<p class="MsoNormal" style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%" align="center"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><font color="#0000ff"><strong><font size="3">Connecting Mind, Body, and Breath<br /> By Master Wasentha Young</font></strong></font></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Create an atmosphere of silence, fresh air, turn off your phone, and give yourself about five to ten minutes for this meditation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>You can do this meditation from a standing or seated position. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial">If you are sitting, comfortably separate and relax your feet on the floor and sit upright in your chair.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>If you are standing, separate your feet about shoulder or hip width apart; relax your feet on the ground, soften your knees and hips, and with your back straight (not stiff) gently lift your head top.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Overlap your hands just below your navel; about one inch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>If you like you can close your eyes. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Breathe. Like a thread, use your mind to guide your awareness down to the placement of where your hands are on your body. Breathe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Allow your awareness to remain connected to that area.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>If your mind drifts, or you begin to think, you will notice that your awareness has also shifted away from your hands-to-body.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>This is normal and will happen from time to time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Just take a breath and begin again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial">When you are comfortable with this process, softly invite your breath to also touch this place of awareness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>When you inhale it will be much like the torso is a vessel and the breath, water that fills the vessel from the bottom, up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>As you exhale, just allow the breath to leave the body without changing the awareness of hands-to-body.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Enjoy the moments when your mind/awareness, body, and breath come together.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial">This meditation style can help you to feel calm, relaxed, and a sense of inner awareness.<o:p></o:p></span></p>