Welcome to this short practice on mindfulness of body and breath.
This will take about 10 minutes.
So just taking a minute to feel into our breath.
Perhaps taking a few deep inhales and exhales.
Really feeling into the breath as it comes into the body.
And then as it leaves the body.
And tuning into how we are right now.
How is our mind?
How are our thoughts?
Are they moving fast or slow?
Agitated or relaxed?
Not judging,
We're just noticing.
How is our emotion right now?
Are we anxious or frustrated or angry?
Or calm or relaxed?
Again,
Not judging,
Just noticing.
How is our emotion right now?
And how does the body feel?
Just tuning into your body where perhaps sometimes it holds stress.
And just noticing how are those parts of your body.
Maybe the lower back.
Maybe our shoulders.
The brow.
Or our jaws.
So now just moving on to focus on our breath.
Becoming aware of the inhale.
And the exhale.
Bringing our full attention onto the breath.
Noticing the inhale from the very beginning.
To its height.
Where the full intake of breath has completed.
And then the short pause before the exhale.
And being with the whole of the exhale.
Again to the pause before we recommence the next cycle with the inhale.
And just observing these four parts of the breath for each cycle.
And of course the mind will wander as it tends to do.
And that's okay.
When we wake up to this wandering mind and become aware that we have wandered off.
We almost celebrate it.
So that we can come back then to the breath.
And the presence.
And perhaps bringing some curiosity to our breath.
How is our breath at this moment?
Is it shallow or deep?
Is it smooth or erratic?
Are we breathing from the top of the chest or the abdomen?
Not trying to change the breath,
Just noticing.
And then moving from the breath to sensations in the body.
Perhaps the sensations of our feet on the floor.
Feeling our toes touching our socks or our shoes on the floor.
Feeling into the full support of the floor across the whole of the sole of our foot.
Noticing the different pressures of our foot.
Different parts of our feet on the floor.
Perhaps feeling the sensations at the tips of our thumbs and our fingers.
Holding our attention here for a moment.
What does this feel like?
Do we sense any sensations at the tips of our fingers or thumbs?
Pulsing,
Throbbing,
Perhaps nothing at all.
Extending the awareness to the whole of the fingers and thumbs.
Then including the palms of the hand and the back of the hand.
So just resting in awareness of all of our hands.
All parts of our hands.
With all of our attention on the hands.
How does that feel?
Perhaps bringing your attention to some other part of the body that's calling to us right now.
And just noticing how does that part of the body feel?
What's it like when we bring our attention up close to it if we choose to?
Do the sensations grow or reduce?
Letting go of sensations and just coming back to the breath for the last few moments of this meditation.
And just acknowledging the time you spent here.
Ten minutes looking after yourself,
Taking care of your own well-being.
And to the best of our ability,
Bringing some of this rest and careful attentiveness into the rest of our day.
