Welcome.
This meditation is designed to help bring our awareness to the present moment by exploring different dimensions of our current experience.
The meditation can be done in any posture,
Whether standing,
Sitting,
Or lying down.
So if you've not yet done so,
Please take a moment to get comfortable in whatever position feels most appropriate for you right now.
As we're getting settled in,
I'd like to invite you to look around and take in the fact that you are here,
Wherever and whenever that here happens to be.
It may be that you're on the couch in your living room on a Tuesday at 730,
Or maybe you're on a bus headed westbound.
Often it can be helpful to take just a moment and ground ourselves in the wherever and the whenever of our current experience.
Now if it feels right,
You might gently close your eyes,
Or you may choose to maintain a soft downcast gaze.
The idea here is just not to let sight overwhelm the rest of our senses,
But it is important to listen to your own wisdom and do whatever is appropriate for you in this moment.
And that holds for this entire meditation.
Let my voice be a guide,
But always defer to your own wisdom.
We'll begin by taking three slow,
Deep breaths.
You may find it helpful to extend the length of the exhale,
As this sometimes has the effect of cueing the autonomic nervous system that it's safe and appropriate to relax.
So breathing in,
And a long,
Slow exhale.
Breathing in,
And a long,
Slow exhale.
And last one in.
And release side out.
And now I invite you to allow your breath to return to whatever is normal for you right now.
When you're ready,
I invite you to bring your awareness to the sense of sound.
We're not trying to strain to hear sounds,
We're just trying to hear what is available to the sense of sound in this moment.
Perhaps noticing sounds that are near.
And now perhaps noticing sounds that are far.
And now I invite you to allow the sense of sound to fade into the background and shift your attention to the sense of smell.
Now perhaps allowing smell to fade into the background and bringing your awareness to the sense of taste.
Are there any lingering tastes in the mouth?
Next I invite you to bring awareness to the sense of sight.
Even if your eyes are closed,
Perhaps you can discern patterns in the back of the eyelids.
Again we're not trying to reach out with our sense of sight,
We're just exploring what has already arrived.
Now if it feels appropriate,
You might allow the sense of sight to fade into the background and bring your awareness to the sense of touch.
Perhaps starting with the hands.
If your hands are resting on a surface,
Can you feel the pressure against the hands?
Perhaps feeling the movement of air across the hands.
You might notice physical sensations of temperature,
Warmth or coolness.
Or perhaps you can feel sensations from the inside,
Tingling or pulsing.
There's no right answer here.
Whatever you're experiencing right now is okay.
And there's no need to judge it or change it in any way.
Now if it feels appropriate,
I invite you to bring your awareness to the weather of the mind.
To begin,
On the most basic level,
Can you notice a feeling tone of this experience right now?
Is there a sense of pleasantness or unpleasantness?
Or maybe it just feels neutral for you right now,
This experience.
And next,
You might shift your awareness to mood.
Perhaps you can note to yourself in just a word or two your current mood.
It's not necessary to tell a story about your mood or to try to change your mood in any way.
You're noticing what's here.
We're just beginning to explore and study.
We're collecting data.
And now finally,
Allowing moods to fade into the background and bringing your awareness to thoughts.
You might notice if there are any particular thoughts vying for your attention.
Perhaps indulging in a habit of thinking about the past,
Planning for the future,
Maybe telling yourself a story.
Again there's no need to judge and there's no need to change.
We're just noticing,
Just observing what kind of thoughts am I having right now?
The senses always reside in the present moment.
Even our thoughts,
Though their content may be about the past or the future,
The thoughts themselves are always happening now.
It can be helpful to remember this and to use these dimensions of experience to bring us back to the present moment.
This ends the arrival meditation.
Thank you.
