Coming into a position that's comfortable.
Letting your body ease into your posture.
Where you can feel your body begin to let go of held tension or stress.
Let go of expectations or responsibility.
Awareness more deeply into your body with a few full inhalations and complete exhalations.
Letting the muscles and the joints soften and settle with each exhale.
Letting your breath return to its natural rhythm,
Uncontrolled,
Unconstrained,
Just letting the breath breathe.
Each breath unique,
Each breath the right one for the moment.
But continue with the intention to let each exhale increase the release,
The letting go.
Sensing into the air on your skin,
The lightness,
The rising.
And sensing into the stability and solidity of your body.
Resting into the surfaces beneath it.
Surrendering to gravity.
Softening the muscles of the face.
Inviting any tension in the neck and the shoulders to release,
Letting the arms be heavy.
Bringing awareness into the hands.
Letting awareness flow on down the body.
Deepening your connection to your body with each inhale.
Letting the awareness scan lower down through the torso.
Through the hips into the foundation of your seat.
Flowing on down the legs.
Coming to rest in the feet.
Aware of sensations in the feet.
The weight of the feet on the floor.
Sensations of aliveness inside the feet.
Inside the hands.
Inside the breath.
How can we begin to allow things to be as they are,
To let life unfold in its own way?
We begin by letting go.
Letting go of expectations.
Letting go of ruminations about the past or worry about the future.
Letting go of thoughts of other people,
Other places,
Other things that might be on your mind.
Give yourself permission to set them aside for this short time.
Letting this meditation be a time for rest,
Not effort or worry.
Breathing deeply into the body.
Again,
Coming into contact with what feels solid in your body,
What feels stable.
Feeling the weight of your body as it settles into the warm embrace of gravity.
Breathing out,
Breathing in,
Relaxing the body with each exhale.
And allowing that relaxation to flow over into the next inhale.
Let the breath be a cycle of relaxing the body.
And releasing the obsessive-compulsive grip of the mind.
Letting go of thoughts,
Attachment to thoughts.
At the same time,
Letting the mind stay focused and alert,
Aware of the experience of being in the body.
Let the mind be aware of breathing out and breathing in.
Be aware of letting go of effort in the body.
You might imagine the thinking mind as a fist grasping,
Clinging to thoughts and processes and concepts and questions.
And see if you can soften the fist.
Let it fall open gently,
Releasing any effort of holding on.
Letting go.
Letting awareness flow through the whole body again,
From the top of the head flowing down.
When you reach the bottom,
Letting your awareness flow back up,
Scanning in this way.
Letting awareness flow through the body,
Down and up.
Again.
And again.
Each time letting go of another layer.
Anywhere you find tension,
Holding.
Now can you begin to let go of the meditator?
That part of you which might be still trying to still your mind.
Trying to follow your breath,
Trying to relax.
Trying to attain a certain state.
And just letting go.
Allowing yourself to be exactly as you are in this moment.
Not pushing anything away,
Not grasping or clinging.
Just breathing.
Aware that you're breathing.
And letting go.
Letting go of the part of you that might believe there's a way meditation is supposed to be.
Letting go of any attachment to outcomes.
Just aware that you're breathing.
Breathing and knowing that you're breathing.
Resting in the present moment.
You let go of the one who's making any effort.
The one who's trying to change something or trying to do it right.
Letting go of this thinking meditator,
We reconnect with our bodies,
Our whole being.
Allowing everything to be as it is,
Not trying to change anything.
Connecting with a sense of your own being,
Opening to your senses.
Bringing awareness again to your face.
As you inhale,
Relax and soften the muscles of your face.
As you exhale,
Let them melt downward,
Resting.
Inhaling awareness into your neck and shoulders.
Exhaling,
Softening,
Settling down.
Letting the arms be heavy with your exhale.
Softening any tension,
Letting go of any holding or gripping in the arms and hands.
Breathing into the upper torso,
Front of the chest.
The upper back.
Exhaling and softening downward,
Releasing.
Letting only the spine be alert,
The rest of the body relaxing,
Settling,
Letting go.
Inhaling into the belly,
Allowing the whole torso to soften and open to receive the breath.
Letting the breath flow in and down as far as you can,
As far as feels natural,
And then letting it go.
Breathing in,
Breathing out,
Receiving and releasing.
Breathing into the lower torso and the hips,
Opening,
Receiving.
Softening.
Letting go.
Letting the legs become heavy.
Inhaling into the thighs.
Exhaling,
Letting all the energy,
All the effort in the legs flow and settle and soften downward.
Releasing into the feet.
Relaxing into the earth.
Letting go.
Resting the body,
Resting the mind.
Breathing in,
Breathing out.
With no effort,
No control.
Letting go.
Breathing out,
Breathing in.
Allowing the mind and the body to rest.
Letting go of demands,
Needs and wants,
Letting go of control.
As you let go of the controlling part of you,
You might feel a little disoriented because there's nothing for the mind or the meditator to do.
This opens up the experience of allowing everything to be as it is.
Checking in with your whole being,
Your whole body.
Asking yourself,
Am I allowing everything to be as it is?
Giving the mind permission again to let go of thoughts.
Focusing awareness and attention in the body.
See if you notice any points of tension in the body,
A felt sense of tightness or tension.
This is the body's way of telling you that you're not allowing everything to be as it is.
So if you find some tension in the body,
Allow that tension to be as it is.
And then watch what happens.
Allowing the tension and watching.
Not thinking or projecting,
Not expecting or anticipating,
Simply observing.
The tension might release,
It might stay the same.
It might move or change to something else.
Simply noticing,
Observing,
Allowing.
If you're experiencing any emotions associated with the feelings in the body,
Allow these to be just as they are.
Exploring your own experience in your own being.
Your own body,
Allowing it to unfold.
Without needing to control.
Thoughts may arise.
Can you recognize that this is just a thought?
Coming and going.
You relinquish control in a deeper and deeper way.
Not pushing anything away,
Not rejecting anything,
But allowing.
Allowing thoughts to arise and pass away without getting attached to them,
Without following them,
Conceptualize,
Projecting.
Can you sustain the role of observer as you do with your body,
Even with your thoughts?
You might catch a glimpse of a spaciousness,
An openness coming into your awareness as you relinquish more and more control.
Thoughts arise.
And move on.
Letting sensations in the body,
Rise,
Be.
And change.
Letting emotions be as they are.
Allowing everything in your whole being to be as it is.
Letting go of control.
Expectation,
Gripping,
Attachment.
Just about the time you think that you've relinquished all control and all effort you'll find a deeper level.
A deeper opportunity to relax.
To let go into the body.
To let go into spacious presence in this moment.
There's almost no end to this letting go.
Coming back to the body again and again.
Whenever you find yourself lost in the mind.
Lost in the past or the future or elsewhere.
Coming back to the body,
Inviting a deeper and deeper sense of allowing everything to be as it is.
Letting go.
Resting at deeper and deeper levels in this sense of stillness and awareness that seems to be naturally present when we let go of control,
Resting in spacious awareness.
Letting go,
Resting in spacious awareness.
And now gently.
Kindly.
Letting your awareness come back into all your senses.
Coming back into your fingers and your toes.
Or moving in a way that feels comfortable to you.
Stretching.
Seeing if you can carry with you a sense of this allowing.
This capacity for letting go.
This sense of spaciousness.
At your own pace,
Opening your eyes when you're ready.
