Hey,
It's Rob.
There's a lot happening in our lives,
Which for many of us is most of the time.
It's very easy for our minds to feel scattered.
Multiple demands can hit us all at once,
And the ability to focus becomes elusive.
The sense that we need to address everything at once.
Often makes us freeze.
And life's demands continue to pile up.
It can be an extremely uncomfortable and dissatisfying place to be.
This meditation is designed to help you bring that scattered,
Chaotic sense of mind into a calmer,
More grounded state.
So let's start by finding a comfortable position,
One that allows you to be relaxed,
Yet alert.
Letting go of whatever tension in the body you're able to.
And there's no need for concern if some of those areas of tension won't release.
It's fine to just let them be.
Allow the eyes to close,
Or if you prefer to keep them open,
Let your gaze be nice and soft and diffuse,
Looking downward.
Take a moment to affirm your intention to be fully present throughout this practice,
Without judgment,
Without imposing pressure on yourself to get anything right.
And let your attention come to your breath.
As you begin to connect with the breath.
Begin to take long,
Slow inhalations.
And then release that breath with an even slower exhalation.
So we're looking here for the breaths to be nice and deep on the inhalation,
Not forced.
And then the exhalations.
We'd like them to be around twice as long as the inhalations.
So you might try counting in a ratio of three seconds to six seconds,
Four seconds to eight seconds,
Whatever feels right for you.
It can be hard to follow a guided timing of this.
So take a moment just to find.
That ratio.
Of in to out,
Twice as long on the exhalation.
Remember,
You're not looking for perfection here.
You're just using this breathing pattern to activate the parasympathetic nervous system.
And that sends messages to the brain that it's okay to slow down the internal chatter.
Allowing the breath to be easy.
Not forced.
There's no medal here for perfect breathing.
No cookie for getting it exactly right.
Because whatever you're doing right now surely is just right for you in this moment.
And after that.
.
.
Next,
Exhalation.
Allow your breathing to return to its natural rhythm keeping your mind.
As focused as possible.
Without strain.
On the complete cycles of inhalation.
The pause at the top of the inhalation before the exhalation naturally comes.
Noticing.
When the next in-breath begins.
No technique here.
No pressure,
Just watching the breath.
And if the mind wanders away from the breath over these next few cycles,
Then Just note that you've drifted away and bring yourself right back to reconnecting with the breath.
And let's move our attention next to.
.
.
Physical sensations.
Starting by.
.
.
Beginning on one hand.
To gently rub the tip of one index finger against the tip of the thumb.
Do this slowly,
Mindfully,
And delicately enough so that you feel the subtle sensations of your skin's ridges at each fingertip.
And now,
I invite you to bring the fingertips of both of the hands together,
Matching finger to finger.
And moving them in tiny circles.
While focusing on the sensations in all 10 fingertips.
Again,
Feeling those little ridges.
In the skin at the fingertips.
Maybe moving those circles in one direction before.
Changing the direction and see how focused you can be on the fine,
Fine details of sensation that are occurring here.
Also mindful not to.
.
.
Make this a.
.
.
A straining task for you.
So holding the attention,
Steady but light.
And then pause making those circles.
And slowly bring the fingertips of one hand down the fingers of the other.
Then to the palm of the hand.
Nice and slowly,
Those fingertips come to the wrist tuning in to all those little subtleties that arise.
There's little bits of sensation.
From that gentle movement.
And then finally,
Let's bring all 10 fingertips to the forehead.
And just as slowly as you did with one hand against the other.
Let them glide down the forehead to the brow line.
Over the eyes.
Down the sides of the nose and over your cheeks.
To the jaw.
The throat.
Eventually coming down to the collarbone.
And releasing the contact of your hands.
From your head and neck.
Letting the hands rest on your thighs,
Your knees.
Or one hand in the other.
And just taking a moment here to rest in the echo of all those sensations.
For a few moments.
Now I invite you to shift your awareness to the sounds that you hear.
There's no need to name or explain the sounds.
No need to get caught up in any stories about the sounds.
Just letting the sounds come and go as they will.
Rising and falling.
Notice if you find yourself judging sounds as pleasant or unpleasant.
And see if you can let those judgments fall away.
Just being present,
Moment by moment,
Sound by sound.
As each one arises and passes.
You may recognize some of these sounds as being nearby and some further away.
But really,
All of the sounds are presenting themselves in just one place.
And that is your unchanging,
Almost undefinable field of awareness or consciousness.
So near or far.
Are really just qualifiers that we attach to the sounds.
Our minds just love to solve problems and create stories.
And if that's what's happening for you,
It's not a problem.
Simply notice the story or thought process as it appears.
And see if it just naturally unwinds itself into the ether.
And return your awareness back to normal.
The simple act of hearing.
And it might be that you're in an exceptionally quiet environment.
But even so.
.
.
You may begin to notice a certain symphony of pulsing,
Ringing,
Or buzzing.
Or other very subtle sounds emerging from the silence.
And whatever it is you're hearing.
Notice also that you can't really choose what you hear.
You can't make any particular sound stick around any more than you can push it away.
Now gently letting go of the focus on sounds.
Let yourself open the aperture of awareness to be present for whatever arises,
Whether that's physical sensations,
Thoughts,
Planning,
Memories,
Images in the mind's eye,
Sounds,
Emotions,
Whatever presents itself moment by moment passes moment by moment.
A metaphor that may be helpful to use here is like sitting by a stream and watching the water flow by.
The water may contain fish,
Insects,
Leaves,
Small rocks,
Sand particles,
Other bits of plants,
And who knows what else.
But the items appear momentarily.
Only to be born downstream and giving way to the next thing,
And the one after that,
And the one after that,
And so on.
The stream itself remains constant,
Even if its contents are continually changing.
And so it is with our awareness and our field of consciousness.
Take in the sense of the stream here.
Rather than fixing on any single item that appears in it.
And of course,
It's natural for the mind to wander.
Some days more than others.
And you may catch yourself becoming lost in thought or daydreaming.
If and when that happens,
Note it in that moment of recognition.
Okay,
I've become distracted and then return to observing the stream.
And even if you have to do that a thousand times a minute.
It's fine.
As we come towards the end of this practice,
I'll share a quote from Franz Kafka with you.
And he says,
You do not need to leave your room.
Remain sitting at your table and listen.
Do not even listen.
Simply wait.
Be quiet,
Still,
And solitary.
The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked.
It has no choice.
It will roll in ecstasy at your feet.
Now,
Let yourself take a nice deep breath in.
Fill the lungs deeply.
Noticing what that little extra dose of oxygen does to the body,
To the mind.
Allow the eyes to open and invite a little bit of movement back into your body.
Take a look around,
Re-familiarize yourself with your physical environment.
And let yourself take the settled feeling.
This grounded feeling.
And whatever else you may have received from your efforts in this practice into the rest of your day or evening.
Thanks for sharing your practice with me today.
May the world roll in ecstasy at your feet.
