Breath Meditation
Remember this is your practice…
When meditating this may be used as a guide, but you may alter, or exclude, making your practice more individualized to what suits you
To begin meditation, find your comfortable seated position with a cushion. The sit bones should be aiming down towards the ground into the cushion, your legs are crossed and your hands placed face down or face up on the knees
Keep your spine tall, your shoulders and face relaxed and slightly tuck in the chin allowing the crown of your head to reach up to the sky for full proper alignment of the entire spine from your tailbone to the top of your head. Essentially you are stacking
Shoulders over your hip
Head over your shoulders and add a chin tuck for neck to come into alignment
Imagine pushing your sit bones into the ground and pulling the crown of the head up to the sky
You may begin your practice by
Choosing an intention for the practice or you may dedicate it to someone or something in need
Becoming aware of your mental, emotional and physical state
not attaching a judgement, just observing what you are experiencing in the current moment
Make a note of your natural breathe by observing the rhythm, rate and temperature of the breath and which nostril the breath is using more consistently, the right or left, as it may change throughout the practice
Breath Awareness Meditation
Bring your awareness to your natural breath and how it feels entering and exiting the body, without changing it
When your mind wanders and you become aware of it, return your attention to the breath, this begins the development of training our minds by choosing what to focus on.
The thoughts or images that do arise are acknowledged without judgement, and we release them so we can return to our focal point, the breath. Here we can imagine our thoughts as clouds floating by us, or a leaving floating past us in a river.
