We're going to build an anchor.
An anchor is exactly like it sounds.
It's that which will bring you back to this present moment.
So first,
Bring your focus to your nose and just observe the breath coming and going at the nostril point.
You can do this in lots of ways.
You can station your awareness on the very tip of the nose and not follow the breath in and out,
Or it might be a preference to feel the sensation of breath moving into the nostrils and in time coming back out of them.
It's your choice.
From the perspective of the nose,
Does one side of the nose feel like it's a little bit clogged up or sealed off,
While the other side feels a lot more free?
You see,
Through any given couple of hours,
The opposite side of the nose will kind of seal itself a bit and the other side will be more free.
It's just your internal way of your body regulating itself to either heat you up or cool you down.
For our purposes,
We just want to sense.
And if one side feels more sealed or closed than the other,
Notice now as you breathe,
If you can sense the cool sensation of each inhale at the nose and the warm sensation of the exhale.
Feel that.
Now,
Bring yourself down deeper to the area of the lungs and just take a moment here to observe how the lungs are receiving and releasing the breath.
Again,
There's not a wrong way to experience that.
You might notice or sense how the lungs expand or the ribcage expands as you breathe in and it collapses as you breathe out.
So far,
We've observed the breath at the nostril point and now the lungs.
So let's dive deeper into your body next and we'll bring your focus all the way down to the navel center or the area of the belly button.
And notice at this location,
If you can sense movement of breath.
Now,
Those of you that are taking elongated and full breaths will have movement at the diaphragm.
In fact,
It might feel like the belly expands as you breathe in and like the lungs collapses as you breathe out.
Others haven't really explored that kind of breathing before,
So there won't be a whole lot of movement at the navel center that you know of.
They say that because there is movement at the diaphragm,
But you might sense how the diaphragm moves down towards the pelvic floor or perineum each time you breathe in.
And each time you breathe out,
It floats upward towards the thoracic spine or the area of the ribcage loosely described.
If you're not able to sense that movement in the body,
It's perfectly fine.
We're not judging the experience.
We're just observing it.
So those are the three anchors that which will keep you in this present moment.
We don't want to jump from one to the other in any given meditation practice.
We want to just choose one,
Be that the nostril point or the chest or the abdomen.
And after you choose,
Each time the mind tries to do something else without judgment or being harsh with self,
Simply bring your focus back to the point you chose.
Receive an elongated inhale,
An elongated exhale.
So take a moment now and choose your anchor from that location.
Just allow yourself to breathe in and out,
Then out and out.
As you breathe softly and gently,
Start to become aware of the gaps or the spaces between the breaths.
There's a tiny little gap at the top of the inhale and then a short space after you've exhaled completely.
Exhale greets the inhale.
Just become aware of those two little spaces or gaps.
And let's start to effortlessly enhance those spaces or those gaps.
So breathing in the following fashion,
Inhaling followed by a pause and exhale followed by a pause.
Keep that going now at your own pace.
I'll be silent for the next minute or so so you can continue with that practice.
Breathing in and breathing out.
Ever so slowly now,
Bring your attention back to the room in which you are in.
When you're ready,
Just begin to move and stretch.
On time,
Opening the eyes,
Continuing to feel relaxed and peaceful as you allow yourself to return.
