So let's begin by finding a comfortable way to sit within your body's own natural abilities.
Allow your spine to be straight and upright without being too rigid or stiff.
And let the rest of your body relax around the upright spine.
You may choose to gently allow your eyes to close or have a soft gaze towards the floor in front of you.
Bring your full attention to the physical sensations of sitting still as we begin and end this meditation with the sound of the bell.
There's nowhere you need to go right now,
Nothing you need to do,
And there's no right or wrong way to be right now.
Just allow your breath to be natural as we guide the awareness inward towards the body,
Scanning throughout,
Softening any points of tension held.
Starting with the face,
Softening the brow,
The eyes,
And the jaw.
Bringing the awareness down into the shoulders and allowing the shoulders to rest as you feel the weight of the arms resting and the hands resting.
And bringing mindfulness towards the front of the body,
The chest,
And the heart.
And scanning downwards,
Softening the belly and feeling the points of contact with your seat and the body resting in your seat.
And continue to scan throughout the legs and all the way down to the feet.
Allowing everything to be as it is,
Direct your attention to the sensation of breathing.
Let all sensory experience fall into the background as you bring the awareness to the breath to the foreground.
Take some time to notice where you feel the breath most easily.
Is that in the nose,
The throat,
The mouth,
The chest,
The belly?
And wherever you feel the breath most easily,
Aim and sustain your awareness at this point.
And develop this mindfulness of breathing by following these very simple instructions.
As you breathe in,
Know that you're breathing in.
And as you breathe out,
Know that you are breathing out.
Of course,
You'll notice that the attention will be drawn back into the thinking mind over and over.
The mind's tendency to wander is both acceptable and normal.
Each time you notice the attention wander,
Just simply guide it back into the breath.
It may be helpful to silently label the word in on the inhalation or out on the exhalation,
Using these labels to guide our awareness back over and over.
As you train the mind to connect and sustain attention with the breathing,
It is important to bring in a quality of kindness and understanding to the practice.
I invite you to bring a quality of friendliness towards every part of your experience.
Breathing in,
Calming and steadying the mind.
Breathing out,
Softening the body.
Breathing in,
Calming and steadying the mind.
Breathing out,
Softening the body.
Bring the attention back to the simple sensation of breathing over and over.
Breathing in,
Know that the breath is coming into the body.
Breathing out,
Know that the breath is leaving the body.
And we will practice in silence until you hear the sound of the bell.
