Find a comfortable meditation position.
This might be sitting on a chair with your back relatively straight.
Not leaning back against the back of the chair,
But supporting your own weight.
This could be sitting on a cushion on the ground.
Make sure you're in a stable position,
A position that you can hold for a while comfortably.
Make sure your knees and thighs are well supported,
Your buttocks are well supported.
Find your spine in a natural and upright position.
In a position where your body is supported,
Where you don't need to exert much effort to hold yourself in that position.
So just take a little time to find that comfortable position.
You can put your hands in your lap or on your thighs,
Wherever feels most natural.
Once you've found your stable,
Comfortable position,
If you like,
Just taking three deep breaths.
Just to settle into this space and to let go of the activity of the day.
And then if you'd like to deepen your relaxation pose,
Feel free to partially close your eyes or completely close your eyes.
Whatever feels most comfortable for you.
If you like,
You can put a hand over your heart,
Just to remind yourself that we're going to bring loving kindness to ourselves,
Kind attention,
A sense of tenderness to ourselves.
Now in this settled space,
Finding your breath.
Just search for the place where you find your breath,
Most obviously.
This could be at the tip of your nose.
It could be in that space between your upper lip and your nose.
It might be on your upper lip.
It could be inside your nostrils.
You might feel the breath most obviously in the back of your throat.
You might feel it as the rise and fall of your chest or the expansion and contraction of your diaphragm.
You might feel it in your belly or in your abdomen.
Wherever you find your breath,
Most obviously,
Focus on that spot.
Just be with the experience of your breath at that place for a short while.
You'll probably find that within just a second or two,
The mind will start to wander.
Wander away from the breath.
This is very natural.
This is what the mind is built to do.
So there's nothing to worry about here.
Simply notice that your mind has wandered and very gently,
Very lovingly,
In the way that you might shepherd a puppy or a small child back to where they're meant to be.
Just very tenderly shepherding your attention back to your breath.
Very tenderly.
Most obviously,
Focus on that sensation,
And that's what the mind is used to do.
Right?
See if you can incline towards your breathing,
Towards your breath in the way that you might incline towards that puppy or towards that small child with a sense of fascination,
The sense of gentleness,
Loving attention,
The sense of curiosity and concern.
Incline towards your breathing in that very tender way.
And now letting your body breathe you,
Noticing how there's nothing you need to do.
Your breath breathes on its own,
Your body breathes on its own.
Just notice how that happens,
All on its own without any effort.
Notice how your breath nourishes you.
It does this all the time and we often don't notice.
A breath constantly nourishing,
Bringing us life.
Did you guys appreciate or appreciate what we did today?
You may have noticed that your breath rocks your body.
It's almost like you might rock a small child to sleep.
If you haven't noticed your breath rocking your body,
See if you can tune into that.
It might feel like the waves of the ocean drawing in and pulling out,
Just over and over,
Over,
Very steady rhythm,
Very gentle,
Very steady.
Just notice how your breath moves your body.
Give yourself over to your breath.
Become your breath.
Feel that that's all there is,
Is the breath.
That's all there is.
And now,
Just before we finish,
Take a moment to take a deep breath.
Take a moment to savor the stillness of your body,
The stillness of this space.
And then when you're ready,
Very slowly in your own time,
You can open your eyes.
And bring yourself back to your daily life.
