I'd like to invite you as always to turn your attention inwards,
Away from the busy world of doing and into being.
Consciously landing in this space.
Place your feet firmly on the floor and really feel where they connect to the ground.
Sit back in the chair with your spine upright,
Relaxed but active.
Noticing the position of your head and making sure your chin is tucked in slightly.
Now we'll 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 placing your attention to your fingertips.
Allowing any sensations to develop.
Noticing after a few moments a slight tingling of vibration in your fingertips.
That's your nervous system responding to your attention.
Perhaps it comes and goes.
Just notice what you feel.
If your mind is 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 and being right here with whatever experience arises.
Now without effort,
See if you can keep your attention on your fingertips but also include your toes.
Noticing if that same gentle vibration emerges in your toes.
And allowing it to spread across your hands and the soles of your feet.
And then up your arms and your legs.
See if you can build that awareness of your whole body.
Stay with it.
Noticing anywhere that's holding tension without trying to change anything.
Stay with it.
Now gently take your attention to your breath.
See where in the body you feel it.
Perhaps it's where the breath enters your mouth or your nostrils.
Or maybe today you notice it in your chest as it rises and falls.
Or is it in your belly rising and falling.
Just see what you notice and allow your attention to settle.
Just noticing that the breath comes and goes on its own.
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.
And if your mind gets distracted by thoughts or judgements or feelings,
Just let them go and return to the breath.
Know that you are right here where you're supposed to be.
This connection to your body and your breath is always in the present moment,
Giving us a way in to connect to our deeper sense of being.
This is your base camp for your practice.
After a while thoughts will arise and come into your awareness.
Allow that to happen.
You're just going to let things emerge however you experience them.
Not actively looking for thoughts but just allowing them to come to you.
And when you realise your attention has left the breath,
Allow yourself to be curious.
Imagine you're a scientist.
Allow yourself to bring a sense of enquiry and interest to the experience.
Where do you experience the thought?
Perhaps it's a stream of thoughts.
Is it right in front of your eyes or further back in your head?
Is it inside of you or does it feel outside of your body?
Just notice.
It doesn't have a colour or texture.
Once the thought has passed,
Return to that base camp of your breathing and labelling that rising,
Falling of the breath.
Rising,
Falling.
Until another thought interrupts.
And notice how thoughts can be slippery and just as we try and focus on them,
They can disappear or change.
That's okay.
Try and allow whatever you experience to be okay.
Letting go of the need to judge yourself for what happens in each moment and also noticing when that judgement comes that it too is just a thought.
Are there any sensations that emerge in your body as you lean into the thoughts?
Notice that too.
And the landscape is constantly changing as you observe it.
Turning each time to that base camp once the thinking has passed.
Rising and falling.
And now having leaned into the thoughts will settle back into a practice of letting go.
So now when a thought pops instead of being curious,
We'll just label it thinking.
Thinking.
Thinking.
Until it passes.
Thinking.
Thinking.
And if other sensations come into your awareness,
Then label those too.
Bodily sensations are just sensation.
Sensation.
Sensation.
Sensation.
And sounds become hearing.
Hearing.
Hearing.
Thinking.
Sensation.
Hearing.
And when you're ready,
Gently pull your fingers and your toes and bring yourself back into the space that you're
