simple breath awareness

About this practice

Use this when you need a quiet pause before sleep or work. A guided session of about 9 minutes, suited to beginners. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00Sit on the edge of your chair, feet flat on the floor, and let the chair’s wood settle beneath you.
2. 0:30Close your eyes and hear the faint hum of the ceiling fan, like a distant kettle cooling.
3. 0:58Place one hand on the rise of your chest, the other on the hollow just below your ribs.
4. 1:28Notice how your shoulders drop about an inch as you exhale, as if a small weight lifts.
5. 1:56Turn your attention to the breath that comes in through your nose, cool as rain on a window pane.
6. 2:26Let the inhale fill the space between your ribs, then pause a beat, like a kettle waiting to whistle.
7. 2:54Count the length of each inhale to four, then let the exhale stretch to six, feeling the air leave like a sigh from a sleeping dog.
8. 3:24Breathe in slowly, feeling the air brush the tip of your nostrils, then release it through your mouth, soft as a whisper.
9. 3:52Feel the breath settle in the middle of your chest, a gentle rise and fall, as steady as a clock’s tick.
10. 4:22Observe any thoughts that drift by, treat them like clouds passing over a field, and bring focus back to the breath.
11. 4:50Shift your gaze inward, noticing the tiny pause between each breath, a brief stillness like a kettle’s silence before steam.
12. 5:20Drop any tension in your jaw, let the lower teeth separate just a touch, as if you’ve just taken a sip of warm tea.
13. 5:48Relax the muscles in your forearms, let them soften like a towel drying after a rain.
14. 6:18Stay with the rhythm, allowing each exhale to be a little longer than the inhale, like a tide pulling back.
15. 6:46Bring awareness to the space behind your eyes, a soft dark that does not need to be filled.
16. 7:16Imagine the sound of a kettle finally whistling, and let that tone guide the end of each breath.
17. 7:44Listen to the subtle shift in your chest as you finish each cycle, a quiet reminder of presence.
18. 8:14Gently return your focus to the room, noticing the chair’s texture under you, the floor’s coolness.
19. 8:42When you feel ready, open your eyes slowly, and carry the calm of this breathing into the rest of your day.

Meditation is a practice, not a treatment. If you are dealing with ongoing distress, please also reach out to a professional.