Hey,
It's Rob.
It's probably not some great revelation to hear me say that we're living in a time of unprecedented competition for our attention.
Endless news cycles,
Video games,
Social media,
Myriad forms of entertainment,
And of course,
A steady bombardment of marketing messages can draw us into a cycle of dissatisfaction with the way things are right here,
Right now.
And really,
Right here,
Right now,
Is all we ever have.
In fact,
Being truly present moment by moment has become an almost radical act.
And yet,
It's not as hard as you may think to interrupt the cycle of perpetual distraction.
And to cultivate the quality of genuine presence when you find yourself pulled away and overwhelmed by all the external noise.
In this meditation,
We'll do just that.
So find a comfortable seat,
Let yourself be alert or relaxed.
Your eyes can be shut or slightly open with a soft downward gaze.
Feel yourself connected to the earth.
Gravity keeping you connected to your chair or cushion without any effort required on your part.
And allow your attention to gather.
Let awareness come to the flow of breath in and out of your body.
And then start to take some long and slow inhalations down into the belly.
Feeling the belly expanding slightly,
Like a balloon.
As the in-breath completely fills the lungs.
As you exhale,
Feel the breath leaving the body from the collarbone area down.
Finally emptying from the belly as you draw the navel in toward the spine at the end of the out-breath.
Relax the belly to allow the next inhalation to begin in the same manner.
And continue with this full breath for three more rounds at your own pace.
You might want to imagine a glass.
Slowly filling with water on the inhalation and the water being gently sipped through a straw on the exhalation.
Filling from the bottom up on the in-breath,
Emptying from the top down on the out-breath.
No strain,
Nothing to get right.
Just the experience of deep,
Calming breaths.
And then after that third round,
Release the technique and return to breathing naturally.
You may even notice an enhanced quality of easing your breath.
Or an increase in the capacity of your lungs.
Or it may be that you notice nothing in particular has changed.
That's totally fine too.
Now let's shift attention to the body.
Briefly scanning for any areas of tension or holding.
Softening and relaxing wherever you can.
Let the belly be soft.
Allow the shoulders to relax down the back body.
Check for any tension in the jaw.
And along the forehead and your brow line.
Let your hands be loose and relaxed.
Let go wherever you can.
Mindful that relaxing doesn't mean collapsing into a puddle.
Relaxation here is using just a minimum amount of muscular effort to settle into a natural,
Stable,
And alert posture.
If there are places that won't let go,
Just let them be.
There's no need to dwell on them.
As the body relaxes,
Start to let go of any tension around your mental activity too.
Next,
Focus your attention on the sensations you're experiencing in the body.
Awareness coming deep down to a cellular level.
Be present for the full flow of sensations you're experiencing.
Pressure,
Tingling,
Temperature.
Sensations from inside the body,
Like your heart beating.
Sensations from the external environment.
Like the air on your skin.
Or even the sounds around you.
Nothing you need to change or figure out.
Just the arising and passing of each sensory experience.
Moment by moment.
Now,
Begin to notice what you're aware of right now.
The thoughts,
Memories,
And associations passing through your mind.
If you feel yourself getting caught up in any story,
If you're grasping at anything pleasant or trying to change something unpleasant.
See if you can just step back a bit from that engagement.
Allow yourself to be a silent,
Objective witness to the full range of your experience.
Watching everything with the part of you that's unchanging and unaffected by the drama of the flow of the experience.
As this witnessing quality gains greater focus.
Notice if the quality of your experience changes in any way.
The final minute or so of this practice.
Let yourself imagine that you don't have to change anything about the current moment to be happy,
Present,
Or content.
Instead of trying to change circumstances to suit an imagined state of happiness,
Allow things to just be as they are,
Moment by moment.
Let this moment and each moment to come be perfect just as it is.
And to conclude the practice,
As you're ready.
Just start to bring a little movement back into the body Maybe at first simply wiggling fingers and toes.
Taking your time as you let gradually bigger movements flow from those first gentle actions.
Let the eyes blink open.
Let your gaze come back up and into focus.
Take a moment to look around you as you reorient yourself to your surroundings.
As you go about the rest of your day today.
Keep in mind that you can always come back to this sense of presence by allowing yourself to breathe,
Relax,
Feel,
Watch,
And allow.
Thanks for sharing your practice with me I'll see you next time
