Find a comfortable seated posture.
Gently lengthen your spine,
Soften your shoulders,
Relax your jaw and gently close your eyes.
Bring your awareness to your body exactly as it is,
No need to adjust anything.
Notice the subtle movement of your breath,
The temperature of the air as you breathe in and how that changes as you breathe out.
Notice the pause between breaths,
Continue to let the breath flow naturally.
Notice the sounds around you,
Near and far.
Let the sounds rise and fall away without needing to follow them.
Now notice the movement of thought,
Images or memories or words.
Let them pass through your awareness like clouds moving through the sky.
Rest your attention on the centre of your chest,
Your heart space.
Sense the quiet presence there,
Maybe a subtle warmth or a steady field of gratitude.
As we begin a simple mantra practice,
As you inhale,
Silently hear the sound SO and as you exhale,
Silently hear HUM,
SO,
HUM.
This mantra comes from Sanskrit,
SO can be understood as THAT,
HUM as I AM.
Together SO HUM carries the meaning of I am THAT.
It's a reminder of your deeper nature,
Not just your personality or passing thoughts but the awareness that always lies beneath them.
Let the mantra ride the breath,
Inhale SO,
Exhale HUM.
If your attention drifts,
Gently bring it back.
Now rest your awareness on the space between your eyebrows,
This point of quiet inner focus.
And let's keep the mantra moving with the breath but begin to imagine the sound is arising and falling away from the space between your eyebrows.
Keeping your awareness steady and clear as you inhale SO,
Exhale HUM.
Gently release the practice as you allow your awareness to travel right down to the base of your spine.
As you inhale,
Imagine a subtle current of energy flowing from the base of your spine all the way up to the crown of your head.
And as you exhale,
Sense this warm current descending back down from the crown all the way to the base of the spine.
Inhale energy like electricity flowing up,
Exhale energy flowing down.
If the mind wanders,
Gently bring it back.
And release the practice as you rest your awareness on the crown of your head,
Noticing any sense of openness,
Spaciousness or stillness.
Nothing to do but rest here as you allow the practice to fade away.
Gently bring your awareness back to the centre of your heart,
Noticing what's present now.
How do you feel?
And when you feel ready,
Gently blink open your eyes.
And continue your day from this steady place of presence and awareness.
