Anapanasati is the technique of breath watching.
And that means that we pay attention.
We pay close attention to our breath.
The inhale,
The exhale,
The quality of the breath,
The sound the breath makes,
The cadence of the breath,
The speed of the breath.
The breath that becomes the music of our life.
And in the Anapanasati practice,
We don't attempt to control the breath in any way.
So there's no telling yourself,
Now I inhale,
Now I exhale,
And I will not be leading you as to when that should be happening.
Only that it should be happening naturally.
So if you are breathing in a more shallow fashion,
Great.
That's okay.
And if you're breathing in a deeper fashion,
Slower,
Deeper fashion,
Great.
That's okay.
And if it's a combination of the two,
Again,
Whatever it is,
It is and it's okay.
And it's really just a practice of self-acceptance.
It's allowing ourselves to breathe exactly how we breathe without attempting to influence it,
Judge it,
Control it.
So I want to invite you to sit back in your seat,
Not in a slouched position,
But upright.
Try to encourage a posture of a straightened spine,
Which allows you to get more oxygen into the lungs.
And that,
Of course,
Encourages other things to operate well,
Like our brains,
For example.
Oxygen's good.
So we want to encourage a straightened spine.
It also encourages alertness,
So wakefulness.
We want to stay awake when we practice.
So just to check in on posture,
Check in with your head.
Make sure that it is centered and square over your shoulders and that your shoulders are square over your hips,
And that will help align your spine.
Next,
Check in with the level of your shoulders.
So if they're up around your ears,
See if you can relax them down a notch.
Check in with your face and the muscles in your face.
Any stress or tension in the muscles in your face,
See if you can relax them now.
And down into your lower back,
Your legs,
Your feet,
Your hands,
Just noticing any tension in your body and letting that go on your exhale.
And now I'd like to invite you to gently close your eyes.
And for three minutes,
We're going to practice this Anapanasati.
Uncontrolled breath watching practice.
So we're just noticing the breath.
We're noticing the breath,
Inhaling,
Exhaling.
Not trying to control it.
We're just noticing it.
Noticing any sensations and feelings in the body.
As you're breathing naturally.
And bringing your attention to your breath.
As the core focus for today's practice.
Notice in any thoughts that might come up and just notice them.
And then gently bring your attention back to your breath.
Just keep coming back to the breath.
Not trying to change the breath.
Not trying to change the breath.
Not trying to control it.
Just sitting with it.
Just being with your breath.
And now I'll invite you to gently open your eyes and come back into the room with me.
And what might you notice now that you're here?
How do you feel in your body?
How do you feel in your head?
Notice anything that's come up for you as you've given yourself permission to shift your attention from thinking,
Thinking,
Thinking to just breathing.
