Mindfulness Of Breath (Full Sequence)

Full sitting sequence.

This meditation guides you through a sitting sequence with breath as the primary object of awareness.

So spend some time arranging yourself in a comfortable and attentive posture,

Preferably sat up with your back straight,

But perhaps if you need support that's fine too.

Try to sit in a dignified posture with your relaxed shoulders and your chin low.

Just allowing your breathing to be natural and you can close your eyes.

This is time to switch from our normal mode of doing and moving and reacting to one of simply being.

Just try to be attentive to what's happening within your own awareness right here right now.

And as you sit just noticing sensations of your breath.

And notice how your abdomen moves on each in-breath and on each out-breath.

Perhaps the movement of air through your nostrils or a slight movement of your chest and shoulders.

And perhaps bringing some awareness to your breath cycle and wherever you feel it the most.

Maybe your tummy,

Your chest,

Your shoulders or perhaps the movement of air through the nostrils.

And noticing the entirety of your breath from the movement of the air coming out and filling the lungs and extending the abdomen slightly.

The movement of air going out.

Being aware of the pause or the stopping point in between each in-breath and the out-breath.

And again on the out-breath and on the next in-breath.

It's all one movement even though the changing of direction.

Just notice where the pause is and seeing what degree you can be aware of the whole cycle.

And just recognizing that each part of the cycle is different from the other parts.

And this time through it may be different from the last time through.

And each one is absolutely unique in its own way if you pay attention.

And you'll notice your attention from time to time shifting away from the breath.

The mind may have wandered into fantasies,

Memories,

Thoughts of the day or worries you might have.

Perhaps things you need to do.

And without giving yourself a hard time,

When you notice this has happened,

Gently but firmly lead your attention back to the sensations of breathing and the actual physical sensations of breath as it moves through your body.

Being aware of where the mind goes and gently shifting your awareness to sensations of breath.

There may be a tendency to want to control your breathing but just let the quality of attention be light and easy.

One of simply observing and noticing.

Just as if you were on a float on a gentle undulating sea where you're up with one wave and down the next.

You don't control the duration of the wave or the depth between the waves.

You're just riding it.

And gently coming back to the sensations of breathing.

You may notice there are sounds in addition to the sounds that come from this recording.

Perhaps sounds of traffic or movement or something else that's going on.

And just notice that your attention has moved to that perception of sound.

Just staying with it long enough to notice the quality of the sound.

The vibration,

The tone,

Volume or intensity.

Being aware of the mind to label sound as traffic,

As voices or of music.

And coming closer to the sound as it hits your eardrums.

Quality or pitch,

Rhythm or intensity.

Separating out the actual reception of sound from the labels we generally put on it.

Just allowing the sounds to come to you without seeking them out.

And you may have noticed that your mind has wandered again.

And that's fine.

It happens.

Just gently lead it back to the breath.

You may notice we have a tendency to have an opinion about things.

About liking the way things are going right now.

Or not liking it.

Finding it uncomfortable.

And that too can be an object of awareness.

And just noticing that you have an opinion about things.

And think of it perhaps as your liking mind,

Your liking this or liking that.

Or perhaps your critical mind of not liking things.

Remember you don't have to do anything about it.

You're just noticing it.

And if you feel your mind wandering off into thought again,

Just gently lead it back to the breath.

And you may notice your attention shifting to body sensations.

Perhaps a fakiness or discomfort or tension.

And as you notice these sensations of discomfort,

There's several things which can be done with that sensation.

And one is if that's the one that can be remedied by shifting a little bit.

And just allowing yourself to shift but doing so mindfully.

And with your full attention on that movement.

The other way to deal with it is to bring your full attention to the feeling without trying to change it.

Just being curious about the extent of it.

The actual physical sensations of tension or of discomfort,

Throbbing or tightness,

Pulling or tingling.

And just notice if it's possible to stay a moment longer with that sensation and experience it as pure sensation without the label of discomfort of tension or achiness.

And just noticing where it is and noticing your experience of it.

And perhaps staying with it without having to react to it just for the moment.

And if your attention keeps getting called back to that area of intense sensation,

Knowing that you've tried those two choices,

Mindfully bring your attention inwards to the point where you're feeling it.

Be curious about it.

How big is it?

How long is it?

What quality does it have?

Is it changing?

Wherever the mind goes in terms of thoughts,

Liking or disliking,

Perceptions or sensation,

Feelings of peace or sadness or frustration.

Just noticing these raw thought forms and bringing the awareness to the sensations of the movement of your breath.

Being curious about your breath and observing that no two breaths are exactly the same.

Begin to see if you can have a friendly attitude towards whatever comes into your awareness.

Now if your mind has gone off into a fantasy of thought or judgement or a worry or sensation,

Perhaps even a sound,

Just a friendly way,

Just notice that this is happening and come back to the breath.

Recognising the entire cycle of awareness is important to this experience,

Including the movement from breath and including the coming back.

There's nothing to do but ride the waves of the breath.

If it's possible in these moments when your awareness has gone elsewhere and you notice that a flicker of attention moves and you realise it's gone somewhere else other than the breath,

At that moment have an attitude of celebration or congratulation that this is a moment of awareness and congratulate yourself for noticing that you've gone somewhere else.

Just easily and gently bring your attention back to your breath in a friendly and non-judgmental way.

As this meditation comes to an end,

Recognising that you've spent this time intentionally aware of your moment to moment experience,

Nourishing and strengthening your ability to be with whatever comes your way,

Building the capacity for opening the senses to the vividness,

To the aliveness of the present moment and expanding your skill to be curious and available about whatever presents itself without judgement.