Welcome.
My name's Paul,
And I'll be guiding you through the Senses Awakening meditation sequence today.
Closing down your eyes,
Taking a moment to acknowledge the effort you've made to be here,
And how you're feeling right now,
Recognizing that for the next 10 minutes there is nothing for you to do but simply rest.
I invite you to notice your breath as it is,
Not seeking to control or change it,
But just observing it,
Breathing in,
Breathing out,
Noticing whether your breath is fast or slow,
Shallow or deep.
In the practice of effortless meditation,
Whenever you happen to notice your mind is on your thoughts or emotions,
Or just wandered away,
Gently and effortlessly,
Resting your awareness back on your anchor,
Such as your breath right now.
It doesn't matter how many times your mind drifts away,
There is no place to get to,
No state to achieve.
I invite you to tune in to each of your senses,
One by one,
Starting with your sense of touch,
Noticing where your hands are placed and what they feel,
Sensing your clothes against your skin,
Maybe feeling the air gently moving across your skin,
Noticing any other sensations on the surface of your skin,
Feeling where your body is resting on your seat,
Shifting to your sense of hearing,
Becoming aware of the sounds around you,
Noticing whether they are near or far away,
Resting your awareness on the different sounds,
The sound of the music,
Or sounds within the music,
Maybe it's the sound of your breath,
Or the sound of the hum of an appliance,
You might hear sounds from outside the room,
Maybe birds,
The wind,
People or traffic passing by,
Gently drifting from sound to sound at your own pace,
Moving to your sense of smell,
Breathing in and noticing the smells reaching your nose,
Resting your awareness on each smell,
Fragrance and scent,
Noticing any sensations in your nostrils as each smell reaches you,
Observing any reactions to the scents as you inhale them,
I invite you now to explore your sense of taste,
Noticing any flavours lingering on your tongue,
Maybe there is the taste of a drink you had before,
Or some food from earlier on,
Resting your awareness on any taste whether it be intense or faint,
Noticing any other tastes,
Noticing any thoughts or emotions that arise from those tastes,
Or maybe noticing there are no thoughts or emotions,
Moving to your sense of sight,
Keeping your eyes closed,
Resting your awareness on what you can see,
Your whole field of vision,
Maybe there are patterns or movement,
Maybe there's just darkness,
Noticing any changes as your eyes remain closed to what you see or perceive,
Now taking in your observations from all of your senses,
Acknowledging them for what they are in this moment,
I invite you now to rest your awareness on any one of your senses as your anchor for the remainder of the meditation,
It might be your sense of touch or taste,
Sight or smell,
Or a sound around you,
Whenever you happen to notice where you are,
Gently and effortlessly resting your awareness on your sound or other sense as your anchor,
Whenever you remember,
Gradually starting to deepen your breath,
Becoming aware of your body once more,
Aware of your surroundings,
Starting to gently move the tips of your fingers and toes,
Gradually expanding this movement into the rest of your body,
Stretching or twisting in whatever way feels good,
Noticing how you're feeling,
Maybe setting an intention to carry these feelings throughout the rest of your day,
Whenever you're ready you may gently open your eyes or keep them closed and rest a little longer,
Please take as long as you like.
