30-Minute Sitting Meditation: Awareness of Breathing

Let's begin by closing your eyes and becoming aware of the fact that we have a body and that right now this body is sitting.

Noticing the weight of the body,

The pull of gravity on the body towards the ground.

Noticing where your body makes contact with the surface that you're sitting on.

Becoming aware of our posture,

Making an effort to embody dignity and wakefulness.

Imagining a string attached to the crown of the head and that someone is pulling on that string gently upwards.

So the spine lengthening,

The chin slightly tucking in and at the same time opening up the shoulders and letting gravity naturally pull the arms to the ground,

Softening the shoulders and the jaw.

And then just taking a moment to find your center.

So gently rocking side to side until we arrive at the point of equilibrium in the middle.

And now rocking front and back,

Again finding your center.

Having the body as a whole just sitting,

Stable and majestic like a mountain.

And whether we are aware of it or not,

Right now our body is breathing without us having to do anything.

Just breathes on its own.

So see if you can peek in and see what this breathing feels like.

Just observing the breath.

Where do you feel the breath most vividly?

Maybe the nostrils,

The throat,

The rise and fall of the chest or the abdomen.

Take a moment now to pick an area where you feel the breath most vividly and then sticking to that region.

Following the inhalation for its whole duration,

Maybe sink yourself in as you inhale.

And then following the exhalation for its whole duration,

Maybe sink yourself out as you exhale.

And noticing that in between each inhalation and exhalation there's a transition period,

Maybe even a pause.

So noticing that transition period occurring naturally without controlling anything.

And you may notice how although there's a pattern to breathing,

In,

Pause,

Out,

Pause and so on,

No two breaths are actually alike.

Taking a moment now to notice the uniqueness of every breath.

Following all the subtleties that we don't usually take the time to notice.

Taking the time now to do so.

And then when attention wanders away into the past,

The future,

Somewhere else,

Just taking a moment to acknowledge where the mind is at and then perhaps labeling it,

Thinking,

Thinking,

Feeling,

Feeling.

Hearing,

Hearing and so on.

And then reminding yourself that while your mind was wandering,

Your body was still here and breathing and in fact is still here and breathing now.

See if you can bring the sensations of breathing that are going on now to the forefront of your awareness while the mental activity naturally just recedes to the background of your awareness.

Not pushing thoughts away but letting them be there in the background as you bring the breath back to the foreground.

And knowing that the more you dance with awareness this way with the foreground and the background,

The more you're developing your mindfulness.

So what's in the forefront of your awareness now?

See if you can bring the breath back to the forefront and then becoming curious about how the breath changes from moment to moment.

Take your time and explore.

The mind wanders if you hear that voice in your head and just gently bringing breathing back to the front over and over again.

Being patient and kind.

If you notice yourself getting annoyed by distractions,

Sounds,

Discomfort,

Restlessness,

Boredom,

Pain or other sensations,

See if you can just for now open up,

Welcome and kind of make room for them to be here with you now.

Just breathing with them.

Knowing if there are any thoughts and just allowing them in also.

Breathing with it all.

Know that as you're doing this,

You're developing a valuable skill.

Checking in with the posture from time to time.

Remembering to embody alertness and openness.

Noticing what's going on and at the same time welcoming what you notice.

And then breathing with and around what you notice.

Being aware of this breath and this one.

Just resting in stillness.

Nothing to change.

Nothing to do.

Nowhere to be.

Just being.

Take your time.

Savoring just being.

Just noticing what it's like to be you right now.

Sitting.

Breathing.

And everything that comes along with it.

It's all part of your present moment experience.

Now,

Broadening your awareness to include sounds around you.

Sounds are continuously presenting themselves through our ears.

You don't need to listen for sounds.

Rather,

Just hearing what is here to be heard.

Noticing the subtleties of each sound that presents itself through our ears.

What sounds do you hear right now?

Not labeling them,

But see if you can see past their labels.

Just hearing pure sound.

What quality do the sounds have?

Where are they located in space?

What pitch do they have?

How loud or quiet are they?

Notice how sounds continuously evolve over time.

Can you notice the silence or pauses between sounds?

Noticing all the subtleties of sounds that surround you.

And in a sense,

Bathing in the sea of sounds for now.

Letting the sounds come to you.

Just sitting with sounds.

And now,

In addition to sounds,

Broadening awareness to include sensations in the body,

Such as the pull of gravity,

Tingling,

Warmth,

Discomfort,

Pain.

And also including sensations related to breathing,

The nostrils,

In the throat,

The rising and falling of the chest and the abdomen.

And even including thoughts that are going by in the mind.

Being receptive to everything that presents itself to you right now.

And letting awareness be flexible so that it can gently hold anything that presents itself in the forefront of your awareness.

And being aware of any urge the mind has to hold on to a particular experience,

One that the mind likes.

Or to push away experiences that the mind dislikes.

And when you notice an urge to grasp or push away,

Just sitting with that urge and recognizing it simply as an urge.

Knowing that you can just watch it without having to do anything about it.

Just letting it be here like everything else.

Revolving and changing all by itself over time.

So just sitting.

Not holding on to anything.

Not looking for anything.

Nothing being completely open and receptive to whatever comes into the field of awareness.

Letting it all come and go on its own.

Just watching.

Witnessing in stillness.

And as this meditation comes to an end,

You may want to congratulate yourself for the discipline and effort it takes to practice in this way.

And as you gently make the transition back into your everyday life,

Making the commitment to bring this kind of mindful awareness with you as you go about your day.