Bring attention to the body.
Take note of the posture and ensure that the posture is alert,
But not so alert that one might become uncomfortable.
Ensure that the posture is comfortable,
But not so much that one might become sleepy.
Something in between,
A middle way.
Take note of any tension that may be in the body,
Tension in the face,
Or the neck,
Or shoulders,
Tension anywhere else in the body.
If possible,
Let go of that tension.
Relax the body and bring a sense of acceptance to whatever tension or discomfort might remain.
Right now,
It's like this.
Allow attention to rest with the touch points beneath the body,
The places where the body makes contact with the earth,
The touch points at the feet,
Or the legs,
Or the lower back.
Bring attention to touch points on top of the body,
Places where objects make contact with the body.
This might be touch points with clothing,
Or jewelry,
Glasses,
Or hair.
The air also makes contact with the body.
It might be felt as warmth,
Or coolness,
Or something in between.
It might also be felt as motion,
Or as stillness.
Bring attention to touch points within the body,
Beneath the skin.
This might be felt in the muscles as pressure,
Or tension,
Or softness.
This might be felt in the movement of the abdomen,
Along with the breath,
Or the sensations of breath as it moves through the chest,
Or the throat,
Or the face.
This might even be felt as digestion,
Or even a heartbeat.
All of these sensations together,
All of these sensations beneath the body,
On top of the body,
Within the body,
All of these sensations might give rise to the sense of a whole body,
Just the body,
Being a body,
Sitting,
Or standing,
Or lying right here,
Right now.
Does the body feel like it has a shape?
Does it feel like it has a texture?
What's it like?
Having established embodied mindfulness,
We will now move into contemplation of feeling tones,
Pleasant feelings,
Unpleasant feelings,
Neutral feelings.
We will begin in the head and with pleasant feeling tones.
Aware of the head area,
Bring attention to any sensations that might be pleasant.
Moving into the neck,
Do a brief scan,
Searching for pleasant feeling tones.
Into the shoulders,
The upper arms,
The lower arms,
And hands.
Just scanning for any pleasant feeling tones that may be arising.
Moving into the upper torso,
The lower torso,
And the hips,
Pleasant feeling tones.
The upper legs,
The lower legs,
And the feet,
Pleasant feeling tone.
Whatever sensations that may be present,
Simply checking for those that might be pleasant.
Aware of this whole body and any pleasant feelings arising and passing.
Moving on to unpleasant feeling tones.
Beginning in the feet,
Into the lower legs,
And upper legs,
Just scanning for any unpleasant sensation.
The hips,
The lower torso,
The upper torso,
Unpleasant sensations.
The hands,
The lower arms,
The upper arms,
The shoulders,
The neck,
And the head.
Just scanning for unpleasant sensations.
Simply aware of this whole body and any unpleasant feelings arising or passing.
And moving on to neutral feeling tones,
Sensations that are neither pleasant or unpleasant.
Beginning in the head,
Moving down to the neck and shoulders,
The upper arms,
The lower arms,
And hands.
Just scanning for neutral sensations.
Moving into the upper torso,
The lower torso,
And the hips,
Just neutral sensations.
Moving into the upper legs,
The lower legs,
And the feet,
Just neutral feeling tones.
Simply aware of this whole body and any neutral feelings arising or passing.
And letting go specifically of neutral feeling tones.
Allow attention to rest with all sensations in the body and all feeling tones that come along with them.
Pleasant,
Unpleasant,
Or neutral.
Some sensations,
Some feeling tones,
Might be more compelling and call for attention.
Note these as pleasant,
Unpleasant,
Or neutral.
And allow attention to relax back into the whole body.
Simply waiting for the next sensation and the next feeling tone to call out.
Pleasant,
Unpleasant,
Neutral.
And having explored the bodily feeling tones,
Open awareness to include any feeling tones,
Including those that arise solely on the mental level.
There may be a hedonic tone to experience in general.
The mind may feel pleasant,
It may feel unpleasant,
Or it might feel neutral.
It may fluctuate between these.
There may also be individual thoughts that arise.
Thoughts that come with a pleasant feeling,
An unpleasant feeling,
Or a neutral feeling.
Either way,
Whether bringing attention to the general tone of the mind or the tone of individual thoughts,
Take note of the feeling and then let go.
There's no need to follow them.
No need to answer their call.
And as we bring attention to the feeling tones,
We may notice their impermanence.
We may notice that pleasant feelings become neutral or painful,
Or that discomfort dissipates into neutrality.
We may notice that neutrality becomes painful or pleasant.
We may also notice that the body often is full of unpleasant sensations.
We may notice that the mind zeros in on unpleasant sensations.
We may also notice that with the stillness of practice,
With the stillness of mindfulness,
There may be a subtle,
Pleasant feeling tone in the mind.
There may be a subtle form of joy that comes with practice.
These sensations,
Though,
Whether a subtle joy or a subtle pleasantness,
Or discomfort in the body or neutrality,
They arise and pass away.
Bring attention to the sensations or thoughts and their tone.
Note them and let go.
And letting go of any specific attention to feeling tones,
Any specific attention to the body,
Allow attention to rest with whatever happens to be arising.
This may be sensations in the body.
It might be the whole body.
It might be sounds.
It might be the state of mind.
Just relax with whatever happens to come up.
Continue to practice in this way.
