Allow attention to rest with the posture of the body.
Take note of any tension that might be present,
Any places where the body is held rigid,
Perhaps in the neck or shoulders,
Perhaps in the face.
And allow such tensions to pass away if possible.
Adjust the body,
Stretch the body,
And find a posture that is alert,
But not so alert that it might become uncomfortable.
Find a posture that is comfortable,
But not so comfortable that one might become sleepy.
Something in between,
A middle way.
Bring attention to the touch points beneath the body.
Places where the body makes contact with the earth,
Beneath the feet,
The legs,
Or the back.
Sensations of pressure,
Contact,
And allow attention to rest with the touch points on top of the body.
Places where other objects make contact with the body.
This could be clothing,
Spectacles or jewelry,
Hats or hair,
Or even other parts of the body.
All these sensations of touch on top of the body.
The air also makes contact with the body.
It can be felt as it touches the skin.
There may be sensations of warmth or coolness or something in between.
Sensations of motion or stillness.
Moving inward,
Allow attention to rest with the touch points within the body.
These could be sensations of softness or hardness within the muscles,
Within the abdomen,
Sensations of movement or stillness inside the body,
Sensations of warmth or coolness,
Maybe even sensations of pleasure or pain.
Allow attention to zoom out a bit and take in all of the touch points of the body.
The touch points within the body,
The touch points on the surface of the body.
All of these sensations together might give rise to the sense of the whole body.
What's that like?
Just this body sitting or standing or lying here right now.
Just being.
Does the body feel like it has a shape?
Does it feel like it has a texture?
What's it like just being embodied?
Allowing attention to the whole body,
To move to the periphery,
Bring attention to the sensations of breath.
Find a place in the body where attention to breath is most comfortable.
This could be at the nostrils or upper lip.
In the back of the throat,
In the chest,
Or in the movement of the abdomen.
Select one of these places in the body and allow attention to rest with the sensations of breathing.
Breathing in,
Know that you're breathing in.
Breathing out,
Know that you're breathing out.
There is no need to adjust the breath or control the breath.
Just allow the breath to be as it is,
Naturally,
With awareness.
If the mind wanders,
Which it may do,
Non-judgmentally return attention to the sensation of breath.
Breathing in,
Know that you're breathing in.
Breathing out,
Know that you're breathing out.
And if the mind wanders,
Bring attention back to the breath.
Breathing in,
Know that you're breathing in.
Breathing out,
Know that you're breathing out.
Attention may get distracted.
The mind may wander from the sensations of breath.
This is normal.
Just start again.
There is no failure with this practice.
Just start again.
Breathing in,
Know that you're breathing in.
Breathing out,
Know that you're breathing out.
And continue to practice in this way.
