This is a guided meditation to help you rest in awareness of whatever arises in your field of experience from moment to moment.
This practice is usually done sitting on a cushion on the floor or on a hard back chair,
But can also be done lying down if that is more comfortable for you.
If you are lying down,
You may wish to keep your eyes open to help you remain awake and alert throughout.
If you are sitting,
Remember to keep your spine long and straight,
Your chest open and your shoulders back in a posture that embodies dignity and stability.
Whether sitting or lying,
Taking a moment to feel the points of contact with the surface you are on.
Feeling the support and stability beneath you and holding your whole body in awareness from your head,
Neck and shoulders down your arms into the hands to the front,
Back and sides of your torso,
Your pelvis,
Thighs,
Knees,
Calves and shins,
Ankles and feet,
And holding your whole body in awareness,
Noticing any sensations that may arise and tip the snare,
Help it through to whatever field of energy is necessary,
To open up to your normal state itself,
Depending on the limit.
Simply resting in awareness of bodily sensations,
Sensing what is here,
Tension,
Tingling,
Numbness,
Pulsating,
Filling your entire body with the light of awareness,
And feeling whatever is here to be felt in this moment.
Now resting your attention on the breath sensations in the body,
Starting with the feeling of the breath entering and leaving the nostrils,
Sensing the temperature,
Cool air going in and warm air leaving the nostrils,
Not trying to manipulate or change anything,
Simply letting the breath breathe itself.
Now gently moving your attention to the feeling of the breath in the chest,
Lungs expanding and contracting each time they are filled and emptied on the inhale and exhale.
If you find yourself no longer with the breath,
Carried away by a thought,
Emotion or sensation,
Gently escorting your attention back to the feeling of the breath in the chest.
Now moving your attention down into the belly,
Just at or below the navel,
And feeling the rising and falling of the belly as the movement of the diaphragm supports the expansion and contraction of the lungs,
Not trying to inhale or exhale,
Just letting it be,
Letting the body do what it is designed to do,
Resting in awareness of the breath.
The breath is not a concept or a mental event like a thought,
It is real and it is always here for you in every moment of every day.
In this way,
If you stay with one breath after another,
It can act like an anchor tethering you to the present moment.
It is not possible to breathe a past breath or a future breath,
Only this breath.
The breath continues to breathe itself and the intention rides along.
Now letting the breath continue to breathe itself and shifting your attention to any sounds in your field of awareness,
Being conscious of the tendency to lean towards sounds,
To try and hear something.
Now is a time for trying less and being more,
Being the hearing rather than the hearer.
Sounds may arise from within your body,
The breath,
The belly,
The mouth,
Or you may notice sounds outside the body in the space you are in,
Or even outside.
Simply noticing any and all sounds,
Vibrations,
Waves that travel through the air from their source and enter our ear canal,
Vibrating our eardrums.
Noticing any thoughts,
Memories,
Stories,
Or judgments that arise as a result of hearing a specific sound and letting them go again,
Coming back to being the hearing.
No need to name the sound,
No need to label it.
Being aware not only of the sounds,
But of the silence between and behind the sounds as well.
Now letting sounds fade into the background and bringing any thoughts and their emotional charge that you may be experiencing to the foreground of your awareness.
Imagining your awareness as the sky and thoughts as weather,
Events that arise and fall away naturally without having to do anything about them.
Regardless of how severe or intense the weather may be,
The sky remains,
Holding that weather within it,
And the sun continues to shine behind.
The mind is amazing.
It helps us plan,
Learn,
Problem-solve,
And achieve our dreams and aspirations.
But it also spends a lot of time and energy trapped in the prison of the past,
Or worrying about a future that hasn't yet happened.
Just being aware of the nature of any thoughts that arise and emotions that accompany them.
Recognizing thoughts as mental events,
Perhaps naming them,
Remembering,
Worrying,
Planning,
Practicing,
Fantasizing,
And then simply letting them go and coming back to watching the sky,
Waiting for the next thought to arise.
Some thoughts may be light and fleeting,
Like wispy clouds that appear and dissolve before you can recognize their content.
Others could be heavy and dark,
Like a thunder cloud,
Compelling and difficult to break free from.
Regardless of their nature,
It's important to remember that they are thoughts,
Not facts,
Mental events that arise,
Often spontaneously and fall away again as soon as we let them go.
Each time you find yourself carried away by a particular thought,
That moment is a moment of awareness,
An opportunity to let your true nature express itself,
To recognize the thought as a thought,
And to gently come back to resting in awareness.
Now,
In the final stage of the practice,
Expanding your awareness to hold whatever arises within it,
Whether it be sensations in the body,
The breath entering and leaving the nostrils,
Or expanding and contracting the chest or abdomen,
Perhaps sounds coming from inside or around you,
Or thoughts and emotions.
Sitting back and higher up so that you gain a different perspective,
A full unhindered view of the landscape of your experience in this moment,
And spending the next few minutes until you hear the sound of the bell,
Simply resting in awareness,
Observing and recognizing whatever comes up in the field of your experience,
And coming back each time you find your awareness has contracted around a specific thought,
Sensation or sound.
Broadening it once again and appreciating how vast and boundless it is,
Just like the sky above.
And as you listen to the sound of the bells,
Setting an intention to bring this awareness and appreciation as best you can to the rest of your day or evening,
To your relationship with yourself,
With others,
And with the world around you.
