Welcome to this 20-minute open awareness meditation.
Let's begin by finding a comfortable position for you.
You may choose to sit on a meditation cushion in a cross-legged position,
A chair with the feet flat on the ground and the back straight,
Or maybe you prefer laying on the floor or in the bed.
Find the position that feels right for you today.
Once settled in,
You might want to gently close your eyes.
The intention of this practice is to bring our awareness into all aspects of our present moment experience,
The breath,
Body sensations,
Sounds,
Thoughts,
Emotions,
And to open to all of these aspects as they move and change,
Appear and disappear in awareness.
Practicing awareness gives us the possibility to choose how we react to any given event which is already here and present.
By skillfully responding instead of automatically reacting to such events,
We are able to significantly reduce stress and suffering.
Stress reduction helps our organism to be in a calmer state,
Which is essential for our healing journey.
We practice this meditation with a broad,
Effortless attention into whatever arises.
And we do this as best we can with an attitude of non-striving,
Accepting and letting go.
So we are practicing simply allowing and turning towards everything that arises instead of resisting or striving against experiences.
This change of relating to events is what puts our mind,
Heart,
And body in a calmer state.
If at any time sensations in the body become too uncomfortable,
Thoughts or emotions arise that are too difficult,
Remembering that it is always possible to return to the breath or the places where the body touches whatever we are sitting or laying on as a safe place,
A retreat for us to rest in,
Until we are ready to return to the meditation and my voice.
Also it is completely human and normal to drift off from my spoken words during the meditation.
That is an excellent opportunity to regain awareness and bringing ourselves back to my words.
This process of drifting off and regaining awareness is what builds the awareness muscle.
So maybe being thankful if we regain awareness and congratulating ourselves.
In this meditation we will intentionally have longer breaks between the spoken words so that we have more space to explore what our experience of the current moment is and how we relate to those experiences.
Now let's start with the open awareness meditation.
As we settle,
I invite you now to focus on the breath,
Just allowing our attention to feel the body breathing,
The breath entering and leaving the body.
Basically breathing in and out,
Noticing that there is a beginning,
A middle and an end of every in-breath and every out-breath.
And if we drifted off,
Noticing that and simply coming back to my words and the breath in a non-judging and kind way.
Now when we are ready,
Expanding our attention beyond the breath to include also the entire body sitting or laying here.
Simply becoming aware of sensations in the body as they are right here and right now.
Maybe there is pain,
Tension,
Tiredness or fatigue to be found in the body.
And if so,
This is our reality right now.
It is our experience.
However unpleasant this might be,
What matters is how we relate to those events,
Those sensations.
Can we simply allow them to be here instead of resisting?
Can we just notice them for what they are instead of fighting against them?
Can we just observe our body from an objective point of view and be with things as they are?
Can we accept our current state and maybe bringing some kindness towards our body even if it doesn't function perfectly or the way we want it to be functioning?
Simply observing our experience,
Nothing to do and nothing to change.
And if the attention wanders,
Noticing that and making a choice to bring the attention back with care and kindness to the awareness of the body and breath.
Now,
Allowing the attention to shift from the breath and the body to the sense of hearing,
Perceiving whatever is available from within the body and from the environment,
Near and far.
And when we are caught up in emotions or thoughts,
Recognizing them and choosing to come back to the experience of sound,
Noticing how the mind labels sounds,
Has opinions about sounds,
Likes and dislikes certain sounds.
And when we are ready,
Allowing attention to shift from hearing and letting it expand this time into thoughts,
Seeing thoughts not as a distraction but rather bringing our awareness to the thinking process itself,
Noticing how thoughts arise,
Stay briefly or for a more extended period and then dissolve a beginning,
A middle and an end.
Maybe,
Worrying thoughts about the future or the past are here,
Maybe thoughts about fatigue,
Exhaustion,
Tiredness or pain are here or maybe other thoughts,
How do we relate to those thoughts?
Realizing simply observing thoughts from a distance and allowing them to be,
Even if they are unpleasant,
We can choose how we relate to those thoughts.
And when we drifted off,
Recognizing this and gently but firmly bringing our attention back to the thoughts in accepting and non-judging way,
This is what strengthens our awareness muscle.
Focusing now on emotions,
What do we notice?
Perhaps frustration,
Hopelessness,
Anger,
Fear,
Nervousness or sadness is here or maybe peacefulness,
Calm,
Happiness or joy is here or maybe nothing at all,
Which is fine too.
Realizing how we relate to those emotions and where in the body they seem to live in,
Exploring the sensations,
Practicing,
Allowing and softening.
Maybe simply breathing with the emotion instead of avoiding,
Resisting or fighting,
Just letting go.
Remembering that if at any time emotions or sensations become too uncomfortable,
You will always return to the breath or the places the body touches the ground as a safe place to rest in until we are ready to come back to the meditation again.
Focusing now into an open awareness,
Not choosing to bring our attention to anything in particular,
Simply sitting or laying here fully aware of whatever is presenting itself to us in each and every moment.
The breath,
Sounds,
Thoughts,
Emotions and sensations.
And,
If you are caught up in a certain emotion,
A thought,
Sound or sensation,
Acknowledging this and gently but firmly bringing our attention back to a broader open awareness once again.
Even when we drift off a hundred times,
Which is totally normal,
We choose to come back to awareness a hundred times and practice doing this in a patient and gentle way.
That is what we are practicing here,
Coming back to awareness in a kind and gentle way and simply observing our experience.
As we draw this practice to a close now,
I invite you to return to the attention to the body as we sit or lay here,
Being present to the totality of our experience.
Maybe now noticing sounds near and far and if it feels right,
Wiggling the hands and toes,
Maybe moving the head from side to side,
Moving and stretching in whatever way feels good to you in this moment and gently opening the eyes and coming back into the room.
There is no rush,
Taking a few moments to notice what sensations are present right now.
The meditation is now complete.
