Invite yourself to take a position of wakefulness and awareness.
Perhaps putting both feet firmly on the floor,
Aligning your spine so that it is straight but not rigid,
And opening yourself up to being here.
Taking a couple of nice big deep breaths,
All the way in and all the way out.
And after a couple of breaths,
Just allowing yourself to settle into a normal rhythmic pattern of breathing,
Without changing it,
Without trying to make it different,
And just settling in.
Bringing awareness to wherever you feel your breath most prominently in your body,
Whether that's in your nostrils,
In your throat,
In your chest,
Or in your belly.
Bringing a curiosity to this breath in your body.
See if you can feel just one breath.
Bringing awareness to the beginning of just one breath,
To the middle,
And to the end.
Bringing careful attention to the inhalation,
Following it all the way in and all the way out.
Perhaps noticing the changes in your breathing.
Noticing how our breath comes and goes very naturally,
With no effort on our part.
And just as thoughts,
Feelings,
And body sensations may come and go,
Just allowing that to happen.
Without grasping the thoughts,
Without turning toward or paying attention to the body sensations.
Just allowing such thoughts to come and to go,
As the breath does.
And when your mind wanders,
As it will.
And when you bring awareness to that wandering,
That is the practice of mindfulness.
That is when you bring it back,
Your awareness,
To the breath.
Just one breath.
That's all.
Just this breath.
You may find at times that you're leaning forward into the next breath,
Or the next task,
The next meeting.
And when that happens,
Return to focusing on just the breath.
Just lean back just a little,
Coming back to this present moment.
Or perhaps you find that you're leaning back,
You're a little too relaxed,
You've lost your focus and the awareness of this moment.
And when that happens,
Bring yourself back to this present moment,
To just this breath.
And this breath.
And this breath.
All you have to do right now is be here.
That's all.
Just be right here.
Time and again,
Bringing your attention back to the breath.
Much like training a puppy dog,
Always bringing them back as that breath runs away from you and your thoughts run away.
Bringing your awareness,
Your kind attention back to the breath.
And as you bring awareness to your breathing and to this moment,
Bring kindness with that,
Allowing yourself the grace to be gentle every time you bring awareness to your thoughts or your list or the story in your head.
That is your practice.
And bringing your awareness and your attention back to the breath without judgment,
But with kindness.
And as you go throughout the rest of your day,
Know that you can always come back to the breath,
Always come back to the present moment,
Just by bringing your attention to the breath.
Thank you.
