This is Cara Bradley.
Thank you for joining me for the Quiet the Chatter,
Settle Your Mind meditation.
And now in a seated position,
Place your feet to the floor,
Place your hands on your knees,
And sit upright in a relaxed but alert way.
And for a moment,
Notice your body.
Notice your feet on the floor,
Your seat on the chair,
Your hands on your thighs,
Perhaps your upper back leaning against the chair.
Notice your head in space as it finds its way to alignment on top of your shoulders and your spine.
Just notice your body in space in this moment and the experience of being in your body.
Any sensations that may be arising,
Notice tingling,
Coolness,
Heat,
Throbbing,
Pulsing.
Just coming into your body in this way,
Just dropping below your neck into your body,
Brings you more into presence.
As we drop from thinking to being,
We shift into a more experiential state where we're actually living in the moment.
And now bring your attention to breath,
To your breath,
To your experience of breathing.
What does it feel like to be breathing right now?
We're going to start counting our breath.
And by counting our breath,
We'll take five breaths.
It holds your mind in your breath in this moment.
So for the counting,
Open your eyes just halfway.
Find a spot on the floor in front of you.
Fixing your gaze helps you to stabilize.
When your eyes flitter about,
Your mind is flittering about.
So just by setting your gaze at one spot lightly,
It can help in anchoring your mind to this moment.
So we'll begin by counting five breaths.
And I'll take you along for the first round.
And then I'll leave you alone for the second few rounds for the next few rounds.
So together.
Inhale.
Exhale.
One.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Two.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Three.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Four.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Five.
Pausing now,
Keep your eyes open and notice.
Again,
Notice your body.
Notice your surroundings.
Notice any sounds,
Sensations,
Smells,
Tastes,
Thoughts.
Notice what it feels like to be you right now.
Recognizing presence.
Recognizing what it feels like to be alive in this moment.
Below the center.
Beyond the thinking.
You and you alone in this moment.
And now once again,
Fix your gaze.
And we'll begin again,
Counting five breaths.
So do this on your own.
Right now.
Stay with it.
After your five breaths,
Once again,
Notice.
So glimpsing what it feels like to be right here in your body in this moment.
Showing up fully for your experience.
The thought comes,
Let it come,
Let it go.
The smell comes,
Let it come,
Let it go.
A sound,
Same thing.
We're allowing life to move,
Not trying to fixate or stop anything from happening.
Yet experiencing the aliveness,
The emerging aliveness,
The emerging intelligence that's arising in every single second of our lives.
What does it feel like to be in your body in this moment right here right now?
We're going to take this for one more round.
You can do it.
One more round.
Set your gaze.
Bring your attention back to your breath and begin counting.
