Let's start by securing a comfortable seated position.
And as you sit into that position and you adjust your body,
Have the acceptance,
Allow your mind the remembrance that this is how you meditate.
You come into the seat,
You close down your eyes.
It's time to deep dive and come into your practice.
So the familiarity of your comfortable seated position is one of the cues that is sent to the left brain to say it's time to relax.
It's time to meditate.
And as you slow down your breath,
Soften your shoulders,
Relax your jaw.
Like everything else in the world is doing its thing,
But you can soften.
You're coming into a safe,
Sacred space that's like home for you.
So let your body soften into this process.
Stepping away from the rest of the world for a little bit.
Take a quick sweep through the rest of your body and make sure that it's comfortable.
The feeling of your clothing on your skin.
See if you can feel the air on your hands or your face,
The parts of your body exposed to the rest of the room around you.
What does it feel like to be touched by the air?
See if you can focus in on the tips of your fingers and soften them.
Let them melt a little bit into whatever part of your body they're touching,
Your lap,
Your thighs,
Each other.
Just soften your hands.
And when all is good in the body and everything feels in place,
Come back to your breath.
Focused on the inhale,
First of all.
Imagine the exhales as just a by-product.
Just focus on your inhales.
Inhale after inhale.
Feel.
Sense.
Connect to it.
And as you breathe in and you put all of your attention on your breath,
Imagine that you're familiarizing yourself with an old friend once again.
Or maybe even an old lover.
The touch of your breath.
The familiarity of your breath.
As you breathe in.
Notice everywhere it goes when you allow it into your being.
Feel it traveling into your lungs,
Into your shoulders,
Into your throat,
Into your tummy.
It's just bleeding through your body.
Like when you drop an ink drop into water and it slowly moves and the particles just kind of meld into everything else.
Allow your breath to feel as if it's feeding your body,
Feeding your cells.
You're bringing in this nourishing,
Tender,
Sweet breath that just comes into your body.
Pull it now with your mind,
Even further down through your body.
So see if you can pull your breath down into your hips.
Let it swirl around the base of your spine.
A few breaths.
And everything that the breath comes into contact with,
It illuminates it in a way.
Bring in the oxygen that it needs in your body,
Reviving yourselves,
Reviving your muscles,
Your bones,
The bloodstream running through your veins.
Everything is ignited and in your mind,
See if you can see it illuminated by your breath.
Bring your next inhale down into your thighs,
Down into your legs.
Can you feel your breath like it's a cold glass of water on a really,
Really hot day and you're so thirsty?
Taking your breath just like that.
Bring it down into your feet.
And as it reaches the tips of your toes and it circulates,
All the tiny little nerves and cells in your toes feed in every single part of your body.
Switch your focus and start to feel the exhales.
Let the inhales just fade into the background.
Now,
Life is all about your exhale.
Slow it down just a tad more so that you can feel every millimeter,
Every single section of it.
Really dive into what it feels like to just breathe out.
Can you spot the subtle differences between the emotions that you feel when you just focus on the inhales versus the emotions that start to come up when you really sit with the exhalation of your breath?
What does it feel like to breathe out?
Does it feel like you're releasing a weight,
Like you're able to let go,
Hand it over?
Can you feel that sweet bliss on the empty of your breath?
Like all is complete,
All is done.
You're not carrying anything.
You get that softness,
That surrender as you breathe out.
That feeling of ah.
Ah.
And then those tender moments just after you're completely empty of breath,
Sitting in that stillness and that quiet,
Feeling free and weightless,
Open and expansive.
Can you feel all of that?
See if you can follow the flow of your exhale.
Notice how when you're breathing out through your nose,
The feeling starts in your nose and then like a wave,
It moves down over the rest of your body as you breathe out.
You feel it slide over your shoulders like a blanket.
You feel it around your ribs as they contract and soften and pull back towards spine.
And then as you breathe in,
It all starts all over again.
This beautiful wave starts all over again.
If everything in the world around you disappeared,
Family,
Jobs,
Money,
Responsibility,
If everything just disappeared and you were sat in this human experience with just your breath as company,
Can you imagine how much more your breath would be to you?
How close you would be with that breath?
How familiar you would be?
It's like sunshine on a cold day,
Like magical nectar for your body.
If you stripped everything away,
You would realize how important your breath is to you and the relationship you have with your breath,
How it communicates with you.
If it's shallow and fast,
It's telling you something.
If it's deep and slow,
It's singing to the rest of your body to respond to it.
Your breath is in constant communication with you,
But we barely notice because of all the distractions around.
Your breath,
When you breathe consciously,
Does bring balance.
It brings harmony to the body.
Within that breath is everything that we need.
Just open your eyes,
But keep a soft gaze on your eyes,
Like when you first wake up in the morning.
And just gently start to look around your room,
Take in certain objects,
Maybe look down at your hands.
Just look at life around you and see how quickly your breath disappears into nothingness.
It's not in your focus anymore.
The objects in your room are taking up your attention.
Life around you,
Using different senses now that you have your eyes open,
Takes up your attention.
Yet your breath is still right there.
That sweet,
Sweet friend,
Giving you everything that you need,
Breath after breath,
Cycle after cycle,
Until one day it doesn't,
Right?
And then life transitions into something else.
But for now,
If you want to become more aware,
Pay attention to your breath.
It's the most simplest,
But rewarding meditation to just sit with your old friend,
Reacquaint yourself with every single feeling and flavor,
Texture,
Mood of your breath.
Namaste,
My friends.
