Awareness of breathing meditation Start by finding a comfortable position.
You can sit in a chair,
On a cushion on the floor.
If you're in a chair,
Then place both feet flat on the floor,
If that's comfortable for you.
And if for whatever reason sitting is not possible,
Then feel free to lie down.
See if you can sit with a straight back,
Without being rigid.
And take some time to settle in your posture.
And then close your eyes when you're ready.
If you prefer to keep your eyes open,
Then you can let your gaze be soft and rest in front of you on the floor.
And now with your eyes closed,
You can become aware of your body sitting.
Feeling the points of contact of your feet and your legs with the floor,
The chair or the cushion.
Notice your buttocks weighing down,
Letting the sitting bones sink a bit deeper down onto the surface that you're sitting on.
Feel the way the spine is lifting up from the lower back.
Let the crown of the head rise upwards,
Toward the ceiling,
And the sky above.
Maybe slightly opening space in the back of the neck,
So that the chin is tilted down and inwards a bit.
Let the shoulders fall away from the ears.
Let your arms and hands rest in an easy and effortless way,
On your thighs,
In your lap.
This is the body sitting.
And now,
Gently,
You can start becoming aware of the breath.
Bring your attention to the sensations of breathing,
Wherever you feel them.
Maybe in the belly,
Or you feel the rising on the in-breath,
And falling on the out-breath.
Maybe you feel the flow of air entering the nose while breathing in.
Coming in,
Feeling a bit cool,
And on the out-breath going out a bit warmer.
The air touching your upper lip.
Maybe you feel the chest and the ribcage expanding and releasing.
So just explore a little bit the sensations that you experience.
And let your attention rest wherever that feels most natural and easy for you.
When the mind drifts off in thought,
Which happens inevitably,
Just kindly and gently take note of that.
This is what the mind automatically does.
As soon as you notice that the mind is thinking,
Planning,
Worrying,
Or fantasizing,
Just take a moment to become aware of this.
Widening your field of awareness,
And give yourself the opportunity to start connecting to the breath again.
Notice how the body breathes itself.
No need to control or fix anything.
Just observe the breath the way it is.
Maybe it's deep or shallow.
Fast or slow.
And just follow its natural rhythm.
You might feel the entire inflow and outflow of the breath.
All the way from the nose into the lungs,
Filling your body,
And then moving out again,
The air releasing.
Or you can simply let your awareness rest at the rising and falling of the belly.
Or you might want to feel this whole body breathing.
No matter how often the attention slips away,
That's just how often you regain awareness of that happening.
No need to judge or criticize yourself for this.
You can simply start again with the beginner's mind to feel and explore in a relaxed way the sensations and the movements caused by the breath.
No need to judge or criticize yourself for this.
Allowing to let the awareness rise.
Let the awareness rest in the most simple way.
The rhythm and the base of the breath.
When you hear the bell in a few moments you can start moving a bit,
Stretch and gently allow your eyes to open or you can continue to sit and practice for a while longer.
Let the awareness rise.
Let the awareness rise.
Let the awareness rise.
Let the awareness rise.
