Get comfortable in your seat.
And you can close your eyes.
Or you can just defocus a couple of feet in front of you if you like,
If you don't like having your eyes totally closed.
And just become aware of your breath and in fact let's take three deep breaths as far into the body and the belly as you can.
Breathing in and letting go as much as you can first.
And let's do that three times.
Again and release.
One more.
See if you can allow the breath to sink into the body.
Breathing in and breathing out.
And now just let your attention float around how you feel at the moment.
Any places where you can immediately relax and release.
Maybe have a quick look over some of those key points,
The soles of the feet,
Can you relax into them a little more.
Relaxing the legs and the hips and the sit bones in particular so that you really get grounded.
And see if you can relax the shoulders away from the ears a little bit.
And soften into your hands.
Realizing now just how the breath feels in your body.
Notice it however it's best for you in through the nose and the throat into the chest and the belly if it's there.
Realizing the space that the breath is breathing into.
Noticing also that above you there is a space of sky.
A big wide open sky whether you've been previously aware of it or not.
Realizing the sky opens out far over the horizon.
And that this sky curves in a slight smile.
A big open sky of gentle and kind awareness.
And can you allow that to gently merge with your head,
The space of your head.
Allowing that gentle smile to permeate your mind,
The brain and the face.
And can you also bring that smile to the heart.
Seeing what that does to your heart,
Having that space and that smile.
Now can you allow and imagine that space in the area of your forehead and right between your eyes.
And can you allow that space in the area of the eyes and the muscles around the eyes and the nose.
Can you imagine and allow the space in the area of the cheeks and the mouth.
And the area of the jaw.
Can you imagine and allow that space to gently visit your throat and neck.
And can you allow this sense of space to gently and softly move through the body almost like it's a very gentle massage for your inner body.
The sensations that arise.
Can you allow and feel the space in the shoulders,
The backs of the shoulders of the shoulder blades and the tops of the shoulders.
Can you imagine and allow the space that might be present in the ribs,
The front chest.
All the way through to the back ribs,
The back of the chest.
And also the space from the left side to the right side ribs.
The space in this whole cylinder of the chest.
And allowing the space in the area of the heart.
Can you allow and feel the space in the arms from the shoulders down to the elbows,
Down to the wrists.
And all the while seeing what other sensations are playing in this space,
These feelings in the body.
Can you imagine the space between the back of the hand and the palm.
And what are the feelings in that space,
What sensations are there?
And what sensations are there in the thumbs?
And then the forefingers,
Imagining the space to then fill the middle fingers.
And the ring fingers.
And the little fingers gently allowing all of the hands to be aware of and experience the space and the sensations within it.
Can you imagine and experience the space in the stomach,
Front to back and left to right.
And again gently massaging down into the belly,
Allowing these sensations of the hips,
The sit bones.
Noticing whatever feelings and sensations are there for you as you allow and experience the space in the legs,
The upper thigh and then gently down to the knee.
From the knee down the shin and calves to the ankles.
And can you allow and experience the space from the top of the foot to the sole of the foot and the toes.
And now allowing yourself to experience all of the space in the body.
However that feels for you now,
Taking a few breaths to just experience all of the sensations that arise from that space.
And as you sit with this feeling and the sensations,
Perhaps some other areas of your body also soften and relax into this gentle space of awareness.
And perhaps you can be aware also that the space of awareness within your body and the awareness of the sky and space around you are not different and not separate.
And perhaps you can experience your awareness extending forward into this space of awareness.
Down and on over the horizon.
Imagine and experience as best you can what that feels like.
And you can imagine and experience your awareness gently expanding to the right.
Without any effort it's just a merging of your inner experience of sensation and the sensations of the sky,
The gentle awareness around you all the way over the furthest horizon.
And now can you imagine and experience your awareness expanding from the back,
Merging with the gentle sky awareness over the farthest horizon.
The left side now imagining and experiencing your awareness expanding to the left.
Gentle kind of awareness that reaches over the furthest horizon.
Have you now imagining and experiencing without any effort that the experience of awareness of being you and the experience and awareness of the sky extend as far as the eye can see.
And below you extending deep in through the earth.
Can you imagine and experience that even as you soften and relax into this warm smiling space of awareness that the more you can let go the more you're held.
As you gently soften with the breath,
Gently allow yourself to experience the sensations and feelings in the body.
The more at home and comfortable you can become in this sea and sensation of awareness that perhaps the mind and the heart can soften.
And as they soften perhaps as you breathe to the mind and heart.
This softening allows them to open.
And as they open they're more open to and aware of the space within them.
That they can continue to open out into and relax into.
Allowing softness and allowing relaxation in these areas where we do so much mental and emotional work.
And is it possible that even as we're letting go now in this experience and meditation that this letting go could stay with us or that we could revisit this letting go a little more often.
And in a moment we'll hear the sounds of the bell and when you hear the sounds of the bell see if you can stay in this soft openness and awareness of the sensations that you're experiencing.
As you gently open your eyes and as you're ready make some notes in your meditation notebook.
How many times have you reduced your mind sense?
