So become still wherever you are,
Either lying,
Sitting,
Or standing.
Choose a posture to be as comfortable as possible.
You can close your eyes or keep them open with a soft gaze downward a few feet in front of you.
Bring your awareness to whatever is going on for you right now.
Give the weight of your body up to gravity.
Allow your weight to sink into the points of contact between your body and the floor or chair or bed,
Whether that's your feet,
Your buttocks or your back.
What sensations are there right now?
And if you notice any tension or resistance to painful or unpleasant sensation,
Gently turn toward them.
Accept them as best as you can.
If you begin to tense around the breath,
Then let go a little with each out breath.
Soften into gravity.
Notice any thoughts as they arise and pass away in your mind.
See if you can let them come and go without becoming too identified within their contact.
And just look at your thoughts.
Look at them and not from them.
Observe them as if they were clouds in the sky.
Relate to them as a flow of mental events.
And again,
Remember,
Thoughts are not facts.
You can let them come and go like clouds passing by.
I invite you to notice any feelings and emotions as they arrive.
And then can you let these come and go without pushing away those that you don't like or jumping onto those that you do like?
Can you gently notice any feelings and emotions?
Let these emotions and feelings come and go,
Passing by.
Include everything within your awareness with a kindly perspective.
Observe the breath,
Sensations in your body,
Your emotional state.
Try to observe without becoming too attached.
Noticing,
Acknowledging,
Letting be.
Now allow your awareness to gather around the experience of the breath and the body.
Drop your awareness inside the breath and feel the different sensations in the front,
Back,
And sides of the torso,
Inside the torso,
On the surface of the torso.
Feel all of the different sensations of the breath as it flows into and out of the body.
Observing how you breathe in,
Observing how you breathe out.
Can you rest within the flow of the breath?
Use the breath to anchor your awareness in the present moment and the body.
Each time you notice your mind has wandered,
Remember that you're having a magic moment of awareness.
You have woken up.
And then gently bring the mind back to the breath,
Deep in the body.
Linger a little longer on your inhales and exhales,
Using the breath as an anchor in the moment.
Your home base to which you can always return.
Let everything change moment by moment.
Now,
Gently broaden and expand your awareness to include the whole body.
Feel the weight and shape of the body as it sits,
Stands,
Or lies.
Feel the breath in the whole body.
Imagine you're breathing in and out in all directions.
360 degree breathing.
If you have any pain or discomfort,
Make sure your awareness stays open to include this with a sense of compassion.
Soften tension and resistance with each breath.
Cultivate acceptance for all of your experience,
Whether pleasant or unpleasant.
Befriend it.
And broaden your awareness even further.
Become aware of the sound,
Both inside and outside the room.
Simply listen and notice how sounds arrive and fade,
One following another.
Allow them to come and go without judgment.
Be aware of other people and living beings around you.
And imagine expanding all of your awareness outward to include all humanity.
Imagine the whole world breathing and resting in the unfolding moment-to-moment experience.
We come to an end.
Take a moment to acknowledge your efforts in this practice.
I invite you to say a few words of gratitude that you took the time to become mindful,
To become still,
To rest in the unfolding moment.
And as you re-engage with the activities of your day,
See if you can carry the awareness that you've just cultivated with you.
You can come slowly back to the room,
To the surrounding that you're in by gently wiggling your fingers and toes,
Moving your body,
Stretching,
And when you're ready,
Slowly open your eyes.
