Please enjoy three sounds of the bell.
The sound of the bell is the voice of a great teacher,
Inviting us to come back to our true home,
The present moment.
The sound of the bell is the sound of a bell.
Dhāna twang Remember this.
Dhāna twang Remember this.
Notice your breath as you breathe in and as you breathe out.
You may like to say the word in as you breathe in and out as you breathe out.
In and out.
In and out.
Breathe naturally,
Which may be different than the sound of my voice inviting you to breathe in and out.
In and out.
Just enjoying the breath.
Observing your breath.
Being aware of your breath.
The foundation of our practice is anchoring our attention to our breath.
The Buddha taught a very simple teaching.
Breathing in,
Know you are breathing in.
And breathing out,
Know you are breathing out.
And this is most basic because we can't breathe in the past and we can't breathe into the future.
We can only breathe right here and now.
And so if we know we are breathing in and know we are breathing out,
We are one,
Anchored to the present moment.
Two,
We have united our body and mind as one.
And we are whole.
We are solid.
We are mastery of our person.
Breathing in and breathing out.
And after a time of giving this gentle attention to your breath,
You may notice that your breath is beginning to deepen and slow down.
So now as you breathe in,
You may want to say the word deep.
And as you breathe out,
You may want to say the word slow.
Deep.
Slow.
Deep.
Slow.
This deepening and slowing of your breath is a natural consequence of maintaining contact with your breath.
This gentle awareness of breath causes a rebalancing of your autonomic nervous system.
During the day,
Our active nervous system,
Often called our fight or flight nervous system,
Predominates.
And perhaps you may notice that your breath is more shallow when you're in this mode.
But the simple act of gentle attention to your breath brings online the other side of your autonomic nervous system.
The side that helps you rest,
Calm,
Heal,
Digest,
Repair.
So many different things involved in keeping us healthy and keeping us in the present moment.
And so it's normal that our breath begins to slow down.
As we slow down.
Deep.
Slow.
Deep.
Slow.
Now,
If you've noticed that your attention has strayed from the breath,
Congratulations.
You noticed.
Simply bring your attention back to the breath without judgment or criticism.
Because this is the fundamental practice.
We call it stopping.
And we bring our attention back into the present moment by bringing our attention home to our breath.
And no matter how long one has practiced mindfulness,
We are always doing this.
Bringing ourselves back to the present moment.
Because it's the nature of our mind to go all sorts of different places.
Traditionally,
The mind is described as a monkey for that reason.
So just come home and be pleased that you noticed.
Deep.
Slow.
Deep.
Slow.
Now you may notice that you may feel more calm and more at ease.
Again,
This is a natural consequence of returning your attention to the breath.
So now you may want to say the word calm as you breathe in.
And ease as you breathe out.
Calm.
Ease.
Calm.
Ease.
And just enjoy this feeling of calm.
Again,
An effect of a better,
Healthier balance in our autonomic nervous system.
And as we practice returning to our breath on a regular basis,
This becomes a positive habit energy that begins to repattern all of our body functions.
And we tend to be calmer overall.
Calm.
Ease.
Calm.
Ease.
And now you may also notice a gentle half smile has formed upon your lips.
And that some of the tension you may have felt when you began this meditation is no longer present.
So now as you breathe in,
You might like to say the word smile.
And as you breathe out,
You might like to say the word release.
Smile.
Release.
Smile.
Release.
A smile is actually the relaxed position of the face.
And if a smile has not naturally risen,
Go ahead and create a gentle half smile.
Just allow the corners of your lips to turn up.
Our teacher Thich Nhat Hanh calls this smile yoga.
And this simple act of smiling causes your entire face and your entire being to begin to relax.
So anytime you want to relax,
Just allow yourself to gently smile.
Smile.
Release.
Smile.
Release.
And perhaps you might say,
But I don't feel like smiling.
That's why our teacher calls it smile yoga.
Consider it to be a treatment method.
You don't feel good.
Allow yourself to feel a half smile.
And you will naturally begin to feel better.
This is just a very simple illustration of how we have sovereignty over our mind state.
Smile.
Release.
Smile.
Release.
And you may also wish to send your breath to any areas of tension in your body.
Just allow the breath to fill them up.
Sending life,
Giving oxygen,
Love and care to any areas of tension in your body.
Smile.
Release.
Smile.
Release.
Now returning your attention to your breath,
Should it have strayed.
Enjoying your breathing in and out.
Deep and slow.
Calm and ease.
Smile.
And this exercise allows us to practice the first step of mindfulness meditation.
Stopping and calming.
And we stop and calm so that we can come back to the present moment.
And have sovereignty over our body and mind.
It is the natural tendency of our mind to dwell on the past.
Or to fantasize about the future.
But the only moment that we truly have to give new meaning to the past or to shape the future is through the present moment.
It's the only moment that we have to live.
For the past is gone and the future well.
It's just a fantasy.
Reality is right here,
Right now.
So as you breathe in you may like to say the words present moment.
And as you breathe out you may like to say the words wonderful moment.
Present moment.
Wonderful moment.
Present moment.
Wonderful moment.
Present moment.
Present moment.
Present moment.
Present moment.
