Expansive Spacious Awareness as a Safe and Holding Container In this exercise we will observe the breath and exercise noticing when the mind naturally drifts off from what we are doing,
When it is somewhere else other than here in the now moment where the body is,
Where life is.
Mind wandering is what minds do and are very good at,
It's normal,
So don't get frustrated about that,
Just accept this as a matter of fact as it will happen several times throughout this exercise.
Just be attentive when the mind,
When you notice the mind wandering about,
You will immediately return to the present moment with the focus of awareness clear and fully on your chosen object of concentration.
I will be using the breath as our concentration anchor,
But you may choose whichever other object of concentration,
Such as sounds,
Bodily sensations like your hands,
Feet,
For example.
Begin by finding a pleasant posture that allows your body and mind to relax,
Choose a seat position if possible,
But lying down is also fine.
The ideal posture is one without rigidity,
Which provides comfort and relaxation,
But an alert position,
Which does not induce sleep.
You can leave your eyes slightly open or gently closed,
If you prefer.
For beginners of this practice,
I would recommend keeping your eyes closed,
But with your mind alert,
Awake.
Let's start with a mindfulness of breathing,
Take three slow and deep breaths,
Smile.
Smiling is a relaxing act and it also sends a message of security and comfort to the brain.
If possible,
Inhale through your nose and smile as you feel the air coming in.
And with a nice smile,
Exhale as you feel the air coming out of your nostrils or mouth.
Again,
Breathe in,
Smiling to relax the face and mind,
The chest expanding,
And exhale.
Let go,
Relax the belly and the mind.
Smile,
Breathe in,
Relax the face and mind,
Exhale,
Smile,
Let go,
Relax the belly.
Again,
Inhale,
Aware of the belly and chest expanding,
Relaxing.
Now,
Exhale,
Relax the body,
Relax the mind,
Let go.
Continue inhaling and exhaling naturally,
In your own pace and rhythm,
And investigate where you feel your breath most clearly.
For some,
The tip of the nose is more clearly noticeable,
For others,
Around the nostrils,
Feeling the cool air coming in and the warm air coming out of the body.
It can also be noticeable in the expansion of the chest,
The movement of this expansion.
Some feel this vital force in the belly,
Feeling when we breathe in and emptying when we exhale.
Where you feel the breath most clearly is exactly where the presence of the breath is being noticed by you.
If you can't feel it right now,
If you can't feel the breath,
Just smile and keep breathing naturally,
Without forcing or manipulating the breath in any way,
Until it naturally unveils itself.
The breath breathes by itself,
It doesn't need you.
It already knows what to do at its own pace and rhythm.
Just keep your attention in its presence and respect it,
Thanking it for keeping you right here in the now moment,
Where life lives.
Now let's do a little journey into our body,
Observing which presence is visiting our home.
Begin with the feet.
Check any felt presence and sensation in the feet.
You may notice a tingling sensation,
Vibration,
Pulsation,
A sensation of coldness,
Warmth.
What is present on your feet right now at this very moment?
You may be feeling nothing at all,
And that's fine too.
Move up the legs now,
Both legs simultaneously,
Noticing any sensations you may feel here.
The pelvis area.
Anything going on here?
Here.
Hips.
Up to the belly now.
Here you are likely to feel the physical movement of life,
The belly expanding and contracting as the breath comes in.
And it goes out.
Move your awareness now to the chest,
Feeling its expansion and contraction as you breathe in and out.
We tend to think about the breath,
The air coming in and coming out,
We think about it,
But this is not what we want here.
We want to notice the breathing,
The physical sensations that it is producing in the body.
The belly rising and falling,
The chest expanding and contracting,
The feel of the cool air in the nostrils,
The warm air going out.
This is what you are looking for here.
We are scanning the body,
Running through some part of our body,
Letting our breath lead our focus of attention,
Driving the steering wheel as it were,
With our clear and full awareness in every bodily sensation through the presence of life within us,
Brought and fed and led by our breath.
Notice the breath,
Notice any presence,
Any felt sensation and smile.
Smile with a journey of life in your body,
Smile to life.
Let's continue moving down to the arms now,
Both arms.
Wrists and hands,
The palm of your hands.
Any sensation around here.
You may notice some vibrations,
Presence of coldness,
Warmth,
The temperature of your hands.
Move your awareness now to the shoulders,
Always letting the breath lead your attention.
Inhale,
Smile,
Exhale,
Letting go,
Smiling,
Relaxing.
Awareness now in the chest,
Feeling its expansion and contraction as you inhale,
Exhale.
Awareness going now towards the neck,
All around the neck,
Feeling it holding the head.
Moving up to the face now.
Open the jaw and smile,
The whole face naturally relaxes.
Just notice this movement,
The felt sensation of the smile,
The cheeks and the lips.
Feel the nose,
The eyes,
Those tiny muscles around the eyes.
Allow your attention now to follow your awareness entering the forehead.
Smile,
Inhale,
Exhale.
Smile and release the tension with the air going out of your body and try to notice the muscles of your forehead relaxing.
Up to the crown of the head now.
Inhaling,
Exhaling,
Relaxing your whole head,
Your whole body,
The whole body relaxing,
Letting go.
You should now be feeling more relaxed with your mind and body in tune with one another.
Let's now meditate on noticing what we notice as we notice it in a relaxed way,
Without clinging or rejecting anything that comes to our attention,
But just registering it without judging.
You may name what naturally comes to the attention of your awareness.
For example,
When you notice a sound,
Simply register it as sound without following it with associations or any other recollections it may bring up.
When a thought arises,
As it will,
A fantasy,
A judgmental comment,
Negative comment or even a positive comment,
You may record it only as thoughts,
Keeping your mind open,
Receptive to anything that is happening in this very moment.
A memory,
A past recollection or a plan,
Something you intend to do in the future may come up to your mind.
You just name it as past or future,
Respectively,
Without following its details and commentaries.
You may notice an emotion or a feeling,
Such as sadness,
Peace,
Anger,
Frustration,
Irritation,
Whatever it might be,
You simply call it emotion.
Letting it simply be here as it is.
If a pain,
A cramp or any other physical sensation,
Tingling,
Itching or any other bodily sensation appears,
Come up,
You just let it be.
You stay with it for a while and be open to any sensations,
To any felt sensations,
To anything that comes to your awareness,
Attention.
Just let it be,
Just let it go,
Just let it be.
It won't stay here long,
So just stay with it until it goes.
I will leave you now,
Briefly,
So that you can observe for yourself what is happening right here,
Right now.
All the presences of life through you allow your awareness to be as it naturally is.
Open.
Receptive.
Spacious.
Unbiased.
Ok,
We have now come to the end of this meditation.
I hope your experience with this exercise has helped you see those thoughts,
Sensations,
Emotions are just what they are.
Thoughts,
Sensations,
Emotions,
Mental or bodily objects which can be seen or felt simply as they are,
Without us getting attached to them in a way that does not serve us.
They are here just to show us our humanness and that there is nothing wrong in having feelings,
Emotions or thoughts,
They are just passing through our minds.
Like a cloud in the sky,
Sometimes they are heavy,
Black and rain,
Sometimes they are fluffy and gorgeous.
Whatever they might be,
The sky behind them is always spacious,
Always expansive,
Enough to hold all these things in a safe,
Kind and supportive,
Healthy way.
You take great care of yourself,
My friend.
I see you next time.
