Just Breathe

Watching the breath is not something we need to reserve for our meditation alone. It's with us wherever we go, an anchor for our focus, a place to rest our mind, ever present until it's not. So as long as we're alive, our breath is with us. It's an object of constant focus that we can come back to again and again. And of course it's a useful obstacle within our meditation and that helps develop some familiarity of resting with the breath, but it's also there throughout our day. And very often, in coming back to the breath, we reestablish that quality of mind, that feeling of being more present. So as much as possible, whether we're engaged in sort of strong physical exercise, whether we're simply sitting down relaxing, every now and again just checking in with the breath, and noticing what it's doing, noticing how it feels, not thinking about it but simply being present with the sensation. So making sure you're not gonna be disturbed for the next couple of minutes, just getting yourself comfortable, eyes open. And when you're ready, just starting with a big deep breath. In through the nose and out through the mouth. As you exhale, just noticing how the body softens, gently closing the eyes, and just failing the weight of the body, pressing down. Noticing the different sounds around you, allowing thoughts to come and go, allowing sounds to come and go, just settling into the space. And as you bring the attention back to the body, just noticing how the body feels right now, any sense of movement, stillness. And just beginning to notice the movement of breath in the body. And noticing whether you feel it more in the chest, the stomach, perhaps around the diaphragm. And just following that movement, without changing the breath in any way at all, just following that natural movement. Noticing when the mind wanders and then gently bringing the attention back again. And then letting go of that focus as you bring the attention back once again to that feeling of weight, of contact, starting to notice the space around you any sounds, any smells, And when you feel ready, you can open your eyes again....