So just closing your eyes gently and giving yourself the time to settle.
Perhaps coming in contact with the body and the way it's sitting.
Noticing if there's anything you can move or adjust to make yourself as comfortable as possible.
So really checking in with the body.
Asking what do you need now to be relaxed and at ease.
And giving yourself time to feel this out.
There's no correct posture for meditation.
It might change every time.
So allow your body to give you feedback.
Respect the body.
Treating it gently with kindness as you treat a friend.
Many of you have come from busy days,
Family life,
Sports and exercise and also from work.
Just notice any residue of thoughts or energy connected to that and gently invite it to just melt away.
Noticing your new environment,
Sitting with friends.
Coming here to practice kindness,
Awareness.
Just notice the beauty of that intention.
Simply appreciating that you're giving yourself a gift.
A gift of time where you're not being judged.
You're not being measured or controlled.
You're not expected to be one way or another,
To have one experience or another.
Just coming into the moment and making peace with whatever arises.
If you've just arrived,
You're welcome to come into the circle.
Taking time to settle.
Now I'd like to invite you to notice your feet on the floor.
And as your awareness makes contact with the feet,
Noticing any sensation or perhaps temperature or weight,
Feeling of pressure or tingling.
Becoming aware of that with mindfulness.
And adding kindness.
A sense of emotional warmth towards your experience of the feet.
Allowing them to fully relax.
Slowly,
In your own time,
Moving your attention up into the shins,
The calves.
The awareness,
The mindfulness is like the light of the sun.
And adding the kindness is like the warmth of the sun.
So shining the light and the warmth of the sun on the area of the lower leg.
Allowing the sensations to be just as they are.
Noticing any effect of kindness and awareness.
Moving up to the knees.
To the thighs.
Using your awareness as a medium through which you can channel kindness.
A sense of warmth,
Appreciation,
Even gratitude for your own legs.
Noticing the feedback that kindness,
Kindfulness gives to you.
Any sense of relaxation or softening.
Not looking for anything special.
Putting more importance on the way that you are relating to your experience.
The way you relate to a friend.
Slowly moving up to the buttocks.
Noticing any pressure or ache or sense of softness,
Lightness,
Whatever it is.
Extending a sense of emotional warmth to your experience exactly as it is.
Noticing any sensations in the hips,
The lower back.
Bathing their sensations with kindness,
With warmth.
So smiling upon them with kindly eyes.
Nothing to hold.
Allowing tensions to melt away.
Gently taking your time to move your attention up the back.
Noticing the position of the back.
Any sensation of the back meeting with the chair.
Whatever comes to your awareness.
Meeting that with kindness,
Well-wishing.
Bathing the entire back area in the warmth and light of the sun.
Noticing the position of the back area in the warmth and light of the sun.
When you're ready,
Moving to the area of the abdomen,
Stomach,
The area where most of the organs are.
Just noticing any tensions or aches,
Pains in that area.
Just kind of fully letting them be.
They're all so welcome.
Noticing the chest area,
The rib cage,
All the way up to the collarbone,
The neck.
Noticing the spine area.
Spending time on the shoulders and the neck area,
Which tend to carry a lot of tension.
Perhaps the stresses of the day.
Giving that area the kind of tension it really deserves.
Giving full permission for it to relax.
Noticing when you give kindness to experience.
Noticing any change.
Gently moving your attention down to your hands.
Noticing your fingers.
Perhaps any tingling sensation.
Sending loving kindness to your hands.
Moving up the arms.
When you reach the top of the arms,
Again noticing the shoulder area,
The neck.
Slowly spreading your attention with kindness up to the chin,
The mouth area.
Allowing any holding to just gently be released.
The eyes.
Any tensions in the brow area,
The forehead area.
Imagining kindfulness,
Just smoothing them out like a very gentle massage.
Spreading your attention across the whole scalp area,
Including the ears.
And allowing that kindfulness to penetrate right inside the brain,
Which has been so overworked.
Now it's time for the pain to fully rest.
Supported by the muscles,
Held in kindness.
Now just extending your field of awareness and kindness to include the whole body.
The generalized sense of the body sitting.
Noticing any changes.
Whether the body feels more at ease or relaxed.
Now imagine taking that relaxation even deeper.
As though you were lying in a warm bath or perhaps floating in very warm,
Gentle waves in the ocean.
Fully held.
Fully accepted.
Switch Have up your legs,
Delight in the experience,
However subtle,
Allowing the mind to really linger in any sense of peace or relaxation or contentment,
Whether physical or emotional,
Noticing the beauty in simply being present in the spirit of loving-kindness.
And as we come close to the end of meditation,
Just take a few moments again to appreciate your intentions in coming here and the beauty of the gift that you've offered yourself by granting yourself a moment of peace.
See if you can offer yourself a smile from within.
And on the third gong,
You may gently open your eyes if you wish.
And on the third gong,
You may gently open your eyes if you wish.
