Mindfulness of Breathing

Sitting meditation,

Mindfulness of breath,

So taking a moment to settle into a natural,

Relaxed and alert posture.

If you're sitting in a chair,

Filling your feet flat on the floor,

Maybe exploring sitting away from the back of the chair,

Allowing your spine to hold itself up from the base all the way up to the crown of your head.

The posture for mindfulness can be used to reflect the intention of your practice.

We work towards a peaceful,

Awake posture,

With our back dignified and upright,

Shoulders released.

The chin might be tucked in a little to bring the head into alignment with the spine.

The eyes may be closed or,

If open,

Cast down towards the floor in a gentle gaze.

Feel free to open the eyes if sleepiness comes up.

Taking a few moments to find a posture that embodies an alert,

Upright and relaxed dignity.

Beginning by focusing on the body sitting here,

Allowing your belly to soften with the breath,

And noticing the flow of the breath in and out.

Maybe bringing a softness to the muscles of the face and jaw,

Shoulders and the neck.

And as well as you can,

Letting go of any thoughts or ideas that have come along with you.

Letting go of the day.

And just allowing the past to fall away,

Giving up thinking or worrying about the future.

And seeing if you can allow yourself,

For the next little while,

To just be right here.

So beginning by bringing our awareness to the body in this way,

Because no matter where the mind is,

The body is only in this present moment.

So we're feeling the weight of our body on the chair or cushion.

Noticing the places where the body makes contact with the floor or with the support beneath you.

Feeling into the points of pressure where our body is supported.

See if you can feel the gentle pressure of clothing against the skin.

The air touching your hands or face.

And having gathered the awareness to the body in this way.

Now focusing that attention on your very next breath.

This might be most vividly felt in the nostrils or upper lip.

Or in the rise and fall of the chest.

Or the breath might be most vividly felt in the belly.

If it's difficult to detect your breath coming and going,

You might even find it helpful to put your hand on your belly and feel the rise and falling of the breath this way.

Just noticing wherever the physical sensations are most vivid and rusting the awareness there for the period of this meditation.

Will you feel the sensation most strongly?

Coming back to this place for this period.

Feeling the moment by moment physical sensations with your awareness.

Aware of how they change with each breath.

Seeing if you can sense the slight pauses between in-breath and out-breath.

Feeling the sensations when you transition between out-breath and in-breath.

We're not trying to breathe in any particular way.

We're not trying to control the breathing.

Just being aware of the breath as it is in this moment.

Natural breathing.

And there's no particular way your body's supposed to feel.

Just observing what is present in the breath.

And allow your experience to be just what it is.

Giving up all judgments.

Giving up the need to control your breath,

Your body,

Your mind.

Just non-reactively,

Non-judgmentally,

Returning to the physical sensations of breathing moment by moment.

And there's no particular way your body's supposed to feel.

Just observing what is present in the breath.

Just being patient with your breath.

And allowing this to be a moment of kindness to yourself.

And there's no particular way your body's supposed to feel.

Paying attention to each breath as if it was your first.

Noticing the unique moment by moment changes.

Each moment of each breath.

Each moment of each breath,

New.

And whenever the mind wonders,

Just coming back to this breath.

Noticing where the mind's gone.

And kindly,

Compassionately returning to this breath in this moment.

And there's no particular way your breath is supposed to feel.

And as we sit here with our attention on the breath,

It's inevitable that the mind will wonder into the future or past.

This is what minds do.

As soon as we become aware of this,

As well as we can,

Just escorting the awareness back to the physical sensations of breathing in this moment.

Simply being aware of the mind's tendency and returning to the breath.

No particular state of body or mind to be attained.

This is what minds do.

Just returning to this present moment.

And each time,

Being aware once more of the newness of this moment.

No need to judge thoughts or imaginings as they arise.

If it helps,

We're happy to help.

If it helps when thoughts come up,

You can just say,

Let go,

Gently in the back of the mind,

And return to the breath.

We're not trying to get rid of thoughts,

Simply letting them go again and again to return to the wordless,

Moment by moment sensations of breathing.

Even if the mind wonders a hundred times,

This is simply the normal and natural process of the mind.

We just return one hundred times to the breath,

Giving up all judgement in a spirit of kindness and openness towards ourselves.

Bringing a gentle,

Caring curiosity to whatever our experience is in this moment.

Reconnecting to the here and now by bringing our awareness back to the sensations of the breath.

Serge alter the feedback which was made of your subsequent statements,

Make sure to add them in the here and now playlist throughout the piece.

You you you you you and in these last few moments renewing your intention to stay present as best as you can beginning again and again as many times as you need to letting go of thoughts and arriving here right now with attention on the sensations of breathing breathing you you might end by giving up all intention to meditate to be mindful giving up any particular focus and just resting allowing the mind to be free to be present or to wonder being with whatever is you and in a moment you'll hear a bell and you can use this to gently help you to expand your focus and include the room you're in the sounds around you your body ready to meet whatever comes with a mindful attention