Sitting, Walking, Breathing Meditation

So welcoming yourself to the sitting,

Walking,

Breathing practice.

You'll need some props for sitting.

So whatever you need to be comfortable for a sitting meditation.

The reason we sit upright is so you can stay awake.

So whether you need a chair or some props on the floor,

If you're sitting on the floor,

Making sure that you are comfortable,

Particularly through the ankles,

Knees,

Lower back.

So beginning by taking your seat,

Encouraging a neutral spine,

Allowing your body to settle into a comfortable,

Open,

Upright posture,

Finding that place between effort and surrender.

So we don't want to be too upright and stiff with the spine and not too relaxed and soft.

Being aware of the position of your head,

Chin can be in slightly to release and soften the jaw,

Relaxing your tongue.

You might like to gently rock from side to side through your pelvis,

Small movements,

And then perhaps forward and back,

Gentle movements.

And then coming back to stillness and then bringing some gentle movements into the head,

Perhaps a small figure of eight movement until you find a place of ease with the head,

Head supported,

Ears above the shoulders and pausing into stillness.

And inviting the breath to be the object of meditation as we sit together.

So noticing now that you are breathing,

Eyes can be closed or a soft gaze down at the floor,

Hands relaxed either on the thighs or in the lap.

And feeling the natural flow of the breath as you breathe in,

Being aware that you are breathing in and as you breathe out,

Being aware that you are breathing out.

And noticing where the sensations are most obvious for you.

It might be a sense of the air coming in and out at the nose.

Feel the rising and falling at the belly and the chest.

Or it might be easier for you to feel the breath coming into the body and the breath coming out,

Having a sense that the whole body is breathing.

Allowing this natural rhythm to be the object of concentration.

So taking a deeper breath now,

Just so you can really feel the breath.

Taking a deeper,

Gentle breath in now,

Feeling the fullness of the breath as you breathe in.

And releasing as you breathe out.

Doing this one more time,

Deeper breath in.

Feeling the sensations,

Softening,

Allowing,

And releasing as you breathe out.

And now noticing how your body knows how to breathe.

So trusting this natural rhythm,

This rising and falling.

And resting your attention with all the sensations of the in-breath and all the sensations of the out-breath.

There will be moments when you notice your attention wanders away from the breath.

This is all part of the practice,

It's not a problem.

Being curious about where your attention goes.

And it's a lovely opportunity to remember to come back,

Reconnect with the next breath,

Starting again.

Starting to train your mind to come home to your body breathing.

No need to judge yourself,

Just coming back with this kind attention,

This friendly interest in the experience of breathing.

And really only experience the breath in the present moment.

Allow the breath to guide you back,

Breath by breath,

Moment by moment.

Starting to stay,

Training your mind to feel the sensations of the in-breath and the out-breath.

Each in-breath a new beginning,

Each out-breath a letting be,

Allowing.

Speaking of breathing,

Is everything ok?

If you're finding it difficult to stay with the breath you might like to place the palm of the hand on the belly.

So you can feel the natural rhythm here as the belly expands pressing into the hand as you breathe in.

Belly softens back to the spine as you breathe out.

So noticing now how you're feeling after taking the time to pay attention to your body breathing.

And we're going to transition from sitting now to standing.

So gently coming up to a standing position and we're going to transition into a walking meditation.

So with many traditional Buddhist retreats we sit and then we walk and then we come back and sit.

And this can be a lovely way of releasing any tension in the body from sitting and also as a way of training your mind to be present and awake whilst moving through space.

So if walking isn't available to you feel free to move through space with whatever supports you need.

Standing and breathing now and bringing the mind down to the soles of the feet.

Gently rocking from side to side,

Feeling the transition of weight there.

Notice how the toes grip the floor and then rocking gently forward and back.

Feeling the touch of sensations in the soles of the feet.

So the eyes are open with a walking meditation and you're simply taking the mind down to the soles of the feet now.

So with sitting we were paying attention to the breath.

So now the object of concentration is the feet walking gently on the earth.

So your arms can be long beside the body or in front of the belly or behind the back,

Keeping a neutral spine.

So sometimes when we walk slowly there can be a tendency to drop the chin and look down.

However keeping the head above the shoulders,

The ears above the shoulders,

Shoulders above the hips,

Having a soft gaze forward.

And when you're ready beginning to walk gently lifting your foot and then placing the foot down.

Lifting the opposite foot and placing.

So taking the attention down to the feet.

Developing the attention,

Training your mind to stay with the felt sense of the feet touching the floor.

So we're not trying to get anywhere.

Whatever space you're in you'll get to a point where you need to stop.

Pausing for a moment,

Placing the hand back on the belly,

Opening to the breath.

Notice how you're feeling.

Releasing the hand and gently turning whether that's left or right.

Still being aware of the sounds around you,

What you can see.

And then walking again slowly with awareness.

So if you're starting to wobble slightly you might need to walk a little bit quicker.

It can be helpful to have bare feet so you can really feel what's underneath the feet.

If you need support with shoes feel free to put them on.

And pausing again,

Hand on the belly,

Taking a breath.

Just opening to the sensations of breathing in and breathing out.

Releasing the hand,

Gently turning and continuing to walk.

You'll notice the mind will wander.

This is quite natural,

It's happening to everyone.

Part of the practice is gently escorting your mind back to the object of concentration which is the feet.

So continuing this practice now in silence,

Walking gently on the earth,

Perhaps pausing,

Hand on the belly,

Feeling the breath.

It's a way of grounding you into the body.

Turning and continuing to practice.

Each time the mind wanders,

It's not a problem,

Just come back to the feet,

Begin again.

Bringing this fresh curiosity and interest to the experience of walking.

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Once again pausing,

Hand on the belly.

Feeling the natural movement of the breath at the belly And when you're ready transitioning back to your sitting position.

Taking your time to be comfortable stable supported.

Awake Notice how you're feeling now after walking doing the walking meditation and coming back to stillness Being aware of all the points of contact Maybe one through your seat,

Two through the lower legs or the feet,

Creating a stable grounded base Spine supporting your torso,

Head and neck comfortable.

Arms soft,

Hands relaxed And coming back to the awareness of breathing Where are the sensations most vivid or obvious for you?

Maybe at the nose,

At the throat chest or belly,

There could be some other place pelvic floor,

Upper back through your spine Bringing this friendly interest to the body,

Breathing and inviting your attention to rest.

No need to change your breath in any way It's a struggle for you,

It's okay to place the hand on the belly if that is a support for your practice Training your mind to come home to the body,

Breathing whether that's one point of focus or a sense of the air coming in and out As you breathe in,

Know that you are breathing in and as you breathe out,

Know that you are breathing out.

When you notice your attention wanders away from the breath it's an opportunity to practice patience,

Kindness,

Friendliness As you gently come back,

Remembering the breath is the object of meditation Feeling the next in breath Beginning again,

This will happen many times Just notice your attitude each time you begin again Sense of kindness or patience It's quite natural for our minds to be busy planning,

Thinking,

Worrying remembering,

Fantasizing So when we learn to train our minds to come back to the present moment experiencing the breath and sometimes give the mind a rest a little bit of space between the thoughts as you come home to the body,

Breathing We're not trying to stop the thoughts,

We're simply choosing where we place our attention Sometimes feel like the volume is turned down with the mental chatter and the sensations in the body become more vivid expansion with the in breath,

Releasing with the out breath.

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Where is your attention?

Can you gently guard it back?

See the breath coming into the body,

The breath coming back out And now being aware of the whole body sitting still taking a moment to tune into the state of your mind How have you responded to this practice?

Sitting,

Walking,

Breathing So this practice is always available for you and sometimes be helpful to move between sitting and walking as a way of looking after your body particularly if there's lots of agitation and you're finding it difficult to be still with your practice Some days if you don't have the resilience to be with the agitation a walking practice can be helpful Notice how you're feeling now as we come to the end of this practice together You're ready to finish,

Gently folding forward and releasing your posture However,

If you'd like to continue and move back into a walking practice feel free to be curious and explore developing your own practice,

Sitting,

Walking,

Breathing Just taking one more gentle breath in,

Filling the lungs,

Ribcage expands and letting all the air out When you're ready,

Transitioning back into your daily life And remember you can have quiet moments where you pause,

Connect with the breath,

Open to the sensations whether you're standing,

Sitting or walking Thank you for your practice