And then gently invite your awareness to come to your body,
Sending it down to those areas of your body that are in touch with the surface that you're sitting on.
Just taking some time to settle into your body,
Into your posture,
Feeling the groundedness,
The contact with the chair or the cushion.
Just allowing your entire being to settle in,
To become present.
Feeling your lower body giving you stability.
And from that sense of stability,
The upper body rises up,
Sitting with a tall spine in a relaxed way,
Shoulders and arms soft,
Your head in balance upon your neck and a little smile on your limbs.
Feel your entire body.
And in that body,
Start to notice the movement of the breath.
Notice the flow of the air in and out of your nostrils.
Notice the gentle rising and falling of your chest and your belly.
And allow the breath to move in its own unique way,
Just as it is in this moment.
There's no need to change it.
There's no need to judge it.
Just notice.
See if you can enjoy it.
Enjoy the gentleness of this movement that is always present.
See if you can follow a full cycle of your breath,
Starting at the in-breath,
Following all the sensations that go with the in-breath,
Noticing how at some point the in-breath changes into an out-breath with different sensations,
And how at the end of the out-breath there is a moment of silence,
A moment of emptiness.
And from there,
A new in-breath starts taking place all by itself.
You don't have to do anything for that.
Witness your breath cycle after cycle,
Allowing this rhythmic movement of the breath to bring you calmness and peace.
One breath at a time,
The gentle flow of air in and out.
By resting with the movement of the breath in this way,
We can remind our nervous system and our minds and our entire being that it's okay to just calm down,
To just be present,
To step out of the mode of doing and achieving,
To take some time to just be.
And in this time of being,
Everything can settle back into its natural,
Right balance.
Maybe in the last few minutes,
You have noticed a shift in the pace of your breath.
It could well be that it settled down and became more calm and deep in its own natural way,
Without you doing that.
It's your body,
It's your nervous system settling back to a healthy balance.
And a little smile on your lips is just a reminder of how joyful this can be,
Allowing yourself space to just sit,
Relax,
And focus on your breath.
And it may well be that you also notice thoughts passing through your mind,
Things that randomly pop up,
Take your attention,
And after a while disappear,
Giving space to new thoughts.
This thinking mind can sometimes be very active,
But we don't have to make that a problem.
Just as the breath may be naturally calmed down,
So will the mind.
Just allow it its time and space.
And whenever you notice that you are taken away by a train of thoughts,
Bring your awareness back to your body and back to your breath,
Back to resting and residing in this moment.
And if a thought pops up and you notice it,
You can have a little look at what the thought is about,
So that you are aware and you are acknowledging the thought being there.
And then you can also very mindfully and intentionally let this thought know that in this moment,
It doesn't have any relevance.
If it's really important,
You'll come back to it at a later time.
So in this way,
We can unplug from the thinking mind and allow ourselves the space to just be.
When we are present in this way,
It becomes also more possible to tap into how we are feeling.
To check in with ourselves.
Are there any emotions or is there a certain mood?
And if there is something on the foreground for you in this moment emotionally,
Allow it to be there.
Give it its space.
It's all okay.
Another aspect of the experience in this moment may be the note of sounds.
Sounds that are present around you.
And in the same way,
We can allow the sounds to be there,
Simply because they already are.
Instead of having an opinion about them,
It's accepting them.
Noticing their impermanent nature coming and going.
And sitting back and observing our experiences like this,
Is sitting back and observing life.
Seeing the ever-moving nature of life.
All phenomena,
All experiences coming and going,
Ever-changing,
Like a big streaming river.
And we are part of that river.
Our thoughts,
Our feelings,
Our experiences,
They have an impermanent nature.
They are not stuck.
They're changing all of the time.
Can we be okay with that?
Can we be present in the moment without grasping onto certain pleasant experiences or trying to ward off difficult ones?
Can we allow life to bring it all?
Can we find a space within ourselves to harbor whatever comes and to allow to leave whatever wants to go?
And in the midst of this ever-changing movement,
Our bodies and our breath are always present.
So they can function as an anchor,
As a safe space,
A home,
Where we can always come back to.
Feeling our groundedness and our presence as a witness to life.
And may this practice of grounding ourselves and connecting to the mode of being,
Letting go of the mode of doing in which we need to achieve and to fix.
Can that practice help us to allow life to unfold in its own unique way,
Moment to moment,
Day to day?
And feeling your body,
Feeling the contact with the cushion or the chair.
Feeling your breath.
And after you hear the bell,
Take your time.
Take your time to gently end the meditation,
To maybe make some movements.
And then when you feel ready,
You can open your eyes.
