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How to Meditate: Meditation 101 for Beginners
10 Science-Backed Benefits of Meditation
What is Meditation?
How to Meditate: Meditation 101 for Beginners
10 Science-Backed Benefits of Meditation
What is Meditation?
Benefits of Mindfulness: Mindful Living Can Change Your Life
Mindfulness 101: A Beginner's Guide
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A deeply embodied practice where the breath massages the whole body creating deeper rest and ease. This practice will also promote deeper sleep if done just before bed.
To begin the meditation
establishing a comfortable position.
I recommend you do this breath- based
body scan line down, if you can,
because the body can then be perhaps
a little more relaxed and at ease.
But if this is uncomfortable for
you, then by all means, do it sitting
and you can even do it standing.
And to begin with, let's
take a deep breath in.
And then on the out-breath, allowing
the weight to really settle down onto
the surface it's resting upon, whether
you're sitting, lying or standing.
Feeling into the points of contact
and seeing if you can give the
weight of the body up to gravity.
So allowing the body to come to rest.
Allowing your breathing to
find its own natural rhythm.
And now let's invite our awareness
down inside the abdomen, inside
the belly to inhabit this part of
the body and tuning into breathing.
How's breathing showing up in
your abdomen or your belly?
Seeing if you can allow the belly to
swell a little bit on the in-breath
and subside on the out-breath, but
be careful not to force or strain.
Having a receptive quality
of awareness as you breathe.
And now guiding awareness up to
inhabit the whole chest area.
Resting inside the whole chest area
and feeling inside the movements
and sensations of breathing.
The ribs expanding on the in-breath,
subsiding on the out-breath,
the lungs filling and emptying,
breastbone, rising and falling.
Feel inside these
movements as best you can.
And if for any reason, breathing feels
agitated in the chest area or it's
triggering any difficult motions than
just resting back down in the belly again.
Resting your awareness inside the
whole front of the body, belly and
chest and feeling inside breathing.
The swelling, opening phase on
the in-breath, and a subsiding
phase on the out-breath.
Resting your awareness inside
this rhythm, inside this flow.
And now allowing awareness to
drop into the whole back of the
body, the back of the torso.
Starting, first of all, with the buttocks.
Checking that the buttocks are soft
as they rest on the bed or the chair.
And coming into the lower back,
the middle back and the upper back.
Feeling into how breathing is
showing up in the back of the body.
That breathing is naturally calming
and it's good to practice resting
inside breathing, inside the back of
the body as a way of accessing calm
during the practice today, but also
we can recall this in our daily life.
What's happening in the lower back?
Is the rhythm of breathing, maybe
the shape is changing a little bit
on the in-breath and the out-breath?
Maybe there's a broadening on the
in-breath, subsiding on the out-breath?
And the middle back and the upper back,
the back of the ribs, the back of the
lungs, the shoulder blades in the spine.
Resting our awareness here.
And again, always being
careful not to strain.
We're resting our awareness
inside the natural breath.
The natural flow and rhythm of
breathing deep inside the body.
And broadening to go over the whole
torso, the front, the back, the sides.
And seeing if we can get a sense
of the volume of the whole torso,
expanding in all directions a little
bit on the in-breath and subsiding
and all directions on the out-breath.
360 degree breathing.
And allowing awareness to rest
inside this flow and this rhythm.
Expanding and subsiding,
expanding and subsiding.
Maybe even having a sense of all
the internal organs being gently
massaged by the rhythm of breathing.
And now allowing our awareness
to pour down through the hips, to
inhabit the legs, the upper legs,
the thighs, the knees, the lower
legs, ankles, feet, and toes.
Resting our awareness inside
the hips and the legs.
And maybe sensations are strong and
intense, or maybe they're dull or
even absented, really doesn't matter.
What we're trying to cultivate here is
a quality of inhabiting the legs with
awareness, in whatever way works for you.
And may be there's even a very,
very subtle echo of breathing.
So we've got the bigger movements
in the torso and there's ripples
and flows down through the
hips, into the legs, feet, toes.
Very, very subtle.
Maybe you can't feel anything
at all, that's completely fine.
But just getting a sense of how
the body is so interconnected and
rhythm and movement in the torso
does express itself in a very
subtle way in the legs and the arms.
And now allowing our awareness to flow
back up the legs, back to the torso for
a few moments, this opening, subsiding,
opening, subsiding in all directions.
And now allowing awareness to
pour through the shoulders.
And down into the arms,
the hands, the fingers.
Having the hands resting in the lap
or on the floor or on the body, some
other way, depending on your position.
And seeing if you can give the
arms and the hands up to gravity.
Allowing the shoulders to fall
away from the midline of the body.
And maybe feeling an echo of
breathing in the arms and the hands.
The sense of connection between
the arms and the hands and
this rhythm in the torso.
And coming back up through
the arms, shoulders.
Coming into the neck and the head.
If we're sitting, checking that the
head is poised on top of the spine.
And if we're lying down, checking that
we're giving the weight of the head
up fully to the cushion or the pillow.
Allowing awareness to inhabit the
whole head and the whole face.
Forehead, eyes, cheeks,
nose, lips, jaw, tongue.
And seeing if we can let the whole
jaw, tongue area be soft so the
wind of the breath can flow freely
in and out of the body through this
area, through the back of the mouth.
And now to conclude, let's broaden our
awareness to be aware of the whole body.
The legs and the torso,
the arms, neck, head face.
And having a sense of the rhythm and
flow of breathing in the whole body,
expanding in all directions a little bit
on the in-breath and subsiding in all
directions a little bit on the out-breath.
The whole body rocked and cradled
and massaged by the rhythm of
breathing as you rest here.
And when you're ready, you can
bring the practice to a close
and adjusting your position.
And if you want to stay here
meditating for a bit longer, of
course, that's absolutely fine.
But whenever you finish, seeing if you
can take this quality of awareness with
you as you go into the rest of your day.
Thank you so much for sharing
this time with me coming into
deeply embodied breath awareness.
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