Hi,
This is Chris.
I will now guide you through a 20 minute awareness of breath and body meditation.
This is a sitting meditation,
So let's begin by finding a comfortable sitting position for you.
You might choose to sit on a chair or a meditation cushion.
If you choose to sit on a chair,
Maybe just make sure you have a straight back,
Sitting away from the back of the chair and the feet flat on the ground.
If you are sitting on a cushion,
Maybe you want to sit in a cross-leg position and the head can be balanced on top of the spine,
The hands placed on the laps or the knees,
Palms facing up or down.
And when you are ready,
Gently closing the eyes.
The intention of this meditation is practicing waking up to the automatic pilot and coming to awareness.
We bring the attention first into the breath,
Then into the body and then into both,
Breath and body at the same time.
See if you can bring an attitude of trust,
Beginner's mind and kindness to this meditation.
Now let's start with this meditation.
When it feels right,
Gently noticing the movement of the breath.
It's such a constant feature of life that it's easy to ignore,
So taking time with it now,
Actually feeling the sensations as the breath rolls in and rolls out,
Simply allowing it to move through its cycle of in-breath and out-breath without controlling.
And when the mind has wandered,
Simply recognizing this and in a non-judging way,
Gently bringing your awareness back into the breath.
Perhaps sensing the rise and fall of the belly or the feeling of the air in the nostrils or upper lip.
And if you like,
You might also want to place a hand onto the belly just for a moment and feeling the movement of the breath,
The rhythm.
Just letting the breath roll in and roll out,
Riding the waves of the breath from moment to moment.
And if at any time thoughts carry you away to the past or the future,
Emotions arise that are too difficult or sensations in the body become too uncomfortable,
Remembering that it is always possible to return to the breath or the places your body touches whatever you are sitting on as a safe place,
An anchor for you to rest in.
Until you feel ready to return to the meditation and listening to the sound of my voice once again.
So just coming back to the breath.
Letting go now of the breath and moving our awareness into physical sensations in the body.
What sensations can you notice in this moment?
Maybe relaxness and looseness is here.
Or maybe quite different sensations such as tension or pain.
What can you notice?
And if unpleasant sensations are present,
Maybe you can allow yourself to simply observe them,
Allow them to be here and then letting go of them.
Being with things as they are right now,
Maybe breathing into areas of unpleasant sensations and breathing out of them.
Simply softening,
Allowing and letting go.
And when the mind has wandered off or is in rumination,
Then maybe noticing this.
No matter how many times this happens,
You can keep bringing your attention back into the breath and the body,
Knowing that this is what is strengthening your mindfulness muscle and practicing doing this with kindness.
So gently but firmly now coming back to the sensations in the body.
What can you observe?
Maybe focusing your attention on the sensations of touch,
Contact and pressure within the body and where it makes contact with whatever you are sitting on.
So maybe you can sense the contact with the floor or the chairs on the sitting bones.
Or maybe you are touching a cushion or maybe simply the air against your skin.
Or maybe there is no sensation of any contact and that's alright,
That's your experience right now.
So simply exploring.
And when you are ready,
Now combining breath and body together.
Maybe you can feel the movement of the body while breathing.
Maybe noticing how the chest or belly expands with every inhalation and contracts with every exhalation.
Noticing the changing patterns of physical sensations in the body.
Where in the body can you feel the breath most vividly in this moment?
Maybe you can feel the breath in the throat,
The nostrils,
The belly,
The upper lip or the chest.
As best you can inhabiting the breath and feeling it in the body for the full duration of the in-breath and the full duration of the out-breath.
Perhaps noticing the slight pause between an in-breath and the following out-breath and between an out-breath and the following in-breath.
And if unpleasant sensations come to the forefront of your mind,
Practicing becoming aware of them,
Allowing them to be here and if it feels right,
Simply breathing into them and out of them.
So no need to fix or change,
Just allowing things to unfold in this moment.
And when your mind has taken you somewhere else,
That's alright,
That happens,
That's normal,
Just practicing coming back into the breath and into the body in a kind and gentle way.
Maybe now feeling again into our safe places,
So the breath and the body,
They are always here for us.
We can always ground ourselves in the breath and the body.
And now we draw this meditation to a close.
Maybe you can expand your attention to include the entire body sitting here,
From the soles of the feet to the top of the head,
Really being present to the totality of your experience in this moment,
Grounding and letting go.
And when you are ready,
Now gently becoming aware of sounds inside the room,
Sounds outside the room and then slowly start to introduce some movement,
Maybe starting to circle the hands or feet or maybe turning your head from side to side or maybe you want to now start to stretch in whatever way feels good to you right now.
And when you are ready,
Just gently opening your eyes and coming fully back to the room.
The awareness of breath and body meditation is now complete.
