Tara Brach - Meditation: Breath by Breath

Episode Date: August 25, 2022

Meditation: Breath by Breath - Our breath can be a home base that allows us to meet life with a relaxed, wakeful presence. This meditation helps us calm and settle the mind with long deep breathing, and then establishes a mindful presence with our natural breathing. When distracted, we learn to relax back again and again, learning the pathway of homecoming to the aliveness, openness and mystery that is always Here.

The following meditation is led by Tara Brock. To access more of my meditations or join my email list, please visit tarabrock.com. We open our meditation in a simple way by reflecting on what matters to us, what your intention is for being right here, right now, what your deepest or most sincere intention is. So sensing what your heart cares about. Feeling your sincerity will be chanting together from this place of caring and sincerity,

a universal mantra, Ome, the sound current of connectedness. You might want to bring the palms together gently in front of the heart as a way to really collect your attention, center yourself. And projecting from that heart space, we'll chant three times the mantra Ome. You might start by inhaling deeply. Become aware of this body sitting here and breathing. Then extending the breath so that the in-breath is long and full and deep. And letting the out-breadth again be slow, slow, even. So the in-breadth and the out-breath are matched about five counts, a slow, long, deep in-breath,

A slow release, letting go with the out breath. Inhaling slowly about five counts and a slow release. Continuing in this way with a long deep in breath, without a pause in between matching the out breath and length, letting the breathing be smooth, continuing with this conscious breathing. If it feels like a strain, then it's fine to have it the breath be a little, shorter, maybe four counts, or if it feels like slowing down can work, you can make it

six counts. With the breath, long, deep, smooth in breath, slow release with the out breath. Now discontinue any controlling of the breath and notice what it's like to let the breath breathe itself totally naturally, a relaxed attentiveness. As you attend to the breath you might notice where it's easiest to feel the breath or maybe most pleasant. Might be at the nostrils, the in-flow outflow there. It might be a rising, falling sensation at the chest or maybe the expanding and deflating

at the belly. You might prefer feeling the whole body breathing, like inflating and expanding with the in breath even in a cellular way and relaxing, settling with the out breath. Wherever you find the breath easiest or most pleasant to detect, rest with the breath there, sense the possibility of relaxing with the movement of the breath. It's very natural that the mind will drift away. a problem. When that happens it's just an invitation to practice arriving again. When you notice you're often thoughts you can even mentally note that, oh thinking, thinking and gently

relax back, shepherding the attention to the next in-breath or out-breath, rising breath, falling breath. Since the breath is a home base, the breath can be at the center of your attention, still aware of the background of sound, aware of the background of sensation throughout the body, feelings, letting your attention be to notice when the mind wanders, and then to relax back again. Let the breath help you to know that you're right here. You might even mentally whisper the word here and sense the immediacy and aliveness of presence. Breath by breath, relaxed, interested attention. If something arises in this heerness that's intense or challenging, strong physical discomfort,

difficult emotion, fear, sorrow, anger, and you can let the breath recede into the background, still feeling it perhaps, but let what's here be in the foreground, offering a gentle attention to the life that's presenting. If there's fear you can keep breathing with it. Perhaps mentally note, oh, fear, okay, fear's here. So you're saying yes to whatever arises. including it in this open presence. When it no longer calls your attention, and coming back to a full presence with the breath, you can

begin fresh in any moment. Feel free to start again, re-relaxing a bit through the body, maybe letting go in the shoulders, softening, relaxing the hands, softening the belly. relaxing your heart, taking perhaps a few full breaths, collecting the attention, and then resting, relaxing with the breath, wherever you find it easiest or most pleasant to be with. If the mind is off in thoughts, let this be a moment of reawakening. Just notice the thinking and sense the possibility of relaxing back again, of the sounds around you, of the sensations in your body, of the inflow and outflow of the breath.

Notice the difference between this aliveness and presence and any thought you might be inside of. Can you sense the mystery and vividness of being right to? here right now, breath by breath, relaxing, resting in presence. We close by bringing the feeling of the breath and that gentle presence to the region of the heart, breathing in and out of the heart. And sense whatever wish or blessing you'd like to offer to your own being, what do you wish for yourself right now? to mind someone who's dear to you, someone you care about and hold them in your heart,

sense what your wish is for that person, mentally whisper your wish with the person's name. Sensing the heart boundless and open including all beings on this earth, all beings everywhere, sensing your wish for the well-being, the happiness, the peace and the freedom. May all beings everywhere awaken and be free. Namaste and thank you.