Simple Breathing Meditation

(calming ocean wave) Today, we have with us Elaine, and Clella. Thank you so much for being here, delighted to have you. Together, we will explore some simple breath work to help us land and arrive in our practice, and perhaps quiet the mind. Okay? You up for that? The first step is to just come towards the edge of your seat, and make sure your feet are flat on the floor, so grounded on the floor, and just take a few moments to spread the toes, and feel your feet on the floor.

Good, and then beginning to let your spine gently lengthen. So, this quality of lengthening up to the spine, and then drawing your shoulder blades down your back, towards your pelvis. You might get a sense of the shoulder blades gently squeezing towards each other for support, so like hugging in toward spine, yeah. And then allowing the base of the skull to widen. This feeling of widening at the base of the skull.

Good, and you might imagine, with your minds eye, lengthening from the tailbone all the way up to the spine, shoulder blades draw towards each other, and a gentle brightening up through the heart. Beautiful. Now here, in this posture, notice where you can soften and relax any effort through face. So, relaxing through the jaw, and brightening through the fore head, good. Then, just notice what has your attention, so any thoughts or activity, and then begin to let your attention rest on your breath.

Just simply begin to notice your breath. At home, you might do this in a chair, you might do is lying down, you might be sitting on the floor, you might even be at your desk at work, just bring your awareness towards your breath. You might notice that the quality of the breath begins to change. As you notice your breath, observe any sensation through the body. There might be a natural rise through the chest, or the belly.

Notice the quality of the inhale, and the exhale. Yeah. So just a few more moments here. Good. Then, bring your hands towards your lower belly, so letting your hands rest here, on the abdomen, lower belly. Good.

With your hands here, begin to invite your breath to lengthen in the lower belly. You might begin to feel a gentle rise, or an expansion in the lower abdomen. You can keep the eyes open or closed, or soft. We're not trying to force the breath, it's this invitation to lengthen the breath. Again, as you lengthen the breath, notice where in the body you can relax any effort or gripping.

It might be in the jaw, or in the shoulders, or the eyes. We are guiding our awareness inward, towards the sensation, the feeling of the breath, in the hands, and the lower belly. Good, and take two more breaths here. Just completing the full inhale, and the exhale. Good, and then relaxing the effort, let the palms rest on the thighs, comfortably.

Again, lengthening up to the spine. Remember, you have feet, so connecting back down through the feet, lengthening up to the spine. This last technique, so bringing your attention towards the breath in the nostrils. Yeah, and just simply notice the breath moving in through the nostrils, and flowing out. Again, that widening through the base of the skull, the relaxing through the jaw, that gentle support of the shoulder blades drawing in towards your spine.

You might notice the breath feels quite unnatural through the nostrils, perhaps it's a bit more free through one nostril, and clogged in the other, just simply noticing. This is a technique to help guide our awareness back in towards our inner awareness. Taking two more breaths, just simply noticing. Good, and then relaxing the effort of your attention, and just allowing the breath to move freely. Just a few full breaths.

Yeah. And then bring your hands together at your heart. Namaste.