Find a comfortable seat.
This meditation is based on sitting.
And when you are settled,
Gently lengthening through the crown of your head,
Letting your spine follow.
Not rigid,
Just a little taller,
Like something is softly pulling your head up.
Leave yourself a little room to move.
You might want it later.
We begin with the eyes open.
Take a slow,
Soft look around the space you are in,
Let your gaze move freely across the Notice how far the walls are from you,
How high the ceiling sits.
What kind of space you are actually inside of right now.
And as you look,
Ask yourself gently,
Does this space feel comfortable to your eyes?
You are not looking for a particular answer,
You are just letting your eyes have an experience and noticing what that experience is.
Now find one point in the room,
Anywhere,
And let your gaze settle there softly.
And then,
While your eyes stay on that point,
Let your awareness slowly expand outward.
To the edges of the room that breathe free.
The corners.
Until you are holding the whole space in your field of vision at once.
Focused and wide at the same time.
Stay here for a moment.
And then,
Very slowly,
Let your eyes close.
Notice what happens in the moment after.
When the eyes close,
Other things begin to wake up.
Sounds might become more present,
You might feel the weight of your own body more clearly,
The way it sits.
Maybe a smell drifts in that you hadn't noticed before.
Or a sensation in your hands,
Your feet.
Your breath.
You don't need to go looking for anything,
Just let whatever is already here become a little more visible.
Now let your attention focus on the sounds around you.
Hear what is close,
Maybe the sound of your own breath.
Or the subtle ambient hum of the room.
And then let your hearing reach further the way your eyes expanded a few moments ago.
What can you hear at the very edges of your range?
Maybe some sounds feel pleasant,
Maybe there is one that is a little distracting,
A buzz,
A hum,
A traffic,
Something outside the window.
You don't need to push it away.
Let it be part of the field of sound around you.
And now notice the music playing beneath this voice.
Its texture,
The way it moves,
The pace it carries you at.
Let yourself receive it.
And now bring your attention to the very tip of your nose.
On your next inhale,
Feel the air as it arrives.
It's cooler than your body.
You may notice a faint sensation right at the entrance of the nostrils.
A subtle freshness is the breath coming in.
And on the exhale,
That same air leaves warmer,
Carrying your body's heat out with it.
Cool in,
Warm out like a tiny gentle tide at the tip of your nose.
Stay with that for a few breaths.
Just the sensation of air moving through this one small place.
And now is there a scent in the air?
Something faint maybe.
.
.
You might have to get quiet enough to notice it.
And it's ok if nothing comes.
Some spaces are sandless but just stay curious for a moment.
Breathe.
And let yourself notice.
Now bring your awareness to your hands,
Wherever they are resting now.
Don't move them yet.
Just feel them exactly as they are.
Their weight,
Their temperature.
The way they make contact with your legs or each other or whatever surface they happen to be resting on.
Travel your attention into your palms.
Feel the center of each one,
The soft warmth there.
And then slowly move to the tips of your fingers There is quite a lot happening here,
If you get quite enough to feel it.
Maybe a gentle pause.
Maybe a faint sense of warmth.
As if your fingertips are very slightly expanding and contracting with every heartbeat.
It is quite and very noticeable but see if you can find it.
That small,
Constant sign that your body is alive and working,
Right now,
In this moment.
When you are ready,
Slowly bring your palms together and let them meet.
Fingers touching fingers,
Palm resting against palm.
Feel the warmth that builds between them.
The pressure where they make contact.
The way that heat gathers in the space they are sharing.
You made this worm,
Your own body made it,
And now you're feeling it against itself.
Stay here for a moment and just let that be interesting.
And now gently let your hands move to your forearms,
Each hand wrapping softly around the opposite arm.
Notice the warmth of your own touch.
With a slight pressure,
The texture of what's under your hands.
This is your body in contact with itself.
Giving itself something simple and real.
And if it feels right,
Let your arms cross a little further and let your hands reach for your shoulders.
Hold yourself here,
Softly,
Like a heart.
Maybe your palms want to stay still.
Or maybe they want to move slowly and gently along your arms,
Across your skin.
Let them do whatever feels natural.
This is your body,
The one that carries you through everything,
The one that feels it all.
There is nothing to assess here,
Nothing to improve,
Just presence.
And maybe you want to stay here or maybe if your body wants to move let it do so Maybe a gentle sway from side to side,
Life in a cradle.
Maybe your shoulders want to roll or your neck wants to soften and drop a little.
Maybe your whole upper body wants to move in some slow instinctive way that you couldn't have predicted.
And you can keep hugging yourself as you move.
Or you can let your arms open and follow wherever the movement wants to go.
Moving your fingers,
Moving your arms.
And moving your whole upper body.
This is yours.
Take your time here,
Moving or still,
In whatever way feels right.
When you feel ready,
Let any movement begin to settle on its own.
Let your hands come gently to rest on your thighs.
Feel the weight of them there,
The warmth of your palms against your legs.
Feel your feet or your legs against the floor your body in the seat or floor beneath you,
Held and supported.
Take one full breath.
Let it come and go without directing it,
Without effort.
And before you open your eyes take a few moments to appreciate what your body just offered you.
All that it can feel,
The warmth,
The texture,
The pulse,
The aliveness beneath the skin.
The quiet pleasure it is capable of when you slow down enough to let it in.
Let yourself acknowledge that.
In whatever way feels true.
And gently,
In your own time,
Let your eyes open.
