Hello lovely one.
Welcome to this breath practice.
Starting out by taking a comfortable seated position in a chair or on a cushion,
Back supported or not,
Whatever feels really comfortable for you.
It's a good idea to keep your head unsupported,
It stops you from dozing off.
You might like to put your hands in your lap or on your legs,
Just check that the body's nice and even now.
And begin to check in with your breath,
Just paying attention to the breath as it moves down through the nostrils,
The throat,
Into the lungs.
And then notice its return journey as it leaves the body.
And you might like to start deepening your breath,
Seeing if you can get the diaphragm involved,
Breathing all the way into the bottom of the lungs,
Pushing out the belly.
And then bringing your attention to any sounds you can hear in the room.
And then to anything you can see in that space behind your closed eyes.
You might notice light and shade or pattern or shape or it might be just darkness.
And then noticing any tastes you have lingering in your mouth,
You might need to swallow a couple of times as you think about taste.
And then bringing yourself even further into this present moment,
Stopping the urge to rush off to do a hundred other things.
But just sitting here right now in this very moment,
Noticing your body.
How's your body doing today?
Bringing your gentle attention to the crown of your head,
Just noticing it.
And your scalp and your eyebrows and cheekbones.
Notice the jaw joint and the jaw bone and the mouth and the tongue.
See if you're holding any tension there.
Sometimes just noticing we're holding tension is enough to allow our body to let go.
And taking your awareness now through the neck and the shoulders.
Again,
Noticing if they're holding on tightly.
And if they are,
You might see if you can gently let them drop down away from the ears a little more.
Nothing forced.
Everything should feel gentle and easy.
No gold medals or gold stars in meditation.
It's all gentle.
And remembering to breathe.
And take your attention now down your back to your bottom and your sit bones.
And see if you can feel a sense of heaviness into the bottom.
See if you can feel heavier in your position,
Really supported by the chair or the cushion.
And then seeing if you can extend that sense of heaviness down through the upper legs,
The knees,
The lower legs,
And then the heels,
The soles of the feet and the toes.
Heavy as can be.
And your practice today is focused on breath.
So we're going to return to the breath again now.
And science tells us that there is a perfect length of breath and it's five and a half seconds.
And breathing deeply in this cadence reduces the effect of stress on the body and helps the systems of your body operate at peak efficiency and ease.
So all we're going to do,
All you're going to do,
Is inhale now as I count.
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
And exhale.
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
And we're going to repeat nine times,
So inhaling,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
And exhaling,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhaling,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
And exhaling,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhaling,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Exhaling,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhaling,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
And out,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Down into the belly,
In,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Exhaling,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhaling,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
And exhaling,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhaling,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
And exhaling,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Last one,
Beautiful,
Big inhale,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
And exhale,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
And just sit for a moment now.
Notice how it feels to have breathed deeply for a little while.
And then starting your integration back to your day or your evening,
Noticing sounds again.
And tastes again.
Notice your fingertips and your toes and start to bring some movement to your hands and your feet.
And you might like to stretch and twist and yawn.
If you don't have to rush off,
The music will play a little longer and you can just sit quietly.
But this is the time to congratulate yourself for taking ten minutes out of your day to sit still,
Tune into the body.
Really very well done you.
You're welcome.
You're welcome.
You're welcome.
