Let's begin by finding

a comfortable posture.

This could be sitting,

lying, down or standing.

Something that allows you to be still.

If it's comfortable, you can

invite your eyes to close.

And we'll start by taking

a deep breath together.

In through the nose.

And slowly out through the mouth.

Inviting the jaw to relax and soften.

Allowing the shoulders to be at ease.

And invite the belly and

hands to relax as well.

The breath can come back

to its natural rhythm.

No need to force it or deepen it,

just breathe as you naturally would.

And for the next couple of

minutes, just practice being

with and feeling the breath.

If it's helpful, you could

place one hand on your belly.

Feeling it as it inflates with an inhale.

And deflateswith an exhale.

Just following that soft,

rhythmic motion, I'll give you

some time in silence to practice.

In this meditation, we're

practicing cultivating the calmness

that can come through focus.

Each time we cultivate a quality of

attention and focus on our breath,

we're stabilizing the mind and

experiencing some of the stress

reduction that can come from that.

We'll take it a step further here.

And after each breath, the

invitation will be to count a number.

So it would sound like this inhale,

exhale, and then in your head, count one.

Another inhale, another exhale, count two.

And you just try to do

this until you get to 10.

It's a helpful way to monitor

when the mind has wandered off

so that you could bring it back

and deepen that concentration.

So I'll give you a couple of

minutes in silence to practice this.

If you lose your spot and forget what

number you're at, just come back to one.

There's no gold star.

This is just for your own practice.

So try it out.

Good job.

And just remember to remain

relaxed while you're doing this.

It's kind of like a game, but

we want to be easeful with it,

not get caught up in tension.

Okay.

Let's take one deep breath together.

In through the nose.

Out through the mouth.

And when you're ready, you can reorient

yourself and allow the eyes to open.

Great job.

Okay.

So you got to experience

some counting meditation.

You might've been frustrated with my voice

coming in and interrupting, but remember

this is not to get to 10 and then you win.

The numbers are there to serve as

guidance and they help you recognize

if your attention has wandered off,

because if you've stopped counting

that means you stopped being aware.

So each time you notice that

happening, you just start back at one.

This is something you could practice

on your own, or you could go back

through it in this meditation.

Thank you for your practice.

I'll talk to you shortly and take care.