Welcome here.
In this meditation,
We will be practicing mindfulness of breathing.
And we can begin by bringing our posture into a place of uprightness,
An alert spine,
But also relaxation.
So to help with this,
We can begin by taking three slow,
Deep breaths.
Bringing that relaxation further into our bodies.
And do a gentle scan of attention throughout the body,
Noticing any places that might be clenched or contracted.
This might include the forehead,
The space around the eyes,
Jaw and tongue,
All the muscles in the face.
Relax.
Likewise,
We can relax the muscles in the shoulders and hands.
Also softening the muscles in the abdomen,
The pelvis.
Likewise,
Relaxing the legs and feet.
And with our whole body a little more at ease,
We can allow our attention to permeate the entire body.
And now,
Begin to notice the natural rhythm of breathing.
Not controlling it or forcing it in any way,
But just noticing this is a breathing body.
As you relax into this natural rhythm of the body,
You might notice that the breath shows itself in the rise and fall of the abdomen,
The expansion and contraction of the chest,
Air coming in and out of the nostrils.
Whether you notice it in any of these places or just this more whole body on a natural flow,
It's not so important,
Just wherever the breath reveals itself,
Whether it's more global or more specific,
All of it is attuning to this breathing body.
As many times as you drift off into thought,
We just return to this breathing body.
Returning not with tension and intensity,
But with gentleness and kindness.
We begin again.
Remember,
This is not a practice of forcing or controlling the breath.
It's more about relaxing into the body's rhythm.
And whatever manner of focus you're focusing on,
Focusing helps you attune to the breathing body.
You can do that.
You could stay more global,
Or you could just let the attention rest with the abdomen,
The chest,
Or the nostrils.
So whatever helps you most easefully observe the breath.
It's very easy for tension to sneak up on us.
And so it could be helpful to just check to see if your muscles are still relaxed.
The space between the eyebrows,
The jaw,
The shoulders,
The tummy.
Also more than anything,
Just relaxing your mind.
There's no need to strive or get it perfectly.
This is an easeful process of settling into the body's rhythm.
Mindfulness of breathing.
And to conclude this meditation,
We'll take a final deep breath together.
