Affectionate Breathing.pdf

Affectionate Breathing

Please find a quiet, comfortable place to sit. Sit in a way that your bones are supporting

the muscles and you don’t need any effort to remain in one position for the whole

exercise. To do this, try keeping your back straight and gently supported, with your

shoulder blades slightly dropped and your chin gently tucked toward your chest.

Take three, slow easy deep breaths to relax and let go of whatever burdens you’re

carrying around. Then let your eyelids gently close, or partially close, which ever makes

you more comfortable.



Now bring your attention to your breathing. Pay attention to where you notice

your breathing most easily. Some people feel it at the nostrils, perhaps as a cool

breeze on the upper lip. Other people can feel the chest rising and falling. Still

others feel the breath most clearly in the abdomen, as the belly expands with

every in-breath and contracts with every out-breath. Gently explore your body and

discover where your breathing is easiest to notice.



Just feel your breath for awhile. When you notice your mind has wandered, feel

your breath again.



Some people find it easier to pay attention to only part of the breath cycle—the

inbreath or the outbreath. If you like, notice when you feel your breath more

easily—when you exhale or when you inhale. Just feel it then, and then take a

little vacation. Just wait for the inbreath or the outbreath to return, whichever part

you feel more strongly. Feel that breath, and then wait again for it to return.



Let your body breathe you —it does that automatically anyway.



Now put your hand on your heart for a moment to remind yourself that you will

be bringing kind attention to your breathing.



Be aware how your breath nourishes you whether you are paying attention to it or

not. It is with you from birth until death, more loyal than your closest companion.

Allow yourself to appreciate this automatic process that sustains your life

wherever you go. See if you can incline toward your breathing like a mother

might incline toward a beloved child, with curiosity and gratitude.



Your mind will wander away from the sensation of the breath many times every

minute. Don’t worry about how often your mind wanders. Gently return to the

feeling of your breathing when you notice that your mind has wandered



Now just for a moment, savor the stillness of your body, and then slowly, gently

open your eyes.