Finding your comfortable,
Upright posture,
Gently closing your eyes and allowing the weight of your body to go down into the surface that you're sitting on.
And spending a few moments now,
Allowing your mind and your body to settle by focusing on your breath,
Your breathing.
Paying attention to your breath,
Wherever it's most vivid for you,
And resting your attention there.
I'll leave you to do this for a few moments,
Without guidance,
So notice what it's like to sit,
Just with yourself,
Sitting and breathing.
And now allow your breathing to move into the background of your awareness,
And shift your attention to the soundscape around you,
Noticing sounds that are near or far.
And some sounds may be constant,
And others come and go,
And noticing if you find some sounds pleasant,
And others unpleasant.
And rather than trying to listen to sounds,
Just allow them to come to your ears,
Being aware of what arrives,
In your sense of hearing.
And you might also notice the silent spaces in between sounds,
Maybe you find some silence or perhaps there's a background drone,
So just becoming aware of that,
And noticing if the judging mind comes in,
Wanting it to be quieter,
Not wanting any distractions.
And now,
Allowing the soundscape around you to move into the background of your awareness,
And shifting your attention to thoughts themselves,
Noticing every and any thought that is happening right now.
And sometimes when we focus on thinking,
We can notice an absence of thought,
And that's completely normal,
So become aware of the absence of thought,
And then soon enough,
Thinking will begin again.
And just like sounds,
Thoughts can come and go,
Some can seem to drone on,
And others can briefly come into our awareness,
And then disappear.
Some thoughts we can find pleasant,
And others can disturb us and leave behind an emotional or body reaction.
And you can bring your mindful awareness to thoughts,
In exactly the same way you did with sounds,
Allowing the thoughts to arise,
Noticing any judgements about them,
But letting them be,
Allowing them to arise,
And leave,
Or stay around for as long as they want to.
And there's no need to add to the stories here,
Just being the watcher of your thinking.
There's you,
The awareness,
An ever present thread,
And your awareness is there before thinking happens,
Then comes the thought,
And when it goes,
Your awareness is still there after that thought has gone,
So you can't be your thinking.
You are an awareness that is aware of thinking,
But letting go of holding on too tightly to the words I'm using,
As awareness is a felt experience,
So sitting quietly,
Being aware of thoughts as they come and go,
As a watcher,
Almost like watching a film unfold.
And now letting go of the effort you've been making,
Allow your body to relax,
As sometimes we can focus a little too much in meditation,
And we can tense up,
And then gently open your eyes.
