Hello and welcome to this meditation by me Heather Talbot.
Today I thought we could do a slightly shorter breath meditation.
So this meditation is going to be about 10 minutes.
And to start I'm going to invite you to find some uplift through your spine.
Almost as if there was a cord coming out through the top of your head and it was kind of pulling you up.
And then just kind of letting that go and letting that settle.
But maintaining that sense of alertness and balance.
So your hips are square on the floor or the cushion or the chair.
Your head is resting directly above the shoulders not hanging down.
You might bring your awareness to the shoulders and see if you can let them relax back and down so that the shoulder blades are flat against your back.
Wanting as best you can to.
Let go of any sense of straining in the body.
So you can really arrive in this moment.
You might close the eyes if you haven't already.
Or just lower the gaze.
Bring your attention to your breathing.
So in this moment you don't actually need to do anything to your breath.
You don't have to force anything.
It's really just about bringing your awareness to the breath.
To the experience of breathing.
Noticing for example where you feel the breath in the body.
And if and how it changes when you bring your awareness to it.
Noticing how you don't really have to think about it to make the breath happen.
It just happens naturally.
Without any effort on your part.
The mind might even tell you therefore that it's a pointless exercise.
Just if that's happening just notice that that's also a thought.
You can acknowledge it as such and bring your awareness back to the breath.
Into that rhythm.
You might experiment with bringing your attention to the cool air as it comes in through your eyes.
Maybe you can also sense the warm air in your upper lip as you breathe out.
You might notice a very gentle subtle rising and falling of the shoulders.
With your in breath and then your out breath.
Seeing how it is to notice this movement.
You also might notice how the belly expands with your in breath.
It contracts with your out breath.
Seeing how it is for you to feel the breath in the belly.
Seeing if you can follow your breath through a whole cycle.
Almost like a ribbon weaving in through the nostrils,
Coming down,
Filling the lungs,
Filling the belly.
Then moving in the opposite direction.
Back out into the world.
Seeing if you can watch that movement for a few cycles.
Just following the movement of the breath.
Noticing the experience of breathing.
Anytime.
Anytime you notice that your attention has wandered elsewhere.
Celebrating this little moment of insight.
And then coming back without any judgement.
Sometimes recordings coming to an end soon.
So you can just sit and be with your breath for a bit longer.
Or you can start to bring more awareness to the space around you.
Maybe shifting or stretching a little.
Taking a few deeper breaths.
Thank you for joining me today.
Wherever and whenever this meditation finds you.
May you be well.
