moving in and out of our lungs,
Wherever we notice it most.
It's a wonderful process that keeps us going,
That we forget to appreciate.
As we draw this practice,
We'll just do a close.
Take a moment to just thank yourself for taking the time to explore the present,
And also set the intention to take the sense of stillness with you throughout your day.
