Bring your awareness entirely into the present moment.
There is no next moment,
There is no previous moment,
There is just this moment now.
See if it's possible to be totally accepting of everything the current experience contains.
So forming no opinion and having no preference,
Just a full and total awareness of whatever the present moment contains.
If there is agitation and restlessness in the mind,
Just accept this as well and soon this will settle down and come to peace.
Become aware of the sensations of breathing and just be aware of these sensations.
Do not try to force deeper breath,
Do not try to force slower breath,
Just be aware of the sensations of breathing.
And you will find that the breath naturally deepens itself,
Naturally slows itself down.
There is no sense in becoming frustrated by the amount of times that we have to return attention back to the breath.
This continual refocusing of attention away from the mind and towards the present moment is the practice.
The moment that you have become aware that your attention has wandered onto trains of thought is the same moment that you have regained presence.
Noticing that you have become lost in thinking is the practice.
Simply disengage from thoughts,
Return attention to the breath and refocus into the here and now.
No frustration necessary.
Simply regard all thought as completely irrelevant.
Allow the mind to become unimportant to you.
Treat the focus of your attention,
Instead treat your awareness of the present moment to be the most important element of your experience.
Recognizing the power of simply being here and now without any of the usual distractions in the mind.
Be courageous in your acceptance of the present moment,
Whatever it contains.
If it is uncomfortable,
Then just let it be uncomfortable.
You won't find a solution to this discomfort in the mind.
You will find the solution to this discomfort,
To this discomfort in the acceptance of this discomfort.
The usual agitation and restlessness is actually resistance to the present moment.
So allow your consciousness to simply settle here now.
The more you are able to simply accept and allow all elements of your experience in this moment,
The more you will find this resistance simply vanishes and there will be no more agitation,
No more agitation,
No more restlessness,
No more worry,
No more rumination.
Just a simple,
Pure,
Total presence.
Return to the breath.
Just simple,
Pure awareness of the sensations of breathing.
Let the body breathe in its natural rhythm,
Its natural pace.
Immersing in the natural stillness of this moment.
Notice the mind is still relentlessly trying to get your attention and simply refuse to follow,
No matter how tempting it may be.
Returning to the breath and the present moment in this way is always available to you.
It's never not now.
So if you are prone to overthinking,
Anxious thoughts or being lost in uncomfortable states of mind,
Just begin the habit of continually returning attention to the present through the breath and just accepting what is in the here and now.
All of this agitation and restlessness will then cease.
In a moment we will be leaving the formal aspect of this meditation,
Although you may wish to sit a while longer with these principles.
Either way,
Thank you for doing this meditation with me today.
Take care,
Be well and stay present.
