Breathing meditation

Incense-filled nostrils on the in-breath,
aware of cold nose on the out-breath.
Breathing down in the body,
gentle expansion, gentle retraction.

Aware of breath in the hands,
soft, undulating breath,
hands take on a new identity,
not mine, but part of me,
expanding and retracting,
a new awareness of hands.

Sitting, breathing.
Incense-filled nostrils on the in-breath,
aware of cold nose on the out-breath.

A pain in the back
comes to the forefront of awareness.
Don’t push it away,
don’t wish it away.
Breathe into it, and out from it.

Be with it, embrace it.
It is part of sitting meditation,
part of breathing meditation.

© 6 August 2013