Welcome to the awareness of breath meditation,
A mindfulness practice to help you develop focus and attention with the attitude of curiosity and kindness.
So sitting in a comfortable position with a straight back,
Making sure your feet are firmly planted on the ground,
Your hands are resting on your thighs,
Palms facing up or down,
Your shoulders are relaxed and lowering or closing your eyes,
Simply becoming aware of the fact that you are breathing.
Breathing at your normal pace,
Not trying to change it or make it special.
Following the full cycle of your breath as you breathe in,
The pause between the in breath and the out breath,
The out breath and the pause between the out breath and the in breath.
Following the full cycle of your breathing at your own pace.
Whenever you feel ready,
Starting to notice the sensations of breathing in your body.
So giving your full care and attention to the breath moving in and out of the nostrils or feeling the sensations of breathing in the chest region.
So as you breathe in,
Your chest expands and as you exhale the relaxation in the chest.
You may choose to notice the sensations of breathing in the abdomen.
So as you breathe in,
The abdomen rises and as you exhale the abdomen relaxes.
So finding one place in your body where you can feel the breath most distinctly and resting your awareness there.
From time to time you'll notice that your mind has wandered away and as soon as you notice that,
Simply coming back to the breath with kindness and without giving yourself a hard time.
Resting in the awareness of your breath.
Knowing that even when life gets chaotic,
You can always find a place of stillness within you,
Using your breath as an anchor to be here now.
And if your mind wanders a hundred times,
Simply coming back a hundred times to this breath,
To this moment.
And every time you come back to this moment,
Just taking a moment to notice what it feels like to be fully alert and awake to this moment.
Even if only for a moment,
Exploring what it feels like to let go of any expectations of how things need to be,
Of any thoughts and emotions.
Simply being fully present to every in-breath and every out-breath and seeing how it feels to be awake to this moment,
To this breath.
Bringing a gentle curiosity to the sensations of breathing.
Noticing what's here for you in this moment as you breathe in and you breathe out.
And in a few moments,
I'll be ringing the bells to end the practice and taking this time to acknowledge how your body and mind feel when you take a few minutes to be present and attend to yourself in this special way.
And even as we end the practice in this way,
Continuing to cultivate these qualities of awareness,
Alertness and ease through the rest of your day.
