Welcome to the Mindfulness of Breath practice as part of the Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy program.
I am your instructor,
Jen Churchill.
To begin with,
We will find a posture,
Either seated in a chair or on the floor,
Perhaps on a cushion,
Either way in a position where you can be upright yet supported,
Elongated through the crown of your head,
Shoulders softened away from your ears,
Hips supported,
In a comfortable yet dignified posture.
You are welcome to close your eyes and allow your hands to rest gently in your lap.
And now we will begin to bring our attention to our breath.
Initially,
To do this,
You might find it helpful to place a hand on your lower abdomen as a way of feeling the breath expand into the hand,
Feeling the movement of the breath in the body.
And you are welcome to keep your hand here for as long as you find it helpful.
You may also return your hand to your lap when and if you are ready.
In this practice,
We are using the breath as the anchor.
Similar in the body scan practice,
Using sensations in the body as the anchor.
The sensations of the breath will be the anchor here.
Breathing in,
Knowing that you are breathing in with your body.
Breathing out,
Knowing that you are breathing out.
The breath,
A constant that is always available to us,
Whether we're paying attention to it or not.
And there is no need here to make anything happen,
To have any certain experience other than simply noticing the breath.
Noticing the sensations of the breath,
The sounds of the breath,
The full experience of breathing.
Bringing your intention here of curiosity,
Of gentleness,
Anchored in the breath,
In this breath,
And this breath,
And you will likely notice the mind has drifted,
Has wandered and left the breath.
Moving to daydreaming,
Planning,
Ruminating,
Doing what minds do.
This is the breath that is the anchor here.
This is not a problem to be fixed.
Simply something to be observed.
You might find it helpful to label what is happening.
Thinking,
Planning,
Rehashing,
Rehearsing,
The mind secreting thoughts.
When we experience that moment of awareness,
It gives us an opportunity to gently bring attention back to this breath.
The movement of the body,
The passage of air in and out of the body,
As well as the spaces in between the breaths.
Resting the attention here in the breath,
Allowing this period of silence to guide yourself.
This body here breathing,
Doing what bodies do,
Staying with the practice for a few more moments in this body,
In this breath.
Knowing that the breath is always available to us to come back to as an anchor for our attention.
This practice of a thousand beginnings,
Gently,
Curiously guiding us into the here and now.
Thank you for practicing with me and I hope to practice with you again soon.
