So welcome to the meditation today.
So in a moment we'll be starting a 30 minute choiceless awareness practice.
So the intentions for this practice is to practice bringing our awareness into all aspects of our present moment experience with a broad attention into whatever arises.
So to begin with we'll be focusing on the breath and the body and then as we move through the meditation we'll be broadening out into sounds and from there into thoughts,
The realm of thoughts,
The emotions and finally into choiceless awareness.
So just settling down into our chosen posture maybe with our eyes closed or gently a soft gentle gaze.
And just making a choice to allow yourself to be exactly as you are in this moment.
So gently letting go of any preconceptions,
Any agenda.
So practicing nothing to do,
Nowhere to go.
We'll be practicing the attitudes like non-striving,
Accepting and softening the judging mind.
So first of all awareness of breath.
So just bringing our attention onto the breath,
The body breathing.
This constant part of our experience in the background always there.
So just practicing becoming more aware of our breath and the whole breathing process.
There's no right or wrong way to breathe.
We're not changing the breath in any way.
If we notice we don't like the way we're breathing just practicing accepting that for the moment this is how our breath is.
Our thoughts will be taking us off and that's okay,
That's what thoughts do.
This isn't wrong in any way,
It's not a failure.
It doesn't mean we can't meditate.
So just gently becoming aware of thoughts.
With awareness comes choice.
And with that choice we might choose to come back onto the breath.
Breathing in,
Breathing out.
Breathing in a sense of expansion in the diaphragm,
In the ribs,
In the stomach.
And on the out-breath everything coming back to neutral.
Simply practicing awareness of breath.
Noticing that there's a beginning,
A middle and an end of each breath.
Maybe noticing the moment,
The space or pause when the in-breath shifts to an out-breath.
And then maybe noticing the out-breath from its beginning and then to its shift as it becomes an in-breath.
Bringing curiosity and freshness to this moment.
Using this useful life skill of returning our attention to an anchor.
Even if the breath doesn't quite work for you then any other anchor,
The body itself.
Maybe the contact with the ground,
Through the legs,
Through the feet,
Through the sitting body.
Thoughts coming and going and that's okay.
And we can practice dropping below those thoughts onto the breath.
Into the body.
Bring the center of gravity down,
Out of the head,
Down into the body.
And now when you are ready,
Expanding your attention beyond the breath to include the entire body sitting here.
The sensations in the body.
Or maybe no sensations.
How is the experience of no sensation?
No success.
No failure.
Practicing becoming aware of the sensations in the body.
Sensation of touch.
Maybe the sensation of the clothes.
The temperature.
Some sensations comfortable.
Some sensations maybe uncomfortable.
Just gently practicing with kindness.
Curiosity.
And patience.
Noticing how some sensations maybe stay just for a short while.
While other sensations may linger longer.
Noticing how these sensations change and shift.
Some pass away and others arise like the breath.
They have a beginning,
A middle and an end.
If any of the body sensations become intense,
Too intense.
Maybe deliberately shifting our attention back to the breath.
Maybe gently and slowly changing some aspect of the posture.
Or maybe choosing to just be with those sensations.
And practicing softening.
Allowing.
Gently practicing acceptance.
Now broadening our attention out into the sounds and silence.
Some sounds nearby,
Other sounds far away.
Some sounds pleasant.
Some sounds unpleasant.
So just practicing awareness of sounds.
Maybe noticing how our mind likes to make sense of the sounds and think about the sounds.
And that's okay.
It's also useful to practice just bringing our attention back to the raw sound itself.
Maybe becoming aware of how sounds have a beginning,
A middle and an end.
How some are short and others are long.
The texture of the sound.
The space between sounds.
Noticing how the mind labels sounds.
Has opinion about sounds.
Likes and dislikes certain sounds.
So as much as possible practicing making space in which sounds can be experienced just as much as possible.
And when you are ready in your own time.
Gently allowing our attention to shift from hearing.
And allowing it to expand this time into thinking the realm of thought.
Not so much thoughts as distractions.
But rather bringing our awareness to the thinking process itself.
Noticing how thoughts arise.
Some stay briefly and others for a more extended period.
A beginning.
Middle and end.
Practicing looking at thoughts rather than from thoughts.
Maybe labelling thoughts.
Thinking remembering planning worrying.
Perhaps practicing just seeing thoughts as phenomena that arise in the mind.
And maybe saying to ourselves ah I'm noticing thoughts arising.
Maybe planning type thoughts are here.
Maybe worrying type thoughts are here.
And then anchoring back onto the breath onto the body.
That may be now broadening into the realm of emotions our landscape of emotions.
Some pleasant emotions maybe.
Some unpleasant emotions maybe.
Maybe practicing labelling our emotions.
Ah anger is here.
Joy is here.
Happiness is here.
Unhappiness is here.
Just gently practicing labelling our emotions.
And then returning to the breath or the body.
Even if there's no emotion around that's okay.
Just practicing curiosity.
There's no particular state to be achieved.
Just gently practicing becoming more familiar with our landscape of emotions.
Just gently noticing the ever changing nature of our experience.
Now pleasant.
Now unpleasant.
And if at any time emotions become too intense too uncomfortable remember we always have our anchors our breath our body.
Practicing finding our safe harbour.
Watching our attention there for a while.
Until we feel ready to venture out again.
And now if you care moving into choiceless awareness.
Not choosing to bring your attention to anything in particular.
Simply sitting here.
Aware of whatever is presenting itself to you in each moment.
Being spacious with whatever arises.
Practicing receptivity.
Perhaps now a body sensation.
Perhaps later some thoughts.
Simply practicing simply resting in awareness itself.
Awareness of breath body sounds thoughts or emotions.
Just sitting.
Not holding on to anything not looking for anything.
Having no agenda whatsoever.
Just embodied wakefulness.
Practicing sitting in stillness with whatever comes and goes.
Being being present with it all.
Being here now.
Even to the totality of your experience.
Being fully human.
Now returning our attention to the body as you sit.
Feeling a sense of gravity.
The sense of being held gently.
Closely.
Dwelling in what the body feels and what it knows.
Now becoming aware of your breathing.
Your breath your body.
Grounding grounding our attention back down into the ground of contact with the earth.
Grounding ourselves.
Earthing ourselves.
And now gently bringing our attention back into the room.
Simply sounds in the room.
Maybe gently starting to move.
To stretch in any way that feels good for you in this moment.
Realizing that by practicing in this way.
We're intentionally deepening our ability to be fully present in our daily lives.
And this may help create a wider deeper more open way of being in your life.
In which we can see more clearly and make more conscious choices for health,
Well-being and freedom.
And when you're ready gently opening your eyes coming back into the room.
Your meditation is now complete.
