I always like to suggest beginning by allowing the eyes to soften as you're feeling your way into the body.
So letting the muscles around the eyes be relaxed,
And letting the focus within the eyes be soft,
So that if the eyes were open,
And I suggest you have them closed,
Your vision would be slightly defocused,
So that you could be aware of everything within your visual field without fixating on any one thing.
And with the eyes soft,
It's easier for us to be aware of the whole body.
Soft eyes leads to a soft and open inner field of attention,
A field of attention that's open to everything that's arising within the body.
You can be open to sensations of the breathing arising all over.
The breathing is not just the breath,
It's all and every sensation,
Every movement connected,
However indirectly,
With the breathing.
And you can notice how every movement of the breathing involves a slight adjustment to your posture.
On the in-breath,
There's openness,
Expansiveness,
Lifting.
On every out-breath,
There's settling,
Relaxing,
Softening,
So you can give your body permission to move freely with these movements of the breathing.
Not holding on,
Letting the breathing ripple through the entire body,
Adjusting,
Rearranging,
Reconfiguring your posture as it does so,
And just seeing if you can trust in your body's ability to find its way into an effective posture,
A posture that's dignified,
Open,
A posture that supports the arising of mindfulness,
A posture that supports kindness.
And so for the rest of this period of practice,
Just observing with curiosity as the body settles into itself.
