Simple meditation to settle the mind.
Come into your seated position.
You might be sitting cross-legged on a cushion or on a stool.
You might be on a straight-backed chair.
If you're up on a chair,
Place your feet firmly on the ground about hip-width apart.
And allow your awareness to drift up your spine.
Lengthening,
Softening.
Being aware of our intention to dedicate this bit of time to practicing meditation.
Maybe raise your chest a little bit,
Lift your shoulders and drop them back.
Opening your chest,
Lengthening your neck.
Take your awareness to the very top of your neck,
Where it joins onto your head somewhere between your ears.
And just let your head have a gentle roll from there.
Find a little softness,
A little ease.
And then bring your posture into a stacked position.
Long spine,
Chest bright,
Chin in a little bit.
Maybe take your gaze to the mat a little way in front of you.
Either a soft gaze or gently closed eyes.
Bring your awareness to your breath,
Flowing gently in and out through your nose.
See if you can make your in and your out breath equal.
Just exploring where you can feel the breath moving into your body.
Maybe at your nostrils.
Or maybe at your chest.
Or even your belly.
Wherever it is that you can feel that sensation.
And to keep the breath equal,
You might want to count.
Maybe 1,
2,
3 or 4 on the inhale.
1,
2,
3,
4 on the exhale.
So your posture is safe,
Soft and sustainable.
Your breath is equal,
Flowing in and out of the body.
And you might be counting the breath.
So we're doing two things.
We're counting the breath.
And we're breathing.
And while we're sitting,
Just breathing and counting,
You might find that thoughts pop into your mind.
And when thoughts pop into your mind,
We're not getting caught up in them.
We're just noticing and letting them be.
Letting them pass.
And drawing our awareness back to the breath.
And back to the counting.
3 to 4 on the inhale.
And 3 to 4 on the exhale.
And every time you notice that your mind has got caught up in thinking or planning,
Recognise that and gently bring your awareness back to the breath.
When we're seated on the mat,
The body is soft and supported.
The breath is moving gently in and out of the body.
And when we notice that we've got caught up in a thought,
Just let go of it and come back to the breath.
Breathing gently in and out through the nose.
And when you recognise a thought,
Just let it go.
And come back to the breath.
Gently in and out through the nose.
You might want to explore breathing slightly longer on the exhale.
Maybe noticing on the exhale that as the body releases the breath,
It relaxes.
And maybe the mind can learn from the body.
The body releases the breath,
Softens.
And the mind releases its involvement with thinking and begins to settle.
And if it feels nice,
Just focus on a slightly longer exhale.
The body releases the breath and relaxes.
The mind releases involvement with thoughts and begins to settle.
And every time you notice your mind's got caught in a thought,
Bring your awareness back to the breath.
And each time you notice and return to the breath,
You experience a mindful moment.
Each and every thought is an opportunity to practice.
And as we come towards the end of the meditation,
Maybe letting go of any counting,
If you're still counting,
Or any focus on the exhale.
And see if your breath can settle back to its usual pattern.
And just explore the notion that this is how the mind is.
The natural state of the mind is wandering.
And by beginning to train the mind,
By returning to the breath,
We develop the opportunity to be more mindful,
More focused,
More aware of how our mind works.
And that might benefit ourselves and others.
And in your own time,
Maybe just allow your head to roll a little.
Open your eyes if they're still closed.
Maybe scrawl up your face and release.
And end the meditation.
