Welcome to today's session,
Everyone.
First I'd like to thank you for showing up yet again for yourself,
Taking a moment out of your day to take good care of your mental health and well-being.
For today's practice,
We'll start in a comfortable seated position.
This can be anything that you feel is appropriate.
If you have a comfortable meditation position you like to assume,
Please go ahead and do that.
This can be sitting on the floor,
In a chair,
On your couch.
You can even lie down for this practice if that's more comfortable for you.
If you're on the floor,
You may want to put a block or a pillow under your hips to help keep your spine and your lower back supported throughout the session.
Once you've found your comfortable seat,
Make sure that you're in a position you can hold for an extended period of time without discomfort.
Once you've made those small adjustments,
Bring your attention to the skin of your face and your forehead.
Allow all of the muscles through the face to relax.
Feel your eyes sink into their sockets.
Allow your jaw to relax and your tongue to slip into the back of your mouth.
Find your breathing very normal and steady,
Inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the nose,
Easy and comfortable.
Take a nice,
Deep breath and a slow,
Long exhale.
Do a few more just like that and notice the effect that each inhale and each exhale has on your internal state.
With every exhale,
Find yourself relaxing deeper and deeper into your position,
Settling in and calming your nervous system.
Bring your awareness now to any sensations you might be experiencing in this moment.
The feeling of your weight resting on the surface you're sitting on.
The feeling of your head resting gently on your neck and your shoulders.
The feeling of your breath moving in through the nose,
The back of your throat and into your lungs and then exiting the same way.
Take one minute to simply observe your breath,
Sitting with it without trying to control it or change anything.
Next we'll move our awareness throughout the body,
Taking note of any sensations we experience without trying to control or alter those experiences.
Simply let them be and then move on to the next area.
We'll start with the feet and the ankles.
Notice the position of your feet,
All of your toes and any sensations,
Whether they're desirable or not.
And then move your attention up to your lower legs,
Your knees and your thighs.
Feel your hips and your groin and move your attention up to your belly.
Notice any movement through your abdomen,
Food and waste being pushed through your digestive tract.
Allow those sensations to be.
Pay attention to any sensation in the lower back,
The middle back,
Your chest and upper abdomen.
Bring your attention now to your shoulders,
Down through your upper arms and your elbows,
Your forearms,
Wrists,
Hands and your fingers.
Move your attention up your neck,
Feeling without judging any sensations through the jaw,
Your mouth,
Your face,
All the way up to the top of your head.
Now see if you can hold in your attention an awareness of your entire body,
Being aware of all of the myriad sensations that arise and fall.
Remember to simply observe without trying to change and sit with this awareness of your full body for another minute.
Bring your attention now to all of the thoughts that are playing themselves out across the screen of your mind.
Allow each thought to lead to the next at whatever pace your brain wants to work.
Follow this train of thought again without judgment or attachment,
Without trying to control the pace or the nature of those thoughts.
And then take a step back and simply observe as if you are sitting alone in a large movie theater,
Witnessing your thoughts as if you are watching a movie.
Imagine that you have a remote control in your hand.
This remote control can speed up the movie or slow it down.
Experiment with the use of this remote control for a moment,
Speeding up your train of thought and then putting it into slow motion.
At some point you'll notice that the part of you doing the observing will begin to have its own thoughts.
When that happens,
Simply take another step back and begin to observe the thoughts of the observer the same way you did originally.
Imagine you're sitting in a smaller theater,
Witnessing again those thoughts playing across the screen and then do your best to slow them down.
You may have success or you may not.
Do your best without any judgment or attachment.
Continue to regress each time the observer begins to have its own thoughts.
Move away from that and observe again the thoughts of the observer.
Do this for another two minutes.
Bring your attention again back to your breath.
This time take a nice deep strong breath in through the nose and out through the mouth and exhale.
Feel free to open your eyes.
Notice your internal state.
How do you feel?
And whatever conclusion you come to,
Understand that that's okay.
Thank you again for joining me for this short mindfulness meditation.
I hope it helped.
Namaste.
