Bring attention to the posture of the body.
Ensure that the body is comfortable but not too comfortable.
Ensure that the body is alert but not too alert.
Ensure that the body is comfortable but not too comfortable.
Bring attention to the posture of the body.
Ensure that the body is comfortable but not too comfortable.
Relax the face,
The neck,
And shoulders.
And whatever tension remains,
That's okay too.
Right now,
It's like this.
Allow attention to rest with the touch points beneath the body.
Places where the body makes contact with the floor,
With the chair or the cushion.
Sensations of pressure as the body meets the earth.
And allow attention to rest with the touch points on top of the body.
Places where objects make contact with the body.
This might be clothing or hair,
Jewelry or other parts of the body.
The air also makes contact with the skin.
This might be felt as sensations of warmth or coolness,
Something in between.
It might be felt as sensations of motion or stillness.
And now allow attention to move inward to sensations within the body.
Sensations beneath the skin.
This might be sensations of tension or softness in the muscles.
It might be sensations of movement associated with the breath.
There may be sensations of digestion,
Sensations of the heart beating,
Maybe even sensations of discomfort or pain.
All of these sensations together,
The touch points beneath the body,
The touch points on top of the body and the sensations within the body together might give a sense of the whole body.
Just this body sitting here,
Breathing right now.
What is that like?
Does the body feel like it has a shape?
Does the body feel like it has a texture?
What is it like being here now?
And letting go of any specific attention to the body and allowing the sense of embodiment to remain in the background,
Turn attention towards the mind itself.
Turn attention towards the quality of mindfulness and the quality of awareness.
What is presence like?
Perhaps there's a sense of openness or softness.
Perhaps there's a sense of alertness and receptivity.
What is the mind like when mindfulness is present?
Here we are developing intimacy with the state of mindfulness.
In developing intimacy with mindfulness,
We might see clearly when it is present and clearly when it is lost.
In shifting attention to the mind,
Shifting attention to mindfulness itself,
We begin to have less concern with what's happening outside the mind,
Less concern with outside objects.
What is it like to rest attention on the mind itself?
And of course,
At some point,
Mindfulness will be lost.
Distraction will arise.
Perhaps reminiscing about the past.
Perhaps chasing the future.
Perhaps some other type of daydream.
And as soon as we notice,
Smilingly,
Non-judgmentally,
Return attention to the mind.
And reestablish mindfulness.
With short distractions,
Simply return to the present moment with attention to the quality of mindfulness itself.
But with longer distractions,
Feel free to inquire into the undercurrent of the mind.
Was there desire or pleasure-seeking?
Was there aversion?
Was there simple delusion and distraction?
Perhaps there was a feeling tone of pleasant,
Unpleasant,
Or neutral.
The goal here is not to create a new rabbit hole to go down,
But to simply note the undercurrent of the thinking that may have arisen.
To become intimate with the quality of the mind during distraction.
And then smilingly,
With mindfulness reestablished,
Return attention to the present moment.
Return attention to the mind itself.
Allowing attention to rest with the mind.
Not with the content of thoughts,
But simply taking note of the undercurrent of any thought that may arise.
Is there mindfulness?
Is there desire or aversion?
Is there delusion or distraction?
Just as the mind may rest its attention on the body,
So too can the mind rest its attention upon itself.
Just knowing.
Just mind.
Continue to practice in this way.
