Welcome to the meditation of saying yes to this moment.
Find a posture that allows presence without force.
If you're sitting,
Let the spine rise naturally,
Upright,
But not stiff.
Let the head balance gently over the neck.
Let the shoulders sink a little lower away from the head.
Feel the hands resting easily If sitting on a chair is more supportive,
Sit with both feet connected to the ground.
If your body needs rest today,
You may also lie down on a bed or mat.
Acceptance begins already here.
Not forcing the body into an idea.
Listening to the body as it is.
Allow the eyes to close or keep the gaze soft and low if that feels safer or if it helps you to stay awake.
Take a slow breath in through the nose.
Let the breath fill the lower belly.
Let it rise gently into the chest.
And exhale slowly emptying the body with ease.
Again,
Inhale into the belly.
Into the chest.
And exhale,
Letting the shoulders soften.
One more deep breath in.
Filling the body with attention as you exhale let the body arrive in this moment Begin a gentle upward body scan from the toes and feet.
Start with the toes and soles of the feet.
Notice what is present here pressure,
Warmth,
Coolness,
Tingling,
Pulsing.
Numbness,
Or simple contact with the ground.
Move up through the ankles.
Calves and shin bones.
Let awareness include the knees.
The thighs.
The pelvis and hips As you arrive at the hips,
Sense the legs as whole.
Bow flags resting here.
Alive in their own way.
Now sense the lower belly and lower back.
Notice the movement of the belly with the breath.
Inviting spaciousness.
And ease.
Upper belly.
And the middle back.
The chest,
The heart space and the upper back.
Allow more room in the area of the chest,
Without needing the chest to feel any particular way.
Sense the torso as a whole.
The belly,
Ribs,
Chest,
Back and heart space breathing together.
The shoulders.
Let the shoulders soften and become filled with awareness.
The upper arms.
Elbows.
Your forearms.
To breathe.
The palms and fingers.
Notice aliveness here.
Tingling,
Vibration,
Temperature,
Pressure.
Whole thing.
Now sense the arms as whole.
From the shoulders,
Through the hands,
All the way to fingertips.
Becoming aware of the neck and trapezius muscles.
Muscles spreading from the backside of shoulders all the way up on the backside of the neck to the backside of the skull the throat,
Inviting spaciousness in the throat,
Sensing in the air streaming through it while breathing Becoming aware of the jaw.
Letting the jaw hinges to loosen and to sink the lower jaw slightly.
The muscles around the mouth The mouth from the inside.
New gums.
The tongue.
Let the tongue relax on the lower palate of the mouth.
Softening from the tip of the tongue all the way to its root.
The cheeks.
The ears.
The nose.
The eyes and the muscles around the eyes.
The forehead.
Relaxing the forehead The temple.
The scalp area of the head.
The head as whole,
Just as it is.
Now sense the body as a whole from the fingertips to the tips of the toes.
And the top of the head.
The whole sitting or laying breathing body.
Do not search for a perfect experience.
Just notice what is here.
Make a room for what is happening right now.
Sounds,
Sensations,
Breath.
Forwards passing.
Feeling tone.
Let the experience be known without needing to close around it.
When the mind drifts away into inner commentary,
Planning,
Memory or judgment,
Gently notice that the mind has travelled.
That is normal.
The work is not to stop thought by force.
The work is to remember presence.
Again and again,
Return to the senses.
Return to the body.
Return to this breath.
Notice one thing in your present experience that you have been resisting.
It may be a feeling,
A situation.
Uncertainty,
Tiredness,
Green.
Confusion.
Or self-judgment.
Let it come gently into awareness.
Now notice the second layer,
The resistance to that experience.
Tightening.
Frustration inner argument.
Criticism.
Urgency.
To push to make it disappear.
Can you feel both the original experience and the resistance around it?
This is a gentle form of investigation.
Not thinking more about the problem.
Feeling how the body holds the problem.
Feeling whether even one small edge can soften.
With the next breath,
Quietly say,
This is what is here right now.
Not forever.
Not as a verdict of my life.
Just what is present in this moment.
Let the body soften around the edges of the experience.
Notice whether even a little more space becomes available when the inner argument quiets.
Repeat silently.
I do not need to fight this moment in order to meet it wisely.
I can say yes to what is here and still choose my next step.
Now include the breath.
The body.
And the room together.
Feel how acceptance widens awareness.
There may be sensations.
Sounds,
Folds.
And feelings changing in the foreground.
And there may also be a quiet,
Awake space that can know them.
You do not need to make this happen.
Simply sense whether it is already here.
If self-judgment appears,
Include that too.
Even this can be met with kindness.
Acceptance begins again and again,
Including when the mind judges the processes itself.
Ask gently.
From this more accepting place.
What is one wise next step?
Keep it simple.
Right?
Speak honestly.
Pause.
Move the body.
Ask for help.
Let the answer arise quietly.
If the mind tries to solve everything at once,
You may smile inwardly if that feels natural.
Then return to this body.
This breath.
This moment.
One step is enough.
One simple reminder.
As we move slowly toward the end.
A short reflection inspired by Satipatthana,
The ancient teaching of the foundations of mindfulness.
Body is body.
Feeling is feeling.
Mind as mind.
Experience as experience.
Known clearly.
A health gently.
Not pushed away.
This is where acceptance begins.
To close,
Sense the whole body again.
Feel the contact points.
Feel the breath.
Feel the room around you.
Acceptance is not passivity.
It is a reduction of inner war.
So that wiser action can come.
Take one fuller breath.
And exhale softly.
If the eyes were closed,
Open them slowly.
Carry this grounded self-trust with you.
