So,
To reduce anxiety,
Start by taking a moment to relax your body,
Soften any unnecessary tension in your belly and shoulders,
And find a posture that feels both relaxed and alert.
Now,
Close your eyes or look downwards,
And rest your hands in an easy,
Effortless way.
Take a few moments to scan your awareness through the sensations of your body,
And wherever possible,
Soften and release obvious areas of physical tension.
We begin the practice of coming back by establishing our home base.
While there are many possible anchors to hold our attention,
Such as sound or sensations throughout the body,
The most common,
And the one we'll explore here,
Is the breath.
Please breathe naturally,
And simply notice where the breath is easiest to detect,
And where the breath also feels pleasant,
Or at least,
Neutral.
So you might pay attention to how the breath feels as it flows in and out of your nose.
You might feel the touch of your breath around your nostrils,
Or on your upper lip.
Or perhaps you feel the movement of your chest,
Or the rising and falling of your abdomen.
Or perhaps you feel your whole body,
Like a balloon,
Expanding with the in-breath,
Deflating with the out-breath.
So just take some moments to bring your attention to the sensations of breathing in one of these areas,
A relaxed attentiveness.
There's no need to control the breath,
Rather,
Sense you're receiving the breath,
Much like you'd listen to sound.
With a relaxed awareness,
Discover what the breath is really like as a changing experience of sensations.
This life breath is your home base,
A place to rest and be aware.
So in these next moments,
Simply relax as the breath comes in.
Notice what it's like,
And relax with the exhale,
Let go,
And again notice the immediate experience of sensations.
Notice where your attention is.
You might find that your mind has drifted off into thoughts.
This is completely natural.
The mind is conditioned to move off into thinking about the future,
The past.
When you become aware of thinking,
You might use a soft and friendly mental note.
Just say,
Thinking,
Thinking,
And then pause and simply re-relax.
Just open the attention again,
Aware of the sounds around you,
Re-relaxing your body,
Feeling the aliveness in the body.
Relax the sensations around your heart,
Releasing any unnecessary tension.
Without any judgment,
Just allow yourself to gently return again to the inflow and outflow of the breath.
Let the breath be an intimate friend,
A home base that reconnects you with your own presence.
As you resettle with the breath,
You might notice other experiences,
The background sounds perhaps of a passing car,
Wind,
A bird.
You might feel sensations of warmth or coolness.
Whatever's in the background can be there without drawing you away.
Just continue to rest with the breath,
To relax with the breath,
With the intention of noticing when you can,
When you drift off into thought.
If you discover that the mind has drifted again,
Simply pause,
Re-relax,
Open the attention.
Without any judgment,
Gently come back into this moment.
Just remember,
The thoughts are not the enemy.
You don't have to clear your mind of thoughts.
Rather,
You're developing the capacity to recognize when thoughts are happening,
Without getting lost in the storyline.
Each time you notice that you've drifted,
Or noticed you've gotten lost,
It's an opportunity to strengthen your muscles of remembering again,
Arriving here now,
Gently coming back into living presence.
As you notice the mind getting quieter,
You might sense the peace that arises when you relax even more and immerse your entire awareness into the inflow and outflow of the breath.
Breathing in,
Know that you're breathing in.
Breathing out,
Know that you're breathing out.
Be aware of the beginnings and endings of each breath fully here,
Awake,
At home,
In presence.
You can practice this mindfulness exercise of coming back informally as a way of quieting and collecting your mind at any time of the day.
Simply bring a full yet gentle attention to the breath,
Relax with the in-breath,
Relax with the out-breath,
Sense into the body,
And then continue on with your activities.
