Breath Meditation Using Counting

Awareness of breathing counting the breath bringing your attention to your sitting posture being simply aware that you are now sitting with a straight yet relaxed posture at first simply feeling the physical feelings of the buttocks pressing against the mat or the cushion or chair on which you now sit grounding awareness in this present moment allow a broad awareness to embrace your whole body now for a few moments simply knowing that you are sitting mindfully aware that you are sitting and now we are going to take three slow and deep in and out breaths releasing any tension you may be feeling with the out breath breathing slowly and deeply in all the way into the abdomen and then breathing out relaxing letting go once again breathing deeply in and breathing out putting things down and one more deep in and out breath at your own pace simply breathing in and breathing out now allow your breathing to become relaxed and natural breathing ordinarily at your own natural pace acknowledge that we are now doing a session of sitting meditation other than meditating now we don't need to do anything or go anywhere just taking relaxed natural breaths just breathing just sitting not following thoughts allowing thoughts to simply drop away now with mindful awareness try to feel the area around the top of the head simply aware of the various feelings on the surface area of the skin now include the face and then the ears and the neck now include the upper shoulder area relaxing any tension as you embrace these parts of the body with gentle natural awareness simply aware simply feeling knowing the various feelings on the surface of the skin becoming more aware more alert more in the present moment and at the same time relaxing aware of the shoulders relaxing the shoulders now include the chest in this awareness and then include the stomach area then bring this gentle knowing awareness to include all of your back now include your arms embracing the whole upper area of the body with gentle awareness not judging not discriminating simply knowing the felt sense of this body now sitting accepting the body as it is with an alert yet gentle knowing now include the lower abdomen the area of the groin and the buttocks feel your bottom pressing against the harder surface underneath allowing awareness to shift from the realms of thoughts and emotions and simply settling with awareness of sitting now slowly include the legs and the feet in your awareness carefully knowing the whole body simply sitting knowing the sitting posture now bring your awareness to your in and out breathing becoming mindful of each in and out breath we are going to use a mental noting method now so as to assist our mindfulness in staying with the feeling of the in and out breath we will note in three distinct places at the tip of the nose in the area of the chest and in the abdomen as the breath comes in through the nose mentally note one at the nose as the breath comes into the chest note two at the chest and as the breath comes into the abdomen note three at the abdomen and as the breath leaves the body note three at the abdomen two at the chest and one at the nose the mental noting is gentle and quiet one two three three two one one two three three two one the main meditation object is the feeling of the breath we intend to be aware of the feeling of the breath as it passes through the nose down through the chest and into the abdomen and then aware of the breath as it passes from the abdomen out the chest and out through the nose the gentle mental noting helps us to stay with our meditation object not letting the mind wander off into thinking about this or that aware of the in breath one two three and aware of the out breath three two one aware of the entire in breath and the entire out breath one two three three two one the mental noting is gentle and caring taking care of mindfulness minding the breath watching over each in breath and watching over each out breath one two three three two one aware of the in breath one two three two one one two three two one one in breath one out breath one moment another moment one two three three two one while still being mindful of the entire in breath and the entire out breath we will now change our mental noting method making things more simple more spacious we will now count the breath from one up to five and then back again from five down to one we do this by noting on the first in breath one and on the next out breath one on the next in breath note two and on the next out breath two then three three four four and five five you do this at your own natural pace with the ordinary breath having noted the breath from one up to five we then go back in the reverse order noting the in and out breath five five four three three back down to one knowing one in breath one out breath the next in breath the next out breath counting from one up to five and five down to one at your own natural pace mindfully aware of each in and out breath counting from one up to five one one two two up to five and then from five down to one at your own natural pace mindfully aware of each in and out breath counting from one up to five one two three breath counting from one up to five one two three four five five five five five five five five five five five If you find now that you can feel the sensation of the breathing more distinctly at one of these three places,

You can choose to place your awareness primarily on that one place,

Be it the area of the nose or the chest area or in the area of the abdomen,

Wherever you can feel the breath most clearly,

Allowing awareness to rest with the sensations of the breath in just one place,

Still counting and noting the breath to assist mindfulness.

If you would prefer to continue observing the breath in all three places,

That's fine too.

You can choose whichever seems more peaceful.

There's a couple of times where you could want to put more focus on the breath.

You might notice that even when you observe the breath in just one place,

There are sensations in that one place at the beginning of the in-breath,

At the middle of the in-breath and at the end of the in-breath.

Similarly with the out-breath,

Try to be mindfully aware of all of these subtle changes.

Being aware of the entire in-breath and the entire out-breath in just one area or in all three places as before,

As you prefer.

Change the mind to be with the breath in the manner that seems most peaceful.

There will now be a three-minute period of silence for you to practice mindfulness of breathing,

Noting the breath from one up to five and five down to one at your own natural pace.

One in-breath,

One out-breath.

The next in-breath,

The next out-breath.

One out-breath.

One out-breath.

One out-breath.

One out-breath.

One out-breath.

One out-breath.

One out-breath.

One out-breath.

One out-breath.

One out-breath.

Noting the breath.

One in-breath.

One out-breath.

The second in-breath too.

Second out-breath too.

Up to five.

And back again.

Five.

Five.

Four.

Four.

Three.

Three.

Back down to one.

One out-breath.

One out-breath.

Allowing the mind to rest within these gentle parameters,

Not really going anywhere.

Simply settling into the present moment,

Alert yet relaxed.

Maintaining a clear awareness of each in-breath and each out-breath.

The entire in-breath and the entire out-breath.

Starting from one up to five.

And then from five down to one.

One out-breath.

One out-breath.

One out-breath.

One out-breath.

One out-breath.

One out-breath.

One out-breath.

One out-breath.

If the mind runs off into thinking sometimes,

It's okay.

This is quite normal.

Whenever you recognize that the mind has wandered,

Simply start again.

One in-breath.

One out-breath.

The second in-breath too.

The second out-breath too.

Up to five.

One out-breath.

One out-breath.

One out-breath.

One out-breath.

One out-breath.

When we mentally note like this calmly and quietly in our minds,

It gives the mind a simple task to do,

Gently restraining the mind so that it can rest for a while.

Resting in the awareness of the calming,

Peaceful sensations of the natural in and out breathing.

Aware of the entire in-breath and the entire out-breath.

Resting each breath.

Resting each breath.

Resting each breath.

Resting each breath.

Resting each breath.

Resting each breath.

Resting each breath.

Resting each breath.

Resting each breath.

If ever the mind gets sleepy and you lose count,

Simply start again.

One.

One.

Up to five.

Up to five.

Up to five.

Should you ever find that counting the breath seems boring,

Or if you feel restless,

Remember to try to come down from the head.

Consider that the point of our meditation is not the counting from one to five and from five to one.

The point of the meditation is to be mindfully aware of each in and out breath.

When done correctly,

The counting simply helps us to stay close to the breath.

Try to feel the breath.

To be aware of the breath.

Change the mind to be interested in the breathing.

Trying to take care of each breath.

Care of all the subtly,

Constantly changing feelings involved in in and out breathing.

OK.

One.

Two.

When we are truly mindfully present with the breath,

Each breath is slightly unique,

Different from the previous breath.

The mind becomes peaceful and each breath becomes beautiful.

It takes training for the mind to learn how to rest with the breath in this way,

And this is fine,

There's no hurry.

Sometimes the mind becomes peaceful and sometimes it doesn't.

And this is okay,

This is also natural.

As we become more experienced,

Our meditation becomes more familiar,

More simple.

Mindfully aware of the in and out breathing,

Noting the breath,

Counting the breath from one up to five,

And five back down to one.

Try to be aware of the beginning of the in-breath,

The middle of the in-breath,

And the end of the in-breath,

And also of the spaces between the in-breath and the out-breath.

Be aware of these changes at the three places or in just the one place,

Depending upon what seems easier or more peaceful.

And also be aware of the beginning of the out-breath,

The middle of the out-breath,

And the end of the out-breath.

And then relax if you can into the space between each breath.

Aware of every aspect of each in-breath,

In-breath,

And each out-breath.

Usually,

We note the breath quietly and gently in our minds.

Unappropriate stimuli could be like a butterfly resting on a flower.

At times when there may be a lot of thinking,

We may need to mentally note the breathing with a little more internal volume,

With a little more determination,

But stay gentle,

Firm yet gentle,

Determined but not tense,

Adjusting the quality of the mental noting depending upon what seems appropriate.

Counting the breaths from one up to five,

And then back again,

Simply aware of each in-breath and each out-breath.

One in-breath,

One out-breath,

The next in-breath,

The next out-breath.

Just to wanna say a little bit more about any other,

Replacing all m menstrual training techniques that were used to find the capacity for understanding the detailed.

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In a minute or so,

We will end our meditation session.

Try to enjoy these last few precious moments.

Allowing the mind to rest.

To be still.

And now,

Whenever you are ready,

You can gently open your eyes.

If you like,

You can dedicate the goodness which came from this meditation to a friend or a loved one or someone in need.

Simply determine in your mind that you wish to share,

To dedicate the benefits of this meditation to this person.

Bring this person to mind.

May this person,

May they be well,

May they be happy.

And as you go about your various duties now,

Try to retain some of the natural clarity that you have cultivated in your meditation,

Bringing some of this lucid,

Mindful awareness into the activities and duties of your daily life.

Living a life which is skillful and careful.

A life enriched with mindfulness.

Be well.