I invite you to sit back,
Sit comfortable,
Maybe lie down,
It's up to you.
Start by taking a deep,
Slow breath and draw in the air.
And when you get to the top,
Pause and then in a controlled way exhale.
Let the air out.
And when you get to the bottom,
Pause briefly again and then draw the air back in slowly and in a controlled fashion.
Now when you get to the top,
I want you to pause but then on your exhale,
Start to let it go slowly and notice tension leaving your body with that exhale.
Let it go.
And now as you resume your breathing on a natural,
Even basis,
I want you to focus your attention to your belly,
Your stomach muscles.
Let them go.
Just relax them.
As you inhale,
Let your stomach expand and then let it release and relax.
If they're not already,
Allow your hands to rest gently on your legs.
I want you to notice your hands,
Observe them.
What can you observe in your hands?
How about their temperature?
Are they warm?
Are they cool?
Notice tension in your hands.
Are they tense?
Are they relaxed?
Are they flat?
Are they balled up in fists?
I want you to focus on feeling your hands with your legs.
If your hands are placed on your legs,
See if you can focus your sense of feeling with your legs.
It's usually easier to feel things with your hands because there's just more nerve endings there.
This isn't a contest to see if you can do this.
It's simply an observation to see if you can do this.
Observe does it come with effort?
Does it come easily or does it not come at all?
And that's your observation for right now.
Tomorrow might be different,
But right now you can observe.
See your thinking and your observation can't be done at the same time.
Those are the only two things that your mind is capable of thinking or observing.
And when you try to empty your mind of thought,
Another thought is usually going to come to take its place.
And instead,
If you observe something,
Your mind will be observing and not thinking.
So right now I'd like you to notice three things that you can hear besides my voice.
Did you find them?
You were just observing.
As you were paying attention,
You were observing and not thinking.
Much of what you're doing as you follow the sound of my voice is observing my voice.
Now I'm going to be quiet for several seconds.
And during this time,
I'd like you to see if you can observe instead of think.
And it's up to you what you're going to observe.
Now draw your attention back to your breathing.
Inhale slowly and completely and pause at the top.
Observe that not breathing right now.
And whenever you'd like,
Observe the feeling of letting that go and exhaling that air that you had drawn in.
To close out,
Take another slow inhale.
Allow your whole body to relish that ability to inhale.
And when you get to the top,
Pause again and just observe what does that feel like to be full with air and to pause.
Whenever you're ready,
Observe the ability to release that air.
And as you exhale,
Observe what that feels like and know that you can always inhale or exhale.
Allow the corners of your mouth to slightly turn up because you can.
