Welcome,
Please come find a position that allows you to be easeful and restful.
Let the body settle in the way that it naturally wants to do so today.
Gently close your eyes and let yourself arrive here.
There's no rush.
Feeling the support beneath you,
The surface holding your body without effort.
Begin to notice how you are arriving today.
How are you feeling as we start this meditation?
Acknowledging this helps us to let it go so that we can focus more fully on being here.
Take one slow breath in and a long exhale out.
Now start to bring your awareness to the natural rhythm of your breath.
Simply noticing that breathing is happening on its own.
Noticing the depth and the rhythm.
Acknowledging that it is perfect the way it is.
Now allow your awareness to include the body as a whole.
The weight of the body,
Any subtle movements.
Areas of contact with the floor.
Areas of tension or relaxation.
You don't need to focus on anything in particular.
Let your awareness be wide.
If your attention narrows or drifts away,
Gently reopen it to include the whole body again.
Now allow your awareness to expand to the full field of experience.
Sensations in the body,
Sounds near and far.
Thoughts appearing and disappearing.
The breath moving in and out of your body.
What else can you become aware of?
Notice how each experience arises,
Stays for a moment and then passes.
Nothing is eternal.
If something feels pleasant,
Notice the tendency to lean toward it.
The tendency to want more of it or to hold on to it.
If something feels unpleasant or intense,
Notice any impulse to pull back or fix it.
And rather than acting on those impulses,
Simply allow the experience to be acknowledged.
To be coming and going on its own.
Let your awareness rest as the space in which all of this is happening.
Letting your awareness become wider and wider.
Expanding far beyond the body.
How far can you go?
There is no edge to where your awareness can go.
If the mind wanders into stories or effort,
Just recognize that and return to simply being aware.
Being aware of it all.
Simply returning to knowing.
Not knowing about experience.
Just knowing experience.
Now let us rest here in silence.
Just noticing.
Just letting everything be as it is.
Just being a silent observer.
Acceptant of whatever arises.
Pleasant or unpleasant.
Now allow the practice to become even simpler.
No focus.
No instruction.
No technique.
Just sitting.
Just being aware and being acceptant.
When you're ready,
Begin to feel the body again.
The weight of it.
The contact with the floor or chair.
Notice the breath moving the chest and the belly.
And slowly start to deepen your breath.
Bringing some wakefulness back to the body and to the mind.
And when you're ready,
You may open your eyes.
Thank you for practicing today.
Enjoy the rest of your day.
