This will be a 10-minute breathing meditation.
Go ahead and find whatever comfortable posture allows you to feel supported,
Both alert and at ease,
With your eyes open,
Gaze soft and unfocused,
Or closed.
Whatever way feels more comfortable for you.
We'll begin by taking a few deep breaths,
Breathing in through the nose,
Pause for a moment,
And breathe out through the mouth.
And again,
Breathing in through the nose,
And out.
Good.
Allow your breath to resume a natural rhythm,
And bring your attention to wherever you notice the breath most prominently in your body.
This might be the brush of air at the tip of your nose,
Or feeling the changing temperature and sensation inside the nostrils,
Or feeling the chest gently rise and fall with each inhale and exhale.
Noticing the shoulders move up and down.
Or bringing the awareness around the back of the body,
Feeling the back stretch as it expands and collapse as you release.
Or noticing further down into the stomach,
Feeling the lower ribcage expand and contract.
A soft rise and fall of the abdomen.
See if on your next breath you can allow it to be received in an even softer body.
Again,
There's no need to manipulate or control the breath in any way.
Just noticing the changing flow of sensation as the body breathes itself.
Feeling the breath rise,
Pause,
And fall away.
And notice if your mind has wandered.
With a gentle awareness,
Recognize where your mind has gone,
Creating some story of experience.
And just bring the attention back to sensation.
Being here now with your breath.
Breathing in and breathing out.
Feeling the stillness between breaths.
Remembering to recollect the mind and bring it back.
There's no rush,
No pressure,
No right or wrong.
Nowhere else to go,
Nothing else to do.
Just remembering to be with the breathing.
Simple and easy.
Awareness.
The body breathing itself.
Gathering the mind again.
Bringing it back to this gentle anchor.
The breath that is always with you.
Reminding us all of our humanness.
If your eyes are closed,
You might gently flutter them open.
Bringing slow movement back into the body.
Come back to the space you're in.
And perhaps bring some of this awareness of breathing with you through your day.
