Gil Fronsdal of the Insight Meditation Center (IMC) guides this anapanasati (mindfulness of breathing) practice on relaxing the body and the mind as you exhale.
Allowing the peripheral awareness, become aware of what’s happening in the mind.
Soften your belly and as you exhale, release your body into the seat into the cushion, so the whole weight of your body settles.
You don’t have to identify what’s happening in the mind, you just need to know it and breathe. Just allowing peripheral awareness.
As you’re sitting, breathing in and out. If it’s easy enough allow yourself to relax the mind. Relax the thinking muscle. See if you can settle it out. Imagine an agitated water, allow it to settle, be quiet and still.
Maybe every time you exhale is a small movement towards relaxing the mind.
And then noticing what happens to you. What happens to awareness to the activities of the mind.
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