Take some time to find your meditation position,
Whether that's seated or lying down.
See if you can find a position that helps you feel alert,
But also at ease in your body.
And you may allow your eyes to stay open as we begin,
Just giving yourself some time to take a few deep breaths and arrive in this space.
Now if sight is available to you,
I invite you to keep your eyes open and allow them to gently scan your environment.
You might let your eyes pause on the different objects in the room,
Taking in their details,
Color,
Texture,
And just let your vision move freely from one object to the next.
Notice if any judgment or stories come up as you do so with various objects,
And see if you can let that go and just take in the objects without any filters.
Just taking in as many details as you can.
And so when you feel ready,
Let your eyes close and now shift your awareness to the ears.
So as if you're turning the radio dial to a new station,
Imagine you're tuning in now to your hearing.
What do you hear?
You might let there be a sense of freedom in this,
Just letting your ears move freely from sound to sound,
Noticing the sounds inside the room,
Noticing the sounds outside the room,
And just let the sounds around you come into sharper and sharper focus.
And now let your hearing fade slightly into the background as you bring greater awareness now into the body,
Maybe starting at the top of your head or your forehead,
And slowly moving down the body like a scanner.
And as you move through the body,
See how much you can feel into the sensations and aliveness within your body.
You might notice sensations like buzzing or tingling,
Maybe throbbing or aching.
Maybe you feel coolness or warmth in different parts of the body.
And now making your way down to your feet,
Let your awareness rest here in the feet for a moment,
Feeling into the tingling,
The temperature,
Maybe the pressure of your feet against the surface.
And now let your awareness begin to rise through the body.
So first through the lower part of the body,
And then the upper part of the body.
And take your time.
And as you scan through the body,
See if there are any obvious areas of tension that are ready to soften.
Now sense into where you can most easily feel the gentle inflow and outflow of your breath in the body.
And see if you can bring a kind and curious quality of attention to the breath,
Imagining that the breath is a dear friend whose words you really want to hear.
Naturally,
The mind will wander and that's normal.
So when this happens,
Just notice it kindly and then come back to meet the breath.
So much of meditation is the practice of refocusing our awareness over and over again.
And see if you can relax into the breath as if it's a sort of sanctuary,
A safe space for you to be,
To rest.
And for some of us,
The breath doesn't feel like a safe place to rest our awareness.
And if that's true for you,
You can always find a place in the body to place your attention.
Just let your breath come more and more into focus,
Like a camera lens focusing in on an object.
The more your awareness grows,
The more detailed the object of your focus becomes.
And again,
If the mind wanders,
You just notice that kindly and come back to the breath.
The breath is always here.
All we have to do is return to it.
As we come to the end of our practice,
Give yourself some moments to take a few deep breaths,
Taking your time like we did at the beginning of this session.
Allow the sounds around you to come into focus once more,
Noticing sounds inside the room and sounds outside the room.
And now,
When you feel ready,
Opening your eyes,
Taking in the environment around you,
And see if you can maintain this sense of being aware of the world around you while also continuing to be aware of your inner world and holding both together.
And thanks for your practice.
