Welcome to a short introductory mindfulness practice.
My name is Megan,
I'm the Director of Simply Mindful,
And I'm really pleased you can join us today.
Inviting you to find a comfortable place to sit or lie,
Preferably somewhere you won't be disturbed.
And give yourself permission to take a few minutes out to take good care of yourself,
Settle,
And bring your attention into the present.
Everything in the practice is optional,
So please just take care of yourself,
Do what feels right for you,
And feel free to make adaptations as you need.
When you're ready,
Bringing your attention to your whole body sitting here,
And noticing any obvious places of tension or tightness,
And seeing if you can soften or loosen them up.
And to begin with,
Bringing your attention to what you can see,
Whether you're in a really familiar place or an unfamiliar one.
You might notice colors,
Shapes,
Lines,
Shadows.
Seeing if you can bring an artist's eye or a photographer's eye to this.
A really open,
Curious,
Attentiveness.
Letting your attention move slowly from something that draws your eye to the next thing,
There's no rush.
And letting your attention move to sounds,
Noticing sounds coming and going.
As you notice a sound,
Gently acknowledging it and letting it go.
Leaving space for the next sound to arise and draw your attention.
And in this way,
Moving from sound to sound,
There's no rush.
Inviting you,
When you're ready,
To let your attention shift to sensations in the body.
And in the same way,
Noticing sensations as they arise and draw your attention.
Moving from sensation to sensation.
Inviting you,
When you're ready,
To choose whether you'd like to tune in to what you can see,
What you can hear,
Or what you can feel in the body.
Just resting your attention here,
Noticing what arises moment to moment,
As best you can.
Feel free to continue practicing for as long as you like.
Thank you so much for joining us today.