Finding a comfortable position in which to sit You can sit cross legged on the floor or in a chair Most importantly,
Sat upright,
The back straight but not tense Head reaching towards the sky Dropping the shoulders and the chin Finding a solid base with your legs and feet Just allowing yourself to begin to settle You may wish to sway and move your body in a circular motion or side to side to find your centre Once you find alignment,
Once you find your centre,
Coming to rest and stillness Just beginning with some breath work,
With some deep triangle breathing We breathe in for the count of 4 or 5 Hold for the count of 4 or 5 And then slowly release the breath for the count of 4 or 5 Just take several more deep triangle breaths With the out breath really feeling,
Experiencing the sensation of letting go Releasing tension,
Really blowing out any tension Anything that might prevent you from being fully here now Just allowing the breathing to return to a normal natural rhythm Just going to check in with the body Noticing how the body feels The weight of your body supported by the cushion or the chair Cool feeling of air against your skin Just scanning awareness through the body Starting at the head Relaxing the muscles,
Releasing any tension held around the forehead or temples Releasing the tiny muscles around your eyes and your mouth Allowing the shoulders to sink into a loose comfortable position As if the weight of the world had been lifted from your shoulders Wearing your chest and your belly,
Allowing the belly to be soft Letting down your guard if you feel able to Just for this period of meditation see if you can allow yourself to settle To soften Bringing awareness down through the hips and pelvis The legs and feet You'll just see if you can notice the feelings of aliveness Tingling and pulsing sensations,
Warmth inside the feet Feeling the feet as if from the inside out Following the sensation into the legs Tingling and pulsing Those feelings that allow you to know that you are here,
That you are alive,
That you are present Moving up to the belly Noticing how the belly feels And into the chest Noticing the beating of your own heart Your eyes and the fall of your breathing Following the sensation into the shoulders Feeling the shoulders from the inside out Re-experiencing any remaining knots of tension dissolving Like ice to water Releasing letting go Noticing the tingling,
The warmth,
The pulsing in your arms and hands And back up to your neck,
Face and head See if you can hold the whole body now in awareness As a fluid field of sensations The living breathing organism Field of sensations Using your senses to Sensations of touch Where your body meets the cushion of the chair,
Where the air meets your skin The sound of this recording And then the other noise you can hear in your environment Noticing any smells And any taste Now just resting your awareness In the pit of your stomach At the harbour A point a few inches below the belly button deep inside the body Focus your attention there as you Begin to notice the ebb and flow of breath Narrowing that floodlight awareness from the whole body and your senses Down to a laser beam focus on the breath As it moves in and out As the belly rises and falls at the harbour As it moves,
Numb and Total dependence Touching the juicy £2 m square Don't worry about thoughts continuing to come and go,
That's completely normal and natural.
We're not trying to stop ourselves from thinking.
Just like the stomach secretes stomach acid,
When the sweat glands secrete sweat,
Our minds simply produce thoughts.
Thoughts aren't the problem.
How we relate to our thoughts though can cause us difficulties.
So in meditation what we're striving to do is not to stop ourselves from thinking,
Not to empty the mind,
But to relate to our thoughts differently.
To focus our attention on the breath,
In this case as it comes and goes,
As the horror rises and falls.
And allow everything else to drift into the background,
Like the chatter of a distant radio.
Or like somebody chatting to their friend at the back of the bus.
We can be aware of the background chatter without tuning into it,
Without giving it focus and attention.
So in the same way try to focus your attention on the breath,
And just allow thoughts to come and go in the background.
Don't worry if your mind drifts off,
It will.
It's just what the mind does.
Don't judge yourself,
Don't beat yourself up.
When you notice you've drifted off into thoughts,
Plans,
Memories,
Simply take that big reset breath and start again.
This very process of drifting,
Noticing and coming back is the process of meditation.
Training our minds to let go and come back over and over again.
Patiently,
Without judgement,
Allowing each in breath to be a new beginning and each out breath a complete letting go.
It doesn't matter how many times you drift off and come back,
Just stay with the process.
When you notice you've drifted,
Big reset breath,
Come back to this breath.
Focusing our minds on the breath as it rises,
On the breath as it rises and falls at the horror at the base of the stomach.
Grounding and centering us in stable present moment awareness.
Returning whenever we drift off.
Breath by breath by breath,
Moment by moment by moment.
See now if we can expand our awareness to include the sense of the whole body again,
The whole body breathing.
The whole body as a field of sensations.
We can sit tall and still.
Like a living,
Breathing mountain.
Our head the peak of the mountain.
Our shoulders and arms its cliffs and slopes.
Our base,
The base of the mountain,
Rooted deeply into the earth,
Stable,
Strong,
Grounded.
Heaving into that strength,
That stability,
That groundedness.
The sun rises and sets.
The weather comes and goes.
The seasons change.
Through it all,
The mountain stands.
Tall,
Grounded,
Still.
Unmoving,
Remaining itself.
Just like the mountain we can lean into this sense of inner strength,
Equanimity,
Grounded stability and presence.
And at the same time,
As our head reaches up towards the sky like the peak of the mountain,
Our mind can take on the qualities of the sky.
Vast,
Clear,
Open.
Charuttonous strength,
Allow thoughts to move through our awareness.
Let clouds move through the sky.
And then bringing your awareness to our hearts.
The space between these two points.
Feeling into our hearts.
Feeling into the depths of our emotions.
Hearts deep like the ocean.
Opening and softening our hearts.
With a sense of deep love and concern for those closest to us.
Into our partners,
Our children,
Our families.
Feeling that warmth,
That appreciation,
That tenderness.
Warming,
Softening,
Opening your heart.
Inviting that warmth and openness to grow,
To expand.
Beyond your immediate loved ones.
To grow and expand.
Until it holds the whole earth in the depth of your loving concern and compassion.
A new deep heartfelt appreciation for this life.
Sitting together now.
Deeply grounded in stable presence,
Rooted into the earth.
Sitting with dignity like the mountain.
Our minds open,
Vast and clear like the sky.
Our hearts deep like the ocean.
Returning to some deep triangle breaths.
Form the heartfelt intention to take these qualities out of meditation into our lives.
To be grounded,
Aware and open hearted.
Connected to our strength and to our heart.
Farewell,
Everyone.
