This mindfulness practice is your breathing anchor practice where you root your awareness into the present moment like an anchor that roots a ship to one place.
This can be helpful to dissolve anxiety,
Decrease stress,
And allow the body to heal in a relaxed,
Peaceful state.
So to begin,
Adopt as comfortable a position as possible.
It's often best to be sitting,
But you can do it in any posture,
Standing,
Lying,
Sitting,
Or even walking.
My guidance will assume you're sitting,
But adapt the instructions to whatever posture you've chosen.
Sitting with your back upright,
Get relaxed,
With your spine following its natural curves.
See if you can establish a position that feels dignified,
Alert,
And yet relaxed,
Allowing your body to settle,
To rest down into gravity,
Letting it to be supported by the floor beneath you.
Finally bring your eyes to close.
Gradually allow your awareness to gather around the sensations of the breath in your body.
Where do you feel the breath most strongly?
Be curious about your actual experience,
Letting go of what you think should be happening,
And being with your experience without judgment.
Very gently rest your awareness within the entire torso.
Can you feel any movement and sensations within the breath in the sides and the back of the body?
Gradually inhabit your body a bit deeper with a sense of kind curiosity towards whatever you're experiencing as you breathe.
A reminder to be accepting of whatever is happening in this moment.
See if you can cultivate a precise awareness of the sensations and movement of the breath in the body as they happen,
Moment by moment.
Allow your awareness to be openly receptive as it rests upon the natural movement of the breath in the body.
Allow the breath to be saturated with kindness as it rocks and cradles the body,
Soothing any stress,
Pain,
Or discomfort you may feel.
Now take a moment,
Become aware of any thoughts and emotions,
Remembering that mindfulness isn't about having a blank mind.
It's normal to think.
Instead mindfulness is the training whereby you cultivate awareness of what is actually happening,
What's happening physically,
Mentally,
And emotionally.
So you can gradually change your perspective and feel you have more choice in how you relate to life.
And so in this moment,
Can you look at your thoughts and emotions rather than from them?
Can you be aware of what you're thinking and feeling without either blocking the experience or being overwhelmed by it?
And remember thoughts are not facts.
As you develop perspective on your thoughts and emotions,
Can you let go of being so caught up in them?
Just take a moment and notice how your thoughts are continually changing one moment to the next,
Exactly the same way your breath is always changing.
Using awareness of the movement and sensations of the breath in your body as an anchor for the mind over and over again.
Follow the breath all the way in and follow the breath all the way out.
Each time your awareness wanders as it will,
Simply note it and return to the breathing anchor time after time after time,
Moment by moment.
And now,
Gently begin to bring the breathing anchor practice to a close.
Bringing your eyes to open gently,
Feeling your whole body and gradually gently begin to move your fingers and move your toes.
Making sure you give yourself time to make a smooth transition from the breathing anchor practice to whatever comes next.
Thank you so much for practicing with me.
