Letting The Body Breathe

32:13

32:13

Letting The Body Breathe

by Heather Fenton

Rated

5

Type

guided

Activity

Meditation

Suitable for

Experienced

Plays

5

This meditation invites you to let the body breathe on its own. We begin by settling into a posture that is both upright and relaxed, then gently follow the natural rhythm of breathing. As the mind settles, we notice the quiet pauses between breaths and rest there. The practice supports ease, steadiness, and a calm, receptive awareness.

Breathing Mindfulness Relaxation Body Scan Posture Awareness Meditation Posture Adjustment Natural Breathing Breath Awareness Emotional Tone Awareness Mindfulness Of Sensations Discursive Thought Management Energy Visualization Embodied Awareness Non Judgmental Awareness

Meet your Teacher

Regional Municipality of Niagara, ON, Canada

Meet your Teacher

Regional Municipality of Niagara, ON, Canada

Transcript

And just noticing how the body is positioned and making adjustments in the first few minutes especially making, Giving yourself full permission to shift so that you can drop into a stillness. It's not something forced or rigid, It's something that we feel into, So you could notice where your tail is and the orientation, The position of the pelvis and feel the weight of the body in contact with the surface you're sitting on. Notice how the legs are positioned. It could connect with the spine from the tail, Moving the awareness up the length of the spine like the stem of a lotus, The stem of a strong but supple flower, Energizing a little in the lower back as Ajahn Sujito instructs to lift the chest, Lending some uprightness to the posture and around that uprightness relaxing, Letting the shoulders relax, Placing the hands in a supportive position. Noticing the face is a lot of energy, A lot of mental energy consciousness in the face. Most of our senses are on the face and head. Notice the eyes, The forehead, The cheeks, Tongue and jaw. Trace the line from the temple on either side of the eyes around the back of the head, Maybe exploring the back of the neck. Notice what the belly is doing, Could it soften? Become aware of the movement of the breath in the body, The lift, Expansion, Vitality of the inhale, The lowering, The descent, The release of the exhale. Might notice a gentle entanglement there where when you start to focus on the breathing, You begin to manage it or control it. It might take a moment to settle into the natural breath, Letting go, Letting go, Letting go, Let the body breathe. It's kind of strange, It's like we're stepping away from the breath in order to get closer to it. Getting out of our own way, Letting the body breathe naturally, Taking our attention and placing it. It could be helpful, You might use a little technique. If the mind is skitterish, Skittering, If the mind is scattered, You could visualize energy rising from the belly to the throat as you breathe in, Just the natural breath. From throat to belly as you breathe out. This is giving the manas, The mind that elaborates, Categorizes, And giving it a bit of a task here. In one part of the book Ajahn Suchido talks about it like stroking a cat, So you're moving the mind up and down the center line of the body, Just in front of the spine. Recognizing it as a technique, Allowing it to soothe you if it soothes you. The soothing coming from the gathering of the discursiveness, Or from the discursiveness. Directly from the book instructions, Focus on the rhythmic process and energy of breathing. As the mind settles into that, Maintain mindfulness so that discursive and afflictive thoughts subside. So like an assist, A prop, A technique, We can run the mind up and down the length of the spine, The breath as it moves up and down the body. But not holding to that, So letting that go, Gently shifting into just the, As the discursive thinking settles, Settling just into the energy of the rhythm, Movement, Sensations of the breathing. So you might notice that the initially long breath shortens, So as the discursive thinking settles, Pauses at the end of the inhalation and exhalation start to increase, Breath shortens. As moments of embodied open and receptive awareness become apparent, Linger in them so that the body and mind learn this experience. So we're doing the practice, Placing the attention, Sensing into the direct experience of the breath. And then wherever there is a sense of openness, Receptiveness, Stillness, Letting the mind move into that, Letting the shift to suppleness and ease be known or learned, Mindful of a possibility of becoming dull, Where we think we're creating an experience and then tuning out, Maintaining curiosity and alertness, This is what it's like, And noticing, As we've looked at in previous classes, Working with the energy in the body and mind, Such that we notice any disturbance, Agitation, Irritation, It's felt experience in the system, We can invite the easefulness, What is not disturbed to kind of smooth that out. Bringing your awareness, The quality of your attention over the whole of the body, The body as an entirety, Including a little bit outside the body, Around the body. Allow the breathing, The natural breath, To act as a steady moderator of the mind. So let the, The instruction he gives is let the breath flow, Carry your awareness. It follows on from the instruction to place the mind, Place the mind in the breath. Without forgetting, Allowing the mind to be carried on this natural ebb and flow. So you're following the breath flow. Now give attention, Your full attention to the pauses, And let your heart dwell on the emotional tones of release. So at the end of the out breath, The emotional tone, Relaxing. And at the end of the in breath, Dwelling on the emotional tone of brightening. This final instruction in this meditation, In this chapter, Is when the body feels open and alive, Scan slowly through it, Detecting any imbalances and tense places. Bring your embodied and receptive awareness to bear on them. And then here is the key, Without trying to change or understand anything. So I'll repeat the instruction. When the body feels open and alive, Scan slowly through it, Detecting any imbalances and tense places. Bring your embodied and receptive awareness to bear on them without trying to change or understand anything. Linger just a few minutes longer. Recalling the sutta itself, So the instructions here for placing the mind in the pauses. And then opening to the whole body. This is instructions related to one trains breathing in fully and completely sensitive to the entire body. One trains breathe out fully and completely sensitive to the entire body. One trains breathe in calming bodily formation. One trains breathe out calming bodily formation. With that explicit instruction to not try to change or understand anything. Simply bringing the sensitivity that's uncovered. Into any disturbance, Into any agitation. So the calming is in a result of pushing or pulling. Wanting it to be calm. It's a sensing into and attuning with, Attending to the experience just as it is. So if the mind is not fully settled, You might notice it returns to explanations. And naming agitation as anxiety or fear or anger giving it a name and a story where it came from. What it's like. And we're not working at that level, We're meeting the mind and the breath and the body. Being with it without elaboration. Just sensitive to it. This is what it's like.