Good morning.
To begin this meditation,
You can start by sitting comfortably or simply laying down and relaxing.
Take a deep breath in and let it out.
This meditation is all about taking one breath at a time.
Within this one breath,
There is only the here and now.
This breath is a gentle life-giving reminder that all of the things you have to do today will happen,
But all we have is this moment in time.
That all we really need to know is that we are alive here and now.
That this is the place we are in.
These are the sounds we hear.
The sensation of breathing is all we need to focus on.
Life is much simpler than we believe,
But it's so easy to forget that when we get overwhelmed.
What I want you to do is remember that life is not a problem to be solved.
It is an adventure to take.
We spend so much time on autopilot,
Believing that if we can just get things right,
We won't suffer.
And yet,
The first noble truth of Buddhism is that being alive means that sometimes we will experience pain.
There is no escaping it.
Trying to escape it means we miss out on so much of the beauty of life.
The smell of the fresh air,
Loved ones sitting next to us,
The taste and nourishment of the food we are eating.
Even entire good days can slip by us when we forget to focus,
But let's focus here and now together on one breath at a time.
And if it helps you to set a timer,
You could do that.
Set it for two minutes,
Three minutes,
Five minutes.
And whenever your timer rings,
You can use that as a reminder to come back to this one breath and then this one and now this one.
You can remember again and again how each breath contains the whole universe.
Each breath reminds us of the richness of life,
The richness of sorrow,
Of gratitude,
Of sadness,
Even anger.
Let our breath remind us of the richness of being a beautiful,
Breathing human being.
Take another deep breath in and let it out.
Remember there is a reason meditation is called practice.
Most of us are not accustomed to moving slowly or being in the present moment.
Everything in our culture conditions us to not be.
So it's important to have a great deal of patience and kindness for yourself.
If it helps you as you breathe in,
You can say one breath at a time.
Now this one and now this one.
The chatter or the anxiety may come up when we're trying to take things one breath at a time,
But it's okay.
You can use that chatter as a pathway back to the present moment.
Taking things one breath at a time,
Breathing in presence,
Breathing out release,
Release of what we're holding onto from the past,
Release of worry for the future.
This breath asks nothing of us.
In this moment,
There is nothing to do.
There is only being.
Let this meditation remind you that life is simple.
It's just a series of moments one after the other.
One breath at a time.
Breathe in and let it fill your body.
It can attune us to feelings we haven't noticed,
Feelings we try to block,
Whether they're mental,
Physical,
Or even spiritual.
It is like climbing the mountain one step at a time.
It can help us take the experience of that feeling,
Manageably,
One breath at a time.
Enjoy the rest of your day.
Namaste.
