Blossom Mindful Breathing

Several of the exercises for focusing your attention are about consciously focusing on your breath.

Breathing is something you do either unconsciously or consciously.

Consciously changing the way you breathe appears to send a signal to the brain to adjust the parasympathetic branch of the nervous system which can slow heart rate and digestion and promote feelings of calm,

Relaxation and mental clarity.

Welcome to this meditation.

We will continue to work with the breath.

Let's get started.

Imagine that you're again in nature,

Maybe in a forest or by a river or a mountain.

Find a comfortable position.

It can be either lying down or sitting.

If you're sitting,

Keep your spine nice and direct.

You can close your eyes to maintain focus on the breath and just start to notice the breath.

Now you can recite the following two phrases silently to yourself with your inhale and your exhale.

Breathing in,

I know that I'm breathing in.

Breathing out,

I know that I'm breathing out.

Let's do that again.

Starting with your inhale,

Breathing in,

I know that I'm breathing in.

Breathing out,

I know that I'm breathing out.

I'll go silent now and you can stay here repeating those phrases for a dozen breaths or so.

You can now add the following two phrases.

On the in-breath,

Breathing in,

I smile,

Bringing a little smile to your face and on the exhale,

Breathing out,

I'm free.

Again on the inhale,

Breathing in,

I smile and the exhale,

Breathing out,

I'm free.

Let's combine both of these phrases.

On the in-breath,

Breathing in,

I know I'm breathing in.

On the out-breath,

Breathing out,

I know I'm breathing out.

On the in-breath,

Breathing in,

I smile.

On the out-breath,

Breathing out,

I'm free.

Let's do that one more time.

Breathing in,

I know I'm breathing in.

Breathing out,

I know I'm breathing out.

Breathing in,

I smile.

Breathing out,

I'm free.

Continue to keep repeating these phrases silently in your mind and focusing on the breath.

I will ring a bell at the close of the session.

If your attention moves away from your breath,

You can gently bring it back to your breath.

So so oh Congratulations on completing this meditation.

The great Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh says,

Breath is the bridge which connects life to consciousness,

Which unites your body to your thoughts.

Whenever your mind becomes scattered,

Use your breath as the means to take hold of your mind again.

Remember to come to your breath after one of your routine activities.

Keep smiling and breathing and I'll see you in the next meditation.