This meditation will practice settling the mind.
Oftentimes the mind is like a snow globe.
If you shake it up,
It gets really cloudy.
But if you allow it to sit and you allow it to settle,
The snow kind of settles down and inside the snow globe is really clear.
And our mind is very similar to that.
Our thoughts,
Our memories are like the snow and they can become really cluttered or cloudy or like the snow that's racing around.
Those are like our thoughts racing around.
And so oftentimes we want to calm that down.
We want our mind to feel free and to feel clear.
So to do this,
In this meditation,
We're going to focus on the breath.
So take a moment and settle your body into a comfortable position.
You can close your eyes or find a soft gaze at some point in front of you.
But make sure your feet are in front of you or in a seated position that's really comfortable.
We want you to just be comfortable and take a breath.
And as we do this,
The mind sometimes gets even busier.
Come back to the breath.
We're going to focus our attention on the breath.
So take a full breath in and a long,
Slow breath out.
And just observe your breathing.
Don't change it.
Notice how your breath flows in and how it flows out.
Just notice it.
Notice how your body breathes.
Notice the rise and the fall of your chest as air passes in and out.
Bringing your attention to a slower inhale and a longer,
Slower exhale.
And if the mind gets distracted or your attention wanders,
Which it will,
It's what the mind does.
Come back to the breath.
We're focusing on bringing our attention and our awareness back to our breath to settle down the mind.
Notice that if any thoughts arise or memories come up,
Bring your attention back to the breath.
We learn to detach from our mind by focusing on breathing.
Breathe in and breathe out.
So simply let the thoughts and memories pass by and bring your attention back to your breath.
Keep repeating this process.
And start to notice the pause at the top of the inhale and the pause at the bottom of the exhale.
Feel the air enter through your nose.
Pause and breathe out through your nose.
Pause.
Now we're going to switch it up.
Breathe in through your nose.
Pause and exhale through your mouth.
Pause.
And take a moment and pick one that's most comfortable for you right now.
Either the exhale through the nose or the exhale through the mouth.
So inhale again through your nose.
Pause and then exhale through your nose or your mouth.
And pause.
And as you repeat this,
In your mind's eye,
Imagine the air coming in through your nose and all the way down to your lungs,
To the very bottom of your lungs.
Feel the lungs expand as they fill with air and then notice them relax again through the exhale.
And as always,
As thoughts or memories or stories come up,
Allow them to pass by.
We detach by bringing our awareness and our focus back to the breath.
We're going to finish now with a full deep breath in.
Pause and a long slow breath out.
Pause.
Namaste.
