Come into a comfortable seated position,
Sitting in a way that's alert yet relaxed.
Shoulders are relaxed.
Your hands are resting on your thighs and your upper arms are parallel to your torso.
Close your eyes if you'd like or direct your gaze downward gently softening the visual field.
Now begin to notice your body,
Your feet on the ground,
The sensations of your body sitting.
Your legs and torsos they make contact with your seat.
Also notice your posture.
See if you might sit in a way that's upright but not rigid,
Relaxing into your body and breathing normally.
We're going to spend one minute here focusing on posture and sensations of the body sitting.
If you've noticed your mind has wandered,
That's perfectly natural.
The mind may wander away many times and if you've noticed your mind has wandered,
Simply take note and then gently bring your attention back to the sensations of your body seated here.
Now begin to bring your awareness to your breath,
Simply noticing the breath,
Directing your attention to the experience of breathing,
Not trying to change or manipulate the breath in any way.
Focus on the sensations of the in-breath and the sensations of the out-breath.
You might sense your body being moved with each breath.
Notice the movement of your chest,
The rise with your inhale and fall with your exhale.
It may be very subtle movement or perhaps more distinct.
Sense the expansion of your ribs as you breathe in and feel the soft contracting of the same area with your exhale as you let go.
Simply noticing the air coming in and out of your body.
Maybe you notice the cool air as it brushes your nostrils on your inhale or the warm quality of the air as it's released.
Firmly but gently directing your full undivided attention to this experience of breathing,
Whatever that means to you.
Seeing the air entering your body and the air leaving the body.
Let's spend a minute here focusing on this full cycle of breathing.
Again,
Not changing or manipulating the breath in any way.
Again,
If you notice your mind wandering,
Simply take note and then kindly but firmly bring your attention back to your breathing.
Noticing if this is an in breath or an out breath and then noticing the full cycle of breath.
This is the process of focused attention on the breath and it's that noticing of the thought that is a moment of direct mindfulness.
You notice the thought and then come back to the breath.
And as we draw this practice of focused attention to a close,
I'd like to invite you to take three slightly deeper breaths at your own pace.
Now begin to wiggle your fingers and toes.
Roll the shoulders,
Waking the body back up.
And whenever you're ready,
Open your eyes.
I hope you enjoyed learning this exercise and that you'll find it useful for cultivating a calm and focused state of mind.
Thank you for your attention and for practicing with me today.
