This is the Ultradian Breathing Meditation.
To begin,
Find a comfortable position in a pleasant and quiet space where you could expect to be uninterrupted for about eight minutes.
Bring your attention to the physical space your body occupies.
Notice how your chest expands,
Perhaps subtly,
As you breathe in.
Take a deep breath in,
Breathing all the way into your belly,
And allow yourself to gently let go as you breathe out.
Bring air in through your nose,
All the way down to the bottom of your lungs.
Notice your ribs and back expand as you fill your body with air.
Continue breathing naturally.
We estimate that in each breath,
We inhale a sextillion molecules,
That's 10 to the power of 21,
Or 21 zeros.
So the chances are pretty good among all those molecules.
You're going to smell something if you activate your smelling senses.
You might begin by bringing all your attention in to this and just noticing the cooling effect of air entering your body through your nose.
See what it is you smell as you breathe.
At the mere suggestion,
You may be able to notice the scent of distant wood smoke.
Just a brief hint,
A feather-like touch of scent in the air as you breathe.
You may remember the smell of wood smoke from fireplace chimneys,
Campfires,
Or burning brush.
The molecules of wood smoke get carried on the wind for hundreds of miles.
Just breathe slowly and tune in to the possibility of a few of these molecules reaching you now.
And as you listen to the sound of my voice with your eyes closed,
You can bring your attention to the quality of the air you smell,
A fleeting scent drifting by,
A momentary lingering scent,
A wisp of something familiar.
Notice whatever enters your awareness,
Molecules of scent that may trigger memories from long ago.
As you think about that,
You might also know that each breath contains nitrogen and oxygen molecules as well as a curious noble gas called argon.
You're breathing these in right now.
Argon is unusual because it doesn't change over time.
This time traveler molecule wanders through the air being breathed in by all creatures throughout time.
Argon is the third most present gas in the air we breathe today.
Among the sextillion molecules you've just inhaled,
It's probable that some of those molecules were also breathed by ancient civilizations,
Maybe by some pharaoh along the Nile or a child in ancient Rome or equally probable a long forgotten ancestor of yours who lived and breathed hundreds or thousands of years ago.
So each breath,
Each fleeting or distant scent connects us to the historical journey of our planet,
A legacy of lives lived connecting us to all time.
Let your lungs fill with these time travelers and let your body enjoy sharing this time and space with all the molecules.
The air you breathe today may one day be breathed by future generations a thousand years from now.
As the cells in your lungs and blood fully absorb these molecules,
You can begin to feel all the benefits of fresh clean air in your body.
Coming back into a wakeful state,
Feeling restored and renewed,
Ready to engage with the rest of your day with fresh energy and focus.
