I'd like to invite you,
As always,
To stop and turn inwards,
Away from the world of doing and our expectations of how things will be,
And towards our being,
Where we can connect to our deepest sense of who we are.
To begin,
Feel your body physically settle into this space.
Your back,
Active but relaxed.
Your chin slightly tucked in and your feet grounding into the floor.
That's set an intention right now to be here.
I am exactly where I'm supposed to be.
This is exactly what I'm supposed to be doing.
This is it.
This moment is all that's real.
We'll start by taking our attention to the fingertips.
Allow your full focus to rest there.
After a few moments,
You may notice a gentle vibration or humming beginning in the fingertips.
That's your nervous system responding to your attention.
Fingers preparing for movement.
Stay with it.
Keep your attention on the fingertips.
Allowing whatever sensation you feel.
Perhaps you notice it more on one side than the other.
Perhaps it comes and goes.
Just notice what you feel.
If your mind has already kicked in with thoughts,
Just gently give yourself permission to let them go and return to the practice.
No judgement or control.
Just letting go.
Now,
Keeping your attention on your fingertips.
See if you can also take your attention to your toes.
You feel that same sensation.
A vibration or humming sensation.
Perhaps you feel it more on your fingers.
Just notice what you feel.
Now allow that sensation to spread across your hands and your feet.
Up your arms and your legs.
See if you can build that awareness of your whole body.
Across your chest and your belly.
Your face.
Your shoulders.
Stay with it.
Noticing anywhere that's holding tension without trying to change anything.
Now gently take your attention to your breath.
Anywhere in the body you feel it.
Is it where your breath enters your mouth or your nostrils?
Maybe it's the rise and fall of your chest or your belly.
See where your attention lands and stay with it.
Notice that you don't need to make it happen.
Your body is breathing for you.
Your role is just to observe.
To witness.
To see what is happening.
You can watch the process that happens on its own.
If your mind gets distracted by thoughts,
Judgements or feelings.
Just let them go and return to the breath.
Know that you are right here where you are supposed to be.
Now we begin to label the breath as it comes in and goes out.
When we breathe in we label it rising.
When we breathe out falling.
Rising.
Falling.
And as we move into an open awareness practice,
Allowing sensations to come and go,
We know this place is always here for us to return to.
This is our base camp.
Rising.
Falling.
Rising.
Falling.
Now we open our awareness away from the breath and notice whatever emerges.
Notice there is a sensation in the body.
Whatever you notice just allow it to be there and simply label it sensation.
Sensation.
Sensation.
Don't go searching for it but allow whatever is there to come to you.
Into your awareness.
Be open to it.
Maybe it's sensation where your body meets the chair.
Maybe it's an itch.
The back of the neck.
Whatever sensation comes up just label the experience sensation.
Eventually the sensation will fall away.
When another emerges just label it again.
Sensation.
Then see if you can open your awareness further and allow sounds to come to you.
Again you're not looking for the sound but the sounds come to you.
When they do just label them hearing.
Hearing.
Hearing.
Don't try to identify what the sound is just label it hearing.
And then sensation.
Hearing.
And now adding thinking whenever a thought emerges.
Not attaching to any thoughts just notice when you begin to have them and labeling it.
Thinking.
Thinking.
Sensation.
Hearing.
Thinking.
Thinking.
Thinking.
Let's use this open awareness practice to drop into that deep ocean and let go of the doing.
Becoming aware of being aware.
A sense of a deeper knowing as you become still.
Watching as the snow in the snow globe settles.
Letting go of what we believe to be reality comes from our thinking mind.
Now you are allowing sensation.
Hearing.
And thinking to flow through.
Know that your awareness is always there.
Feeling that flow.
As things arise and then fall away.
You,
Your being is still and constant as that open awareness accepts whatever arises and lets it pass through.
Maybe sometimes things stay a while.
That's ok too.
Just notice and bring your attention back to the practice.
Knowing that there is a deeper awareness that can emerge.
Open to it.
Allow everything to drop away so you are left with pure awareness.
Now my voice will drop away as you stay in that awareness.
And I will guide you back when it's time to return to the doing.
For now just stay with that awareness.
Labelling anything that emerges.
Sensation.
Hearing.
Thinking.
And back to the its through.
You you you you you you now gently bring yourself back into the room you back into your body gently wriggle your fingers and your toes and allow yourself to slowly return in a moment when you're ready allow your eyes to blink open keeping your gaze soft as your awareness returns to this space in a moment a bell will ring to end your practice
