Welcome!
This is the seventh of a series of meditations on being present now.
I am Italian and I live in Italy so I speak English as a second language.
If my accent and my lexical and grammatical letters do not interfere too much with your mindfulness practice,
I really hope that you can find here some hints or even insights on the art of being present.
I have practiced vipassana meditation for many years with different lay and monastic teachers and I have a strong scientific background so I'm sharing with you my personal experience on this ancient practice of the science of the mind.
The meditations are progressively going from the 15 minutes of the first one to the 30 minutes of the tenth and last one.
So the one that we're doing now it's about 25 minutes.
Let's start as usual by getting in touch with the breathing,
Getting in contact with the movement of the breath in your chest and abdomen.
You can take a few deep long breaths.
Listen to the sound of the breath behind the nose while the hair is coming in and going out through the nostrils.
In breath,
Out breath.
We are simply becoming aware of the in breathing and the out breathing.
It's better to be still with eyes closed.
But if you want you can keep your eyes half open and if it is necessary throughout the meditation you can change posture if needed.
Slowly,
Mindfully moving your body.
Just be aware of the sensations of the breath in the body and the sensations that arise throughout the meditation.
If there are unpleasant sensations like a pain in the back or the neck or the legs just try not to react immediately by moving or wanting it to go away.
But try just to be aware of what is present now in the body.
If I can,
I keep my awareness on my breathing,
The inhaling and the exhaling.
And if I feel that I cannot really keep my attention on the breathing,
I can use my body sensations.
I can feel my hands,
My buttocks,
The legs,
The feet.
I can feel the bottom part of my body heavy,
Strong and the upper part of my body relaxed,
Soft.
The shoulders are relaxed,
The jaw is relaxed,
Eyes are relaxed.
And so by mindfully breathing I can let go of all the tensions,
All the contractions in the body and the mind.
In-breath and on the out-breath I let go,
Let go of all the tensions in the body and the mind.
And if I feel that there are still tensions in the body,
I go there close to the sensation to know it,
To know how is it.
I feel warm,
Cold.
There is pressure somewhere,
An itching,
An aching in the back or in the neck or the legs,
Burning somewhere.
I just become aware of it without judging,
Without getting lost in thoughts,
Ideas about myself or about the situation.
I see thoughts,
Emotions arising and then passing away.
All the thoughts,
All the emotions are always moving.
And by training my awareness I become present to this ever-changing landscape inside of me.
My sensations in the body,
My emotions,
My thoughts are like clouds passing by into the sky of awareness.
Everything is always moving,
Always changing inside of me.
And by being present I can experience this,
I don't need to believe in anything.
Experiencing the rising and falling of the abdomen,
I understand that everything is always changing.
My thoughts are always moving,
They arrive,
They stay for a while and then they pass away.
And so it's for emotions.
And if I feel irritation for example or fear or calm,
It's better not to say I am calm or I am irritated but to say there is irritation.
Irritation is here.
There is fear.
Fear is here.
Or there is calmness,
Tranquility,
Calm is here.
In this way we start to see how all these states are transitory,
They are transient,
Impermanent,
They are not me.
All these states of the mind and the body are transitory.
They arrive,
They develop somehow,
They change,
They move and then they go away.
And I can witness all this by keeping my attention in the here and now,
What's happening right now.
Something is moving in my belly,
In my chest.
I can feel my arms,
My hands,
My head,
My legs,
My feet.
By feeling all the subtle sensations that are moving around in my body,
I start to experience by myself the transitory nature of sensations.
And by paying attention to my thoughts,
I experience the transitory nature of my thoughts.
And by paying attention to my emotions,
The way they come,
The way they move,
The way they develop and then go away,
I experience the transitory nature of my emotions,
Of my feelings.
And so by training my mind to be present,
To be in the here and now,
I start,
I slowly start to not be identified anymore with these transient states of the mind and the body.
Breathing in,
I am aware I'm breathing in.
And breathing out,
I am aware I'm breathing out.
It's that simple.
Just keeping my awareness on my breathing.
I feel the air coming in and the air going out.
If I need,
I can take a few deep,
Long breaths if it helps to soften,
To calm down,
To relax.
Otherwise,
I just follow my breathing,
Not forcing it,
Not wanting it to change,
Just watching what's here.
Inhaling,
Exhaling.
Breathing in and breathing out.
In breath,
Out breath.
And if it helps to soften,
To become softer,
I can repeat loving kindness words to set my intention on well-being.
So always be in touch with my breathing.
I repeat,
May I be well.
May I be well.
And breathing out,
I allow this well-being spread through the body till the tip of the toes,
The tip of the fingers,
And the top of the head.
Feel up the entire body with this warm wish coming from the heart.
Breathing in,
May I be at peace.
And breathing out,
Let this peace arrive in all the tissues of the body,
All the cells.
Breathing in,
May I be at peace.
And breathing out,
Let this peace enter every cell in your body till the tip of the toes,
The tip of the fingers,
And the top of the head.
May I be well.
May I be at peace.
Breathing in well.
Breathing out peace.
Breathing in,
May I be well.
And breathing out,
Let this wish even go out of the body,
Pouring out of the pores of the skin.
Feeling all the space around.
Breathing in,
May I be well.
And breathing out,
May all the people present in this building where I am now be well.
May I be well.
And may all the people present in this place now be well.
Breathing in well.
And breathing out,
May all the people,
May all the beings be well.
And always in touch with my breathing,
With the rising and falling of the abdomen,
With the movement in the chest,
The air coming in and out of the nostrils.
I see how I can set my intention on well-being.
By keeping my mind in the present moment,
I can see all the transient states,
All the transitory,
Impermanent states of the mind and the body,
Everything coming and going.
And I can choose to feel inside joy,
Peace,
Calm,
Tranquility,
And develop these qualities in the space of awareness.
I can feel how my heart widen,
The space inside becomes wider,
And how my mind becomes softer.
And so I understand the importance of dedicating a few minutes every day to cultivate this state of being present,
Of being in the moment,
Aware of myself,
Of my states,
The body,
The mind,
And developing the intention of well-being,
Nurturing my heart,
Nurturing my good intentions.
To be able to fully be,
To be myself at the fullest,
I need to embrace all that's happening inside of me and to be able to embrace also pain,
Anger,
And all those things that I don't like,
But still they're part of life.
I have to train my mind and develop this good attitude,
This intention of well-being.
Always keeping in touch with my breathing.
I get ready mentally to open my eyes and I maybe start moving a little bit my fingers,
My feet,
If I need to stretch a little bit,
Whatever my body and my mind need at this moment.
And I try to bring this experience into my daily life by being present.
For example,
When I open a door feeling my hand touching the handle or when I'm walking feeling my feet,
As I understand the importance of being simply present.
