Anchoring to the Present Moment.
This meditation is for strengthening the mind's ability to focus on the present moment,
Which is the home of the Holy Spirit,
Our inner therapist.
We can use any aspect of our experience to ground ourselves in the present.
For this meditation we're going to use the breath.
Beginning by sitting comfortably with both feet on the floor or lying down.
Placing one hand on your chest and your other hand on your belly.
And sensing your breath through your hands.
Sensing the movement as your hands rise and fall,
As the belly or chest expands and contracts.
Noticing for yourself which hand is moving more.
Is it the top hand on your chest or the bottom hand on your belly?
Simply noticing this.
If you notice your top hand is moving more,
This tends to be a breath that's associated with stress.
It's a more shallow breath.
So see if you can simply relax your abdominal muscles and allow the breath to flow in and out from the belly so that you feel more movement in your bottom hand.
Notice how that feels.
Just having that softness in the belly.
Maybe now the belly and the chest are moving more equally.
Or maybe it feels like the belly is moving a little bit more.
However it is,
Just softening those abdominal muscles so you can feel that motion in your bottom hand.
And actually sensing the breath,
Sensing the movement in your belly.
Sensing this experience of breath in the belly as it expands and contracts.
And this breath in and this breath out.
Already you might notice that your mind has wandered and if so that's normal.
Each time your mind wanders,
Simply notice that it wandered and gently return your awareness to the sensation of the breath.
Each time our mind wanders,
Kindness and non-judgment are so important,
We simply return our wandering attention back to this breath with kindness and without judgment.
Your breath is always in the present moment so it becomes a beautiful anchor to the here and now.
Sensing this breath in and this breath out.
Sensing the movement in your body from the breath.
And each time you notice that your mind has drifted and it's not with the breath,
Non-judgmentally returning your wandering attention back to your breathing.
This returning of our attention over and over is why we call this a practice.
Sensing this breath in and this breath out.
Sensing the movement of our attention over and over again.
Sensing the movement of our attention over and over again.
