Hello,
My name is Dr Chris Walsh from mindfulness.
Org.
Au and this is a 10 minute soundtrack which is an introduction to mindfulness of breath taking you into organic body awareness by following the breath into the body.
So starting by setting yourself up in a chair and choosing whether to have your eyes closed or open and if you have your eyes open just allowing your eyes to rest on a neutral place in front of you.
And as you focus on your breath at your nose just noticing the reaction you have to the sound of a bell.
Now moving your awareness to the connection of your feet or the lower part of your body with the ground.
Just feeling that connection as precisely as you can.
And the connection of your bottom with the ground or the seat.
And feeling that as precisely as you can.
Noticing how it might be a little different on the left side compared to the right side.
Now bringing your awareness up to your nose feeling the breath as it enters and exits the nostrils.
All the way in and all the way out.
Feeling the breath as it travels up and down the inside of a nose.
You might notice a difference in temperature between the air on the in breath and the air on the out breath just seeing if that's so or not.
And feeling what happens at the end of the out breath is there a pause for a moment.
So feeling that turning at the end of each breath noticing how it varies from breath to breath.
When the mind wonders that's okay that's part of it.
Just noticing that and bringing your awareness back to my voice and your breath over and over.
In this way you can notice the behaviour of your mind.
Whether it's busy or quiet,
Agitated or relaxed,
Concerned with a particular topic.
And however it is,
It's just fine but bringing it back over and over.
Just like a sheep dog rounding up the sheep.
Now following the breath down into the belly,
Feeling the rise and the fall of a belly with the in breath and out breath.
As we follow the breath into the different parts of a body this is the beginning of the organic body scan.
Feeling the quality of a breathing in the belly.
Whether it's deep or shallow,
Tense or relaxed,
Smooth or jerky.
And allowing it to be without trying to fix or change anything.
Allowing is one of the key elements of mindfulness.
Just feeling how the breath is in the belly,
Allowing it to be,
Getting out of our own way.
Noticing the sensations on the skin as you breathe in and out.
The rubbing of a clothing,
The tightening of a belt.
Feeling any sensations inside the belly.
Any fullness,
Any tingling.
Often there's sensations that are hard to define.
Just feeling what's there as precisely as you can.
And being particularly interested in how the sensations change over time and with the breathing.
As our awareness becomes more subtle we can notice smaller and smaller changes.
As we notice change we can let go of a need to fix things because they change by themselves.
Feeling the breath into the belly.
Noticing how low it goes down towards the bottom without trying to push it.
Just feeling how far it goes.
And noticing what new sensations you become aware of as you do that.
And now following the breath up into the chest.
Feeling the rubbing of a clothing there.
Any tightening that happens if you're wearing a bra.
And feeling if there are any tight spots in your chest.
Feeling when we feel anxious we feel some tightness in our chest.
And we often then try and push through it.
So if you have any tightness in your chest resisting the temptation to push through it.
And just feeling the breath coming up into the chest,
Up into the tightness.
And relaxing down away from the chest.
Feeling the breath coming in and going out without trying to control anything.
Just allowing your own process to happen as it happens.
Even if you're having judgements that you're not doing it properly.
Just allowing that to be and observing what happens as you breathe.
And when the mind wanders coming back to the breath.
And staying with the breath noticing the effect on your body and your mind as you hear the finishing bell.
