Hi,
I'm Eve,
And I'm glad you've decided to take the next 10 minutes to practice mindfulness and just connect with your breath.
Take a moment now to find a comfortable seat.
If you're in a chair,
Make sure both feet are making contact with the ground.
Whether you're sitting on the floor or in a chair,
It's helpful to raise your hips above your knees,
So you might sit on an extra cushion or two.
Then lengthen up through the crown of your head,
Finding a nice long spine.
This will create a little more space in your torso,
Making it a bit easier to breathe.
Align your head over your heart and your heart over your pelvis.
Decide how you'd like to place your hands,
Maybe palm face up or palm face down.
Now close your eyes or have a soft gaze on the floor in front of you.
Begin to become aware of sensations in your body,
The sensation of your feet making contact with the ground,
The sensation of your sitz bones on the chair or a cushion,
The temperature of the room you're in,
Sensation of clothing touching your skin.
Just begin to land here in this moment,
Letting go of whatever came before.
Now bring awareness to your breath.
You might place a hand on your belly to more intimately feel the expansion of the belly on the inhale and the emptying of the belly on the exhale.
Feel the breath moving in and out of your body.
Notice the changing sensations in your belly and in your whole torso as you breathe.
If you'd like,
You can remove your hand now and continue to focus on the sensations.
Without forcing the belly,
Gently allow it to expand like a balloon on the inhale and deflate on the exhale.
Closely follow the sensations as they shift with each breath in and out.
You might also become aware of the pauses between each breath and the pauses after the inhale before you breathe out.
Don't attempt to control the breath or make anything happen.
See if you can allow this experience to be exactly as it is without trying to change your experience.
If and when your mind wanders,
Just acknowledge to yourself where your attention wandered to,
And then gently and compassionately escort your attention back to the sensations of breathing.
Allow each breath to be completely new,
Being curious about the sensations that arise with each inhale and the new sensations that arise with each exhale.
Let's focus on the sensations that arise with each inhale and the new sensations that arise with each exhale.
Try not to judge yourself for getting lost in thought.
Say to yourself,
This is what the mind does.
When your mind gets lost in thought,
Can you shift to a perspective of curiosity,
Curious about the inner workings of your mind?
Does it like to make to-do lists,
Make plans for the future,
Ruminate on the past?
Just notice,
And then make the choice to return to the present moment by paying attention to the sensations of your breath.
Continue this practice now for a couple more minutes,
And I'll ring a bell when the practice is over.
Okay.
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