LEADER RESOURCE 1 Breath Meditation
Read at a measured pace, pausing between sentences.
With your eyes closed, relax your body, starting at your head.
Relax your face muscles, and then your neck, letting balance keep your head upright, rather than tension in your neck. Pull your shoulders up to your ears, and then let them drop, feeling all tension drop away.
Relax your belly, your hips, your legs, your feet, letting each part of your body become still. Now bring your attention to your skin, one of the places that our bodies interact with air. We forget that at every moment air is touching our skin. Can you feel the air on your face? Your arms? Is it warm or cool?
Now turn your attention to your breath, the most important way that our bodies interact with air. For a moment, just pay attention to the rhythm of your breath entering and leaving your body. Through the air we touch everything around us. We breathe in oxygen. We breathe out carbon dioxide. The plants nurture us with oxygen. We nurture the plants with carbon dioxide.
Through the air we are connected. The air molecules in this room have been around the world many times, have passed through the lungs of sports heroes and war heroes, presidents and queens, Jesus and Mohammed and Buddha. Breathe in, and breathe in good will toward all beings. Breathe out, and breathe out forgiveness.
Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Offer thanks for the air, and open your eyes.
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