Welcome to this meditation for a quiet mind.
Can we truly quiet our minds?
There's constant chatter and mental turbulence in daily life.
And even when we go to sleep,
The mind is active with dreams.
What does it mean to quiet the mind?
One clue that the ancients have given us is that the breath is reflected in the mind.
If we slow down the breath,
Then we slow down the mind.
Let's begin by finding a comfortable place to sit down.
And just tune into your breathing.
Notice the quality of your breath as you begin this meditation.
And as you relax,
Just start to deepen your breath.
Let the breath go all the way down into your belly.
Let it move through the ribs and finally into the chest.
So as you inhale,
The breath starts in the belly,
Rises through the ribs,
And ends in the chest.
And then exhale from the chest,
Down through the ribs,
Into the belly,
And all the way out.
This breathing technique is called wave breathing.
And you feel the breath moving through the torso like a wave,
Rising from deep within the ocean,
All the way to the surface by the chest.
And then the wave sinks from the chest,
Back down through the ribs,
And into the belly.
Let your breath be slow and deep.
And notice as you slow down your breathing,
Your mind becomes calm and relaxed.
And now when you inhale,
Have there be a little pause at the top of the inhale.
And when you exhale,
Have there be a pause at the bottom of your exhale.
And when the breath is at that stillness,
Let your mind be still as well.
Exhale and pause.
And let your mind be still.
Inhale and pause.
Let your mind be still.
Stillness in the breath leads to stillness in the mind.
Your breath is comfortable,
Slow and deep.
A little pause at the top of the inhale.
A little pause at the bottom of the exhale.
When the breath is still,
Let your mind be still.
Notice how the breath coaxes the mind into stillness.
And in fact,
There is always stillness in your mind.
It is the space between your thoughts.
And by breathing slowly,
You lengthen the space between thoughts,
Tuning into the silence that's already there and bringing it to the forefront of your mind.
Take a few more slow deep breaths.
And just know that you can come back to this place of inner silence whenever you want,
Simply by lengthening the breath.
And when you're ready,
You can open your eyes,
Move your body in any way that's comfortable and take that feeling of mental clarity and inner quietude into the rest of your day.
