Breathing Meditation

Having found a posture that's stable and comfortable,

Again with your eyes either gently closed or relaxed and slightly open but not looking around,

Begin to pay attention to your body,

Allowing it to relax and noticing the sensations that are here as you pay attention.

If you notice any obvious areas of tightness,

You can soften them.

Let the eyes and face be soft,

The shoulders drop,

The hands rest easily.

Let the belly be soft and the breath natural.

Let yourself just rest for a moment,

Being aware of what you notice here as you feel your body,

As you rest on the earth.

As you sit quietly,

You'll notice there are different thoughts and feelings and sounds that arise and pass,

Including these words.

Let the sounds and thoughts arise and pass easily like waves in the ocean and let your mind and heart be soft,

Be open and at peace.

Notice the waves as they come and go and simply be present with the feelings and the experiences that pass each moment as you sit.

In this space of a kind and relaxed attention,

Now let yourself become aware of the fact of your breathing.

In the midst of the thoughts,

The sounds and feelings that come and go,

You can sense your life breath.

You can sense the feeling or the sensation of this rhythm of breath.

It might be coolness in the nose,

Tingling in the back of the throat,

Or you might feel the breath as the movement of the chest or the rise and fall of the belly.

Let the breath have its natural rhythm and as you feel it,

Rest your attention in the breathing.

Sense the breath carefully.

Focusing on the breath is our beginning.

It is a way of connecting the mind and heart and body together here in the present.

If it's helpful to you,

You can take one or two deeper breaths and feel what place in the body the breath is most apparent to you.

And even if the breath is quite soft,

See if you can let your attention become careful and notice the coolness,

The tingling,

The movement or vibration,

The expansion of the belly.

Notice whatever you can of the breath and rest your attention in it.

As you feel each breath,

Let there be a sense of relaxation,

Both a presence or alertness,

And at the same time an ease,

A resting in the sensation of breath.

After several breaths,

You will probably notice that your mind wanders.

After several breaths,

Often a wave of thought or feeling or sound will come and carry you.

As soon as you notice this wave,

You can acknowledge it very simply.

There's been thinking,

Imagining or sound and release it,

Let it go when you notice it,

Coming back gently and directly to feel the breath again.

After a few breaths,

The waves of thought or sound may again carry your mind off.

The mind will wander.

As soon as you notice,

Gently let go and return back to feel the next breath when you can.

No judgment,

No evaluation.

It's like training a puppy.

Stay.

You put your mind on the breath and in a few breaths,

Like the puppy,

The mind wanders away.

You pick the puppy back up and put it down.

Stay.

Be gentle.

There's no need to beat the puppy.

No need to judge yourself.

It is a gentle training of learning to come back and be here,

One breath after another,

To center yourself in the breathing.

Each time the heart wanders or is distracted,

Bring it back to the breath quite gently,

Over and over again,

Learning just to relax and be awake and present here.

If you have difficulty feeling the breath,

You can take one hand and place your palm on your belly so that you feel the movement of belly in the flat palm of your hand.

Resting your palm there,

You can feel the natural rhythm as the breath opens and expands.

Let your hand and belly together then become the focus of breathing for this time.

The life breath,

The universal breath,

Can calm us and center us.

Return back to it again and again.

Now we'll end the meditation with a soft ringing of the bells.

Let your eyes open.

Bring your attention back to the room here.