Welcome to today's meditation.
A practice in becoming mindful of our breath.
And this practice can be used to still the mind by drawing attention away from thinking and into the breath.
And it's a really useful tool for calming anxiety,
Overthinking and living inside the head.
Most people find it settling and soothing because it brings us back to the here and now,
The present moment.
So however you'd like to situate yourself,
Come into a comfortable position and set yourself up with any support or blankets.
And if you can,
If you're seated,
Sit on top of a block,
A cushion or a folded blanket.
We want to lift the hips above the knees to help open the hips.
And as we sit here,
Just allow the body to settle.
Becoming aware of all the places that make contact with the ground beneath you.
And just let the skin and the flesh and the muscle and the bone of the body begin to drop down,
Letting gravity release the weight of the body.
It can be helpful to just deepen the breath as you do that,
Inhaling through the nose and gently sighing that breath away nice and slowly.
And before we begin our practice,
We'll take care to lengthen the spine as well,
Feeling a little space lifting between the vertebrae,
Feeling how the shoulders relax down the back and the heart lifts and opens a touch.
We can tuck the chin slightly towards the chest,
Feeling that length,
Almost a coolness in the back of the neck.
And then just to check that the body isn't stiff or rigid,
See that you can find that easy balance between being upright and alert and poised and also containing some softness in that.
And again,
I often find that the body just naturally deepens a breath as I come into that position.
Now if the mind is particularly busy right now and you're finding the thoughts just flicking around,
It can be focusing to bring your gaze to the third eye,
The space between the eyebrows.
So if it's comfortable to close the lids,
Lowering the lids now,
I'm sending the gaze up to that space.
It's called the Ajna Chakra in the yogic chakra system.
And some people find it quite helpful to visualize a purple light at that space.
And keep this soft gaze and at the same time begin to soften the corners of the eyes,
Soften the corners of the nose,
And soften the corners of the mouth.
Let the whole face just almost draw back from itself so that that prominent thinking forward glancing mind also begins to soften.
And just before we begin our practice of mindfulness of breath,
I want to point out that no effort is required.
There's nowhere for us to get to in particular with this practice.
We're not trying to reach or attain anything,
But simply to allow the mind to step back and observe and experience and be with the flow of your breath.
So when you're ready,
Take the awareness to the nostrils.
You can still hold in your mind's eye that purple light at the third eye,
But become aware of the nostrils and the breath that is in them.
Become aware of the breath that leaves the body.
And just notice at first what does the breath feel like?
How long or short is it?
Is it smooth and easy?
Or is it a little coarse and rough and patchy?
Do I notice when I bring my attention to the breath that I'm trying to control it all of a sudden?
So just becoming aware that's our first step.
And instead of trying to control the breath,
Can we keep that softness of touch,
That softness of attention and that softness in the body so as just to experience the breath as it is?
Can we notice too the coolness of the breath as we inhale?
And the warmth as we exhale?
And what about the length of each breath?
Which is longer,
The breath in or the breath out?
Again,
No judgement,
No attempt to change or manipulate the breath.
Just a noticing.
And of course the mind will get bored and frustrated,
That's totally normal.
It happens to all of us,
No matter how long we've been practicing this.
And if you're new to the practice,
You'll find yourself darting in all sorts of directions.
And that's okay.
The key is to notice when you're lost in thought and to use that moment as a moment of wakefulness.
Wakefulness that invites you to gently guide attention back to the breath.
And it's a practice that will repeat over and over and over again.
Don't give yourself a hard time,
Don't judge yourself,
The mind is designed to think.
But what we're doing here is just training the mind to be aware of the present experience rather than caught in the endless toing and froing of past and future.
And notice now that we've been here for a few minutes,
Has anything changed in my breath?
And it's fine if that's not the case.
Maybe the breath has become a little more relaxed,
A little softer.
Maybe it feels a little more free flowing.
And can you now begin to follow the breath a little deeper into the body,
Noticing where the breath touches the inside of your body,
The expansion of the chest,
Ribs,
And maybe the belly.
And the softening of those muscles and body parts as you breathe out.
And maybe you notice that the breath is felt in the back body.
And maybe in the sides.
And a reminder here that you needn't do anything.
The body will continue to breathe on your behalf.
And you're just allowing that process to happen in the most natural way.
But staying with it as it happens.
So that the mind can attune and sync up with the rhythm of the body.
Just checking in for a moment if you have foraged the brow or clenched the jaw.
And just an invitation to relax again.
And as boring or maddening or frustrating as it may be.
Just to rest in the awareness of your breath.
And to trace the journey of the breath,
Its contours,
Its length,
Its shape,
As patiently and as attentively as you can.
As if it's the most interesting thing in the world.
I'll let you sit in silence for about a minute now.
As you stay with this practice.
And I'm doing it with you so you're not alone.
Really nice.
You're welcome to continue for as many more minutes as you would like to.
Sometimes this practice can bring us to a place of really deep peace and a blissful beauty that is ours to bathe in.
If you're ready to step back from the practice,
You might just keep the eyes closed for a moment and check in with yourself.
Notice how it feels to be in the mind.
And how it feels to be in the body.
If you'd like to deepen the breath,
You can do so now.
Just inhaling more fully through the nose.
Holding at the top of that in-breath,
Feeling the energy and the life force inside you before slowly releasing through nose or mouth.
And as you come back into the space,
I invite you to do that consciously,
Perhaps keeping the eyes closed and maybe just moving the fingers.
Finding that space between the fingers as you wiggle them.
And perhaps reaching the arms up and overhead to stretch out through the sides of the body.
Taking conscious stretches to one side and then the other.
Maybe rolling the wrists.
And maybe taking a gentle twist into the centre of the spine as you turn one way and look behind your shoulder.
And then to the other side.
Breathing into that twist.
And as you bring yourself back to centre,
Notice if there's a particular quality or any words arising that help you to define how you feel,
The impact that this practice has had on you.
And we can give thanks for the practice,
Drawing the hands together at the heart centre.
And if you did have a word,
Bringing that word back to mind and then bowing the head towards the heart as a gesture of thanks.
Namaste.
