So I'm going to assume that you have already found your way into an effective meditation posture.
You could be lying down,
Although that tends to make us sleepy.
If you can,
It's more effective to sit upright.
To have the back straight,
But at ease.
A good word to sum this up is dignity.
It's not dignified to slump,
And it's not dignified if you hold yourself rigidly.
And arriving more deeply,
We allow the eyes to be soft,
Which means that the muscles supporting the eyes are at rest,
And the focus within the eyes is soft,
Even behind your closed eyelids.
And this is important because with the eyes soft,
It's easier for us to have a softer,
More open,
More receptive field of inner attention.
In fact,
Soft eyes tend to slow the breathing down in the body,
To lead to us breathing more deeply.
So you can begin with a soft inner field of awareness,
To notice sensations of the breathing wherever they may arise in the body.
So we can notice sensations of the breathing down in the belly,
Not just on the front of the belly but on the sides,
Build and release of pressure in the abdomen,
As the diaphragm pushes down and relaxes.
It's that pressure building that pushes the muscles of the abdominal wall out in all directions,
Pushing our skin against our clothing,
So that the skin too is part of the breathing.
Noticing the breathing also in the chest,
And here too it's not just the front of the chest that we're observing,
The ribcage runs all the way around,
From the front of the body to the spine,
And here too the skin,
As the ribcage moves,
Pushes out against our clothing,
And moves against our clothing as we breathe out.
You can notice the breathing also in the spine,
Notice how you sit taller,
As you breathe in,
How the spine settles down,
Becomes shorter,
As we breathe out,
And I'd like to suggest that you bring two words into the practice,
On an in-breath,
Saying to yourself,
Strength,
Not necessarily saying that on every in-breath,
But at least sometimes,
And as you say the word,
Strength to yourself,
Noticing any qualities on the in-breathing that correspond to strength,
Like the openness of the heart,
The way the body takes up more space,
The way you sit tall,
Perhaps a sense of clarity as you breathe in,
Perhaps a sense that your being is filling with energy and aliveness,
And on an out-breath,
Saying to yourself the word,
Ease,
And noticing every time you say that word,
Qualities of ease,
Like the body letting go,
The body softening,
The body settling down,
A sense of releasing,
So we're connecting qualities of strength and the in-breathing,
Connecting qualities of ease on the out-breathing,
Spacing these words out,
So that you're not saying them on every breath,
Which might take you further from your experience,
Using these words every few breaths to help you get closer to your experience,
And you may want to try dropping the words altogether,
But just being aware of the qualities of strength on the in-breathing and ease on the out-breathing,
And in a minute I'm going to ring a bell,
And the spell does not mark the end of the meditation practice,
It will mark the part of the meditation practice where you are beginning to bring your attention more fully into the outside world,
Giving yourself time to adjust before you let the eyes gently open.
