Hey there,
Welcome to a 10-minute guided meditation,
And this is an open meditation,
Which means that you are driving the ship,
Discovering what is present for you right now,
And making the commitment to focus on it and to follow it as it changes.
Begin by finding a comfortable position,
Either sitting or lying down,
Somewhere between relaxed and alert,
Maybe invoking a sense of business casual,
And allow the breath to move in and out through the nose,
And start to bring your attention to your immediate surroundings.
Notice the feeling of weight on the surface that you're sitting on,
A sense of pressure,
Of touch.
Notice the sounds around you,
And allow your eyes to soften and even close if you're comfortable doing that and they're not closed already.
Continue to breathe easily,
And as you turn your attention and your focus inward into this moment,
See if you notice any obvious tension anywhere,
Perhaps your shoulders or your jaw,
Your forehead,
Where I spend a lot of my attention,
And allow the breath to help you out,
Breathing into those spaces,
And as the breath releases,
See if you can release some of the tension,
Even just 2% more.
Begin by asking yourself the question,
What is present in me at this moment?
And pause to listen for an answer.
You may continue to notice tension,
There may be sounds in your environment,
Perhaps you notice the movement of the breath underneath all of that,
Moving in and out,
Steadily providing your body with everything,
All the oxygen it needs to keep moving,
To stay alive.
Whatever you notice,
It could be a feeling or a particular sensation,
I invite you to commit to focusing on it for the next few minutes,
Allow it to be your anchor so we can train the mind to return to what is in the present moment.
Once you've landed on something,
Be it the breath,
Or the sensation of touch,
Or sounds,
Or anything else,
Bring a gentle curiosity to the sensation.
As you breathe,
See if you can notice some qualities,
Where does the sensation begin,
And where does it end?
What's the intensity?
As the mind wanders,
Can you lovingly and very gently,
With patience,
Bring it back to what you've committed to focusing on?
And if that sensation is for whatever reason no longer present,
Notice its absence and pick something else.
Coming back each time.
And maybe you discover that the sensation is changing.
Notice how.
And if it's not changing,
Notice that too.
Can you let your attention rest on whatever you've committed to focusing on?
Noticing if there are any desires or judgments for it to be different than it is.
Can you show up without an agenda?
And if it's just for a few moments.
What's your experience of it now?
And anything else that's present,
Maybe even the thoughts that are taking you away,
Can you let them be there too?
Notice them.
Acknowledge them and come back to your commitment.
And then let go of any focus.
Allow your mind to be free,
To think,
To wonder,
To imagine,
To plan,
Whatever it wants to do.
Take the leash off for a moment.
And then call it back.
Bring your awareness back into your space,
Back to your body,
And see if you notice any difference from 10 minutes ago when you started.
And whether you do or don't,
Can you just notice what's there?
As you gently open your eyes and head out into the rest of your day or evening.
Thank you for joining me.
I wish you curiosity and spaciousness ahead.
