Coming to a comfortable seated position.
This can be on the ground,
Crossed legs,
Kneeling,
Or even sitting in a chair.
Whatever that is for you today,
The spine is straight,
The neck and shoulders are in line.
Closing the eyes,
The shoulders fall away from the ears.
We just really soften into this moment.
With each exhale,
We relax a little bit more.
And as we become aware of our own breath,
We become more and more present in this moment right here,
Right now.
Scanning the body from the toes all the way up to the head.
Paying special attention to our fingers,
Our arms,
Our belly,
The neck and shoulders.
Releasing any unnecessary muscles.
Softening and deepening.
Observing any places that we might be holding resistance and just letting go.
And if we can't let go,
That's also fine.
Just simply observe it.
Don't attach or analyze.
Note the resistance and move on.
Releasing the muscles around the eyes,
The mouth,
The forehead.
Letting the jaw swing open ever so slightly.
Using the tongue and maybe the lips part just a little.
Bringing our attention back to that breath.
Gradually starting to increase the inhalations and the exhalation.
And if necessary,
We're still using that exhalation to soften even further.
Maybe at this point,
The softening is expanding past the physical body into the emotions and the mind.
Softening around any thoughts that come up.
Any feelings that rise that aren't serving us in this moment.
When we meditate,
We're not trying to eliminate thought or eliminate emotion and become a completely blank slate.
Instead,
We're training the mind.
We're growing more and more comfortable as the witness of all that arises.
Realizing that tensions or discomfort in the body come and go.
When comfort and pleasure in the body comes and goes,
Emotions come and go.
Thoughts come and go.
If it can be witnessed,
We know that it's not us.
And if we ever find the thoughts or transient states of being too much to handle,
We can always come back to that breath.
Letting it become soft and natural.
Not forcing anything.
Just simply observing the inhalation and the exhalation.
This observation can happen at the nostrils,
In the throat,
In the belly or in the lungs.
Maybe even watching the shoulders gently rise and fall.
Find a place where it's easy for your attention to rest and keep bringing the mind back here.
Letting it become soft and natural.
And when thoughts do arise,
As they will,
We don't judge or criticize.
We don't try to fight the thought or push it away.
Because what we resist,
Persists.
So as sensations in the body,
Emotions or thoughts come,
We just simply recognize them.
Ah,
A thought.
Look at that.
Maybe there's a discomfort in the body.
And we see if we can just witness it instead of engaging and shifting and moving.
But if we need to move,
This is also okay too.
There are no rules in this meditation.
Just simply softening and stepping further and further into the present moment.
Okay.
.
Any experiences whether they be of the body,
The emotional body or the mind or even great spiritual states.
These can all be used as a springboard into our true nature.
Who is it that has these expectations?
Where is it that these judgments come from?
Who is it that feels happy or sad?
What is this I that has been persistent throughout my entire life despite ups and downs this I has always been there.
Who am I?
Where does I exist?
We're not being forceful with these questions.
We're not using them like a mantra.
We are truly and earnestly asking where is the I?
What am I?
Where is it that awareness begins and ends?
And the mind will try to conceptualize and philosophize.
But even this there is a witness of.
There is still an I that witnesses the answers of the mind.
Who is it that feels happy or sad?
Who is it that feels happy or sad?
Who is it that feels happy or sad?
Who is it that feels happy or sad?
Coming back to the breath.
We take a big inhale through the nose and a big exhale through the mouth.
Two more times.
Big inhale through the nose.
Exhale through the mouth.
Just one big inhale.
Big exhale.
Gazing the eyes downwards towards the earth.
We gently,
Slightly open the eyes and then close them again.
Realizing that this witness and this awareness,
This meditation and this inquiry doesn't stop as the eyes open.
It's true as we engage the eyes there's even more to witness.
But there's even more to use as a springboard into our true nature.
Again keeping the eyes gazed down we gently open the eyelids.
This time keeping the eyes open.
Seeing if we can witness that which remains the same with the eyes both open and closed.
You can alternate between opening closed eyes if this is easier.
Eventually fully opening the eyes.
Remembering that that which we've cultivated here in our practice today has always been with us and will never go away.
Sending loving gratitude to ourselves for taking this time.
Taking this time to practice and to go inside.
Namaste.
