Beginning this practice by taking a full deep in-breath,
Filling the lungs,
Filling the chest,
And shifting into a smooth slow exhale.
And again full deep in-breath here.
Aware of these sensations of fullness in the body and shifting into a smooth slow exhale.
Feeling these sensations of release.
Perhaps taking a couple more of these at your own pace.
Inviting the whole of the body-mind to be right here.
And allowing the breath to begin to resume its natural rhythm.
Bringing the attention to the sensations of breath in the body.
Noticing where these sensations reside.
And scanning through the body-mind.
Noticing any other sensations that are calling for the attention.
That are here right now to be seen or felt or heard.
Just noticing,
Observing what's here.
Perhaps scanning from the top of the head down through the temples,
The ears,
The face,
Through the neck and shoulders,
The arms.
Just observing any sensations that are here.
Drifting further through the torso,
The upper back,
The middle back,
And lower.
Through the chest,
The ribcage,
The abdomen.
Breathing.
Observing any sensations down into the hips,
Pelvis,
Into the legs,
The knees,
The shins,
And the calves.
Further into the ankles,
The feet.
Just breathing here.
Allowing whatever sensations are here just to be as they already are.
Not trying to change them,
Just observing.
Tuning into this inner landscape.
Aware of any sense of tingling or numbness,
Pulsing,
Any tensions or tightness residing here in the body-mind.
Any place of loosening or softening.
Simply observing,
Breathing.
Noticing and observing any images that are present here in the mind's eye.
Perhaps even the lack thereof.
There's no right or wrong here.
Just observing.
Scanning through the body-mind,
Noticing any feelings or emotions that may arise that may be right here.
Perhaps there is one primary emotion calling the attention,
Joy or sadness,
Worry,
Contentment.
There may be a slew of emotions.
Just observing whatever is here in this moment as we tap into the current state of the body-mind.
Breathing.
Feeling these sensations of breath through the whole of the body.
There may be a particular area where the sensations of breath stand out the most in this moment.
You may find these sensations in the nostrils,
In the chest,
In the abdomen.
Wherever they're residing in this moment,
Just allowing them to be observing these sensations,
Feeling the whole of the body sitting or standing or lying right here.
And from this awareness of the sensations in the body,
From this awareness of the breath,
Directing the attention to the thoughts,
To the thinking mind.
Perhaps observing the pace of thinking in this moment,
Noticing if thoughts are moving quickly or slowly.
If there are many thoughts coming into the body-mind,
If there are just a few trickling in or perhaps it's hard to access the sense of thinking at all.
Just observing what's here.
There's no better or worse or right or wrong.
It's just this experience sifting through this landscape right here in this moment and breathing.
You're aware that at any moment the attention can be directed to any one of these areas.
They can be checked in with.
What sensations are arising right here?
Using the breath as an anchor to help ground the attention in this moment.
Using the sensations of the body resting here.
Perhaps feeling the buttocks on the chair,
The feet on the ground or the back against whatever it's touching or lying upon.
Breathing.
Noticing that if the mind begins to wander,
This is a perfect opportunity for noticing.
This is exactly what the mind does.
Just like the heart beats,
The mind generates thoughts.
There's nothing wrong with that.
However,
In this moment we are building the skill of attention through this practice.
We are gaining the option to redirect the attention into the body,
To redirect the attention into the sensations,
The feelings or emotions that are here,
The images that may be present in the mind's eye and with intention we're even directing the attention to the thoughts but perhaps in a different way.
Moving through this practice of sifting to gain a clearer picture of the landscape of the body-mind in any given moment.
Breathing.
Not trying to change anything,
Just observing what's right here,
Allowing it to be as it already is.
Knowing that the breath and that these sensations of the body are here as anchors.
They can be used to redirect the attention into the present moment at any time.
Always here.
Always accessible.
Perhaps inviting in a full deep in-breath here,
Filling the lungs,
Filling the chest.
Smooth,
Slow exhale.
Feeling these sensations of release through the whole of the body-mind and again full deep in-breath here.
Smooth,
Slow exhale from this place of presence,
Of awareness,
Of gentleness,
Kindness to the self for whatever it's experiencing in this moment.
We begin to make some subtle movements with the body,
Perhaps wiggling the fingers or wiggling the toes.
And whenever you're ready,
Perhaps on the next in-breath,
Gently inviting the sense of vision into the space.
Gently opening the eyes and inviting in the light and the objects and the shapes that are here and moving from this place into the next moments of your day.
