Wake Up Week: Thursday - Waking Up To The Breath

Good morning.

Today we're just going to breathe.

And instead of breathing in a specific way,

We're simply going to wake up to our natural breath.

Getting to know the breath for just the way it is.

Let's begin with a sitting posture,

On a chair or on the floor.

Going up straight and tall,

Keeping your posture stable and wakeful.

Relaxing the shoulders and resting your hands on the lap.

Allowing the eyes to gently close or lowering your gaze to the floor.

Having a sense of the body in this sitting posture.

Breathing in and breathing out.

Allowing the breath to be natural.

Letting go of any need to lengthen or deepen the breath in any way.

Simply noticing the breath for just the way it is.

Inviting a sense of gentle curiosity to the breath.

How do you know that the body is breathing?

You may wish to rest your attention on the part of the body where you best feel or sense the breath.

Perhaps resting your attention at the nose.

Becoming aware of the breath flowing in and out through the nostrils.

The breath flowing down the back of the throat and into the lungs.

Maybe even noticing the temperature of the breath,

A sense of coolness or warmth.

Perhaps becoming aware of the movements of the breath in the body.

The shoulders and the chest gently rising and falling with each inhalation and exhalation.

Or the belly expanding as you breathe in,

Releasing as you breathe out.

Just following the movements of the breath in the body,

One breath at a time.

If you find the mind wandering off to somewhere else,

Perhaps a thought about the day ahead or a sound around you.

With gentleness and kindness,

Simply bring your attention back to the breath in the body.

There's nothing you need to do about the breath.

Simply resting with the presence of each breath.

As you breathe in,

Simply know that you're breathing in.

As you breathe out,

Simply know that you're breathing out.

Meeting each breath with gentleness,

Kindness and wakefulness.

One inhalation at a time.

One exhalation at a time.

Each time the mind wanders away,

Just inviting your attention back to the breath again.

Full awareness of each in-breath,

Full awareness of each out-breath.

Breathing up to every moment of each breath.

And now when you're ready,

Taking a deep breath in,

Breathing out and allowing the eyes to open or widen.

Thank you for practicing with me and have a mindful day ahead.