So welcome to our sitting meditation.
So this will be a 20 minute meditation.
Gently turning towards the difficult.
So our intention for this practice is bringing our awareness onto the whole of our experience.
And gently in our own way and our own time turning towards any unpleasant aspects of our experience.
And then broadening into the whole of our experience.
With attitudes of curiosity,
Openness,
Acceptance and kindness.
So settling down into our chosen posture.
Coming into a dignified,
Awake,
Relaxed posture.
So maybe first of all asking ourselves well what is my experience right now?
And gently practicing acceptance of that experience.
Awareness of breath.
Grounding down maybe onto the body,
Onto the breath.
Whatever feels like an anchor for us today.
And when the mind takes us off into the future or into the past that's okay.
When we notice this is a moment of awareness.
With awareness comes choice.
And we might choose to come back onto the breath,
Awareness of breath.
Each in-breath,
Expansion.
Each out-breath.
Coming back,
Coming home.
This constant rising and falling.
The constant ebb and flow of our breath throughout our life.
And then broadening into awareness of the body,
Sensations in the body.
There's no right or wrong sensation in the body.
So we're just gently practicing awareness of the body.
And as best we can gently turning towards any unpleasant aspects of our experience.
To the best of our abilities just allowing that to be.
Maybe saying to ourselves gently it's okay,
Let me feel it.
And if there's nothing particularly there just practicing curiosity.
So what is our experience right now?
And can we soften any resistance to that experience?
Maybe saying to ourselves soften,
Soften,
Soften.
Maybe saying to ourselves soften,
Soften,
Soften.
Maybe breathing into it,
Breathing out of it.
Just being with what is right now.
Maybe saying to ourselves pain in the small of my back,
Unpleasant.
Lots of thoughts arising,
Unpleasant.
Worrying about this and that,
Unpleasant.
And then gently anchoring our attention back onto the body and the breath.
And if we feel overwhelmed by any of these sensations remembering that we can always come back to our safe haven,
Our anchors,
Our body,
Our breath.
In what way can we take care of ourselves right now?
And if we notice any emotional pain,
Exploring the echo in the body and taking our awareness there and maybe breathing into that area of the body,
Breathing out of that area of the body.
Practicing holding it in our kind awareness as we might a child who has hurt themselves,
Gathering them to ourselves,
Holding them,
Soothing them.
Bringing the emotional pain into the light of our awareness.
Breathing into it,
Breathing out of it.
Just practicing being with what's here right now.
Exploring onwards,
Maybe this pleasantness of being with what's here right now.
So exploring onwards,
Maybe this pleasant aspects of our experience.
So just gently allowing these into the light of our awareness.
It's already there,
We don't need to invent it,
Just gently practicing allowing it in.
Maybe sunlight coming in through the window,
Pleasant.
Maybe calm in the room,
Pleasant.
Warm hands,
Warm hands,
Pleasant.
A softness in the belly,
Pleasant.
And then broadening out our field of awareness to include and hold both the neutral,
Pleasant and unpleasant aspects of our moment by moment experience.
Allowing our experience just to be.
At times maybe our breath more predominant.
Breathing in,
Breathing out.
Breathing in,
Breathing out.
Or body sensations,
Or thoughts,
Or emotions.
Simply dwelling with an open awareness.
Attending to whatever arises.
Holding it all with a gentle,
Kind awareness.
The ever changing nature of experience itself.
Constantly changing,
Rising and falling.
Coming and going.
Sitting in stillness with whatever comes and goes.
Practicing being here now.
Opening to the totality of our experience.
Being fully human.
Gently exploring the neutral,
Unpleasant and pleasant aspects of shared humanity.
And now returning the attention to the breath and the body as we sit here breathing.
In this moment.
Exploring the experience of our very alive bodies.
Practicing allowing ourselves to be exactly as we are.
And now grounding ourselves.
Awareness of the contact with the ground through our feet and legs,
Our sitting bones.
That sense of pressure being held by the earth.
So breathing in and breathing out down into the earth,
Earthing ourselves.
And breathing in and breathing out.
And breathing in and breathing out down into the ground,
Grounding ourselves.
And then to the best of our abilities taking this awareness out into the next moments of our daily lives.
And bringing our awareness back into the room.
The sounds,
The sounds of my voice.
And in our own time gently starting to move and stretch in any way that feels appropriate.
And gently bringing this meditation to a close.
The meditation is now complete.
