Mindful Pause For Breath

Welcome to Waking Waves.

Let's bring some mindful attention to the present moment with a short practice.

So together let's find a comfortable position,

Whether sitting,

Standing or lying down.

And bring a sense of awakeness to your posture,

Your back straight and your head balanced,

If possible.

And allowing the arms and hands to rest softly in your lap.

The eyes gently closed,

Or gaze lowered if this helps.

A cushion for support or a blanket for warmth.

And taking these first few moments to become aware of what is present for you right now.

Whatever thoughts,

Feelings,

Sensations or sounds are present in your awareness.

Letting them be as they are.

We are just noticing what is here.

There may well be many things present.

And it can be difficult sometimes to move from a sense of doing,

Of learning,

Of thinking to just being with the present moment.

So whenever the mind does wander to thinking,

We can bring acceptance and kindness and return back to the focus of your attention.

And the focus of our attention for this practice is the breath.

Wherever you notice the breath the most in the body,

In the nose,

The throat,

The chest or ribs or deep it down in the belly.

Tuning into the sensations of each in-breath and each out-breath.

This in-breath and this out-breath.

Following the breath and noticing the sensations that accompany your breathing.

Seeing how the body moves as your breath flows in and fills the body.

And then the breath flows out and leaves the body.

With this in-breath and this out-breath.

Using each breath one by one for the next few breaths ahead.

When we focus on the breath in this way,

It's easy to get distracted.

Our mind pulled away.

It can be as simple as whether we like or dislike sensations.

Or we can be pulled off in thinking towards plans we have,

Tasks we must complete,

Images of things,

Memories we've had.

We might contrast and compare,

Judge and assess.

And that's okay.

All of it is okay.

It is what our minds are conditioned to do.

These are the familiar places where we spend our time.

Doing instead of being.

And if this happens,

We can bring acceptance and kindness.

This is what the busy mind does.

So for now,

We are inviting our attention to simply be with the breath.

With each new breath as it comes in and each breath as it goes out.

Each in-breath a new beginning,

A fresh inflow of air.

Each out-breath a sense of letting go,

A release of this air.

And staying here for a few more breaths until we end the practice.