Welcome to this guided awareness of breath meditation.
Before we begin,
Settling into a posture either on a cushion or a chair,
A posture that feels supportive,
Relaxed,
Yet awake.
Breathing in deeply,
And then exhaling,
Releasing.
One more deep in breath.
And then exhaling,
Letting go on each exhalation.
And one last one,
Perhaps sensing how the body is nourished on the in breath.
And then,
You can soften and relax,
Even just a little on the out breath.
And now,
Taking the next few moments to anchor into your personal intention for being here,
Reminding yourself of why this practice is important to you.
And now,
Taking a moment to check in with the mind and body,
And just noticing what's here right now.
There may be a variety of sounds in the environment,
Sensations in the body,
Thoughts,
Emotions.
There may be some mood present.
Really acknowledging what's here for you,
And allowing yourself to be just as you are in this moment,
Being fully present to whatever arises from moment to moment with a sense of kind curiosity.
And now,
Beginning to tune in to the sensations of the body,
Noticing the simple sensations of the body just sitting here.
Sensing the weight of the body,
The width,
And the length of the body.
Feeling the body occupying space in the room that you're in right now.
Feeling the contact points that the body is making against the surface you're sitting on,
The feet against the floor if you're on a chair,
Your hands touching each other or your lap,
And the eyelids touching.
Now noticing the various sensations within the body,
Perhaps tingling or tightness,
Vibration,
Heaviness or lightness,
Numbness.
Perhaps there's a sense of temperature that can be felt,
Coolness or warmth,
Or a sense of calmness.
And as we attend and tune into the sensations of the body,
It's likely that we become aware of the movement of breathing.
And so now connecting with that very simple knowing that you're breathing in and knowing that you're breathing out wherever those sensations are most clearly felt for you.
This might be in the belly region,
Sensing that gentle rise and fall of the belly with each in and out breath.
Perhaps it's most easily felt in the chest heart area.
Sensing here perhaps the expansion and contraction of the rib cage on each in and out breath.
Or perhaps it's most easily felt at the tip of the nose.
You might even sense the subtle cool air as you inhale and the slightly warmer air as you exhale.
And so simply resting the awareness on this movement of the breath wherever the sensations are most clearly felt for you.
And yet,
Feeling good,
Are we able to relax ormerge?
It can be helpful to come up close to the various sensations associated with each part of the breathing cycle.
So you might now direct and sustain the attention on the length of the in-breath from the very beginning right to the end of the in-breath.
Noticing the slight pause at the end of the in-breath and the moment when the in-breath turns into the out-breath and then feeling the out-breath until it dissolves and then again noticing the pause at the end of the out-breath and the natural impulse to take another in-breath.
E artificial relationship.
And as we do this,
One of the natural things about the mind is that it has a tendency to self distract and get carried away.
It may wander off into thoughts of the past or future.
There may be an emotional valence of some sort.
Tiredness,
Irritation,
Maybe ease or joy contentment.
There may be sounds in the environment.
In this practice,
We simply notice that the mind is wandered off and then gently returning to the next breath,
Allowing the breath to be at the forefront of our interest and our consciousness.
B Staying steady,
Staying present to this almost tidal rhythm of the breath coming in and going out.
Tons of expansion and contraction rising and falling.
The air comes into the body and leaves the body.
The air comes into the body and leaves the body.
The air comes into the body and leaves the body.
Now we will begin the practice of counting breaths.
Beginning by mentally whispering 1 after the inhalation and 2 after the exhalation.
Doing this all the way until you reach 10.
Once you reach 10 beginning again starting at 1 for another cycle.
If you find your mind is wandered from the practice which it will from time to time.
Simply noticing this and then returning to counting 1 at the next 10 breaths.
And continuing to practice in silence for a while.
Next resting.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Today's practice comes to a close.
Perhaps acknowledging yourself for having taken this time to cultivate greater ease,
Focus and concentration.
And for increasing your capacity to live more fully and more mindfully.
.
