Find a comfortable seated position.
Pull the spine nice and tall.
Take a deep breath.
Blow your body all the way up.
As you exhale,
Sigh out through your mouth,
Releasing any tension.
You can close your eyes or just soften your gaze.
Your hands can go either on your knees or in your lap.
Allow your awareness to scan through the body.
If you encounter any tension or tightness in the body,
Encourage that part of the body to soften,
That tension to release.
Bring your shoulders up a little bit towards your ears.
And as you exhale,
Release them back and down.
You can do that a few more times.
Inhale your shoulders up.
And as you exhale,
Roll them back and let them melt down onto your back.
And one more inhale and exhale.
Let your shoulders drop.
Now bringing your awareness to your breath.
Your breath will be the anchor of your mindfulness.
Whenever your mind becomes distracted by thoughts,
Emotions,
Sensations,
You bring your awareness back to the breath as sort of like a starting point,
As home base.
Now you take a few full breaths.
Feel the lungs filling up with each inhale.
And then slowly and gently exhaling the air from your body.
Now allow your breath to become natural.
Bring your awareness to the spot that's just beneath your nostrils by your upper lip.
And try to hold your awareness on your breath and wherever you notice it,
You feel the sensation of the air flowing in through your nostrils and then back out through your nostrils.
Maybe you feel the air more on your upper lip as you inhale and as you exhale.
Maybe you notice the breath with the rise and fall of your chest or of your belly.
Wherever it is that you notice the breath,
Hold your attention on that spot and follow the rhythmic flow of your breath in and back out of the body.
Just follow the sensation of your breath.
Now bring your attention to any sensations that the breath brings.
Follow the breath and just notice any sensations that accompany the breath.
There's no need to change or control your breath in any way.
There's no effort necessary.
Just allow your breath to be whatever it is,
Just natural,
Calm.
And remember there's no perfect way to breathe.
There's no perfect way to practice.
So there's no need to be critical and judge yourself.
Just try to remain relaxed with a curious awareness,
Trying to discover the truth of the breath.
Try to become aware that the breath is an ever-changing experience of sensations.
You may notice that the mind naturally drifts off into thought.
This is completely normal.
There's no need to try to empty the mind of thoughts.
And in fact that line of thinking only leads to more thoughts and more struggle to try to suppress them.
Instead of trying to suppress,
We're inviting thoughts,
Developing the ability to recognize them when they arise,
But without getting caught in their storyline.
Or practicing seeing thoughts as objects of awareness instead of being a subject to these thoughts.
If you notice that you're lost in thought,
It may help to label it as thinking or wandering.
Without judging yourself,
Just label the thought and then gently move your awareness back to the breath.
As you are labeling with no judgment,
With no frustration,
Become aware of any sounds,
Any feelings or emotions that arise with the thought.
And when that thought seems to settle down,
Disappears back into the darkness,
Just gently bring your awareness back to the breath,
Allowing the breath to be home base,
Place to return to that feels safe and peaceful.
You might notice other experiences as you follow your breath.
Sounds that are around you.
Maybe a sense of feeling warm or cool.
Maybe an image or a thought about the future may arise.
They are okay in the background,
But try to remain in the present moment with your awareness on the breath.
If sensations or thoughts become too strong and try to hold your attention,
Instead of trying to push these away,
Welcome these sensations or thoughts.
Allow your awareness to leave the breath and make these sensations the main focus.
With a calm,
Curious awareness,
Just notice the sensations as they are.
Do they seem pleasant or unpleasant?
As you hold your awareness on them,
Notice what happens.
Do they intensify or do they dissipate?
Just notice whatever happens.
When the charge of the sensation or thought begins to lessen,
Return your awareness back to the breath and back to feeling your moment to moment experience.
If these sensations or thoughts become too intense or they continue to persist to try to steal your awareness,
Expand your awareness to include the thought or sensation and also the breath.
Including the breath will help you find balance and stability.
If still the sensation or thought is too strong,
Release awareness of the thought and move back to the breath to start fresh.
When strong emotions arise,
Like fear,
Sadness,
Even happiness and excitement,
Maybe frustration,
Practice meeting each experience with a kind and welcoming awareness.
Not trying to push anything away,
Not trying to judge with no resistance to what's happening.
Simply notice whatever arises just as it is.
Notice how this emotion feels in the body and where in the body you feel it the most.
Is the energy in the body of this emotion static or is it moving?
Is there a size to it?
Are you judging the existence of this emotion?
Do you feel a sense of contraction or a sense of openness?
As you explore,
Welcome whatever is happening just as it is.
As you hold your awareness here and you watch emotions arise,
You just stay with it in your awareness.
Does the emotion get stronger or does it start to weaken?
Does it maybe change into something else,
Another emotion,
Another sensation maybe?
Any thoughts,
Emotions or sensations that are experienced are not actually the important part of this practice.
What is important is our willingness to remain aware and open to each moment.
Not trying to force anything or push anything away,
But learning to accept whatever comes to us.
You can stay here for some time starting with your awareness at your breath and noticing when thoughts or sensations arise.
If the mind isn't so distracted and seems relatively still,
Maybe try to release any anchors for attention and explore not controlling anything,
Not directing the mind,
Not focusing on the breath.
It's cultivating an open,
Curious awareness.
When you are finished with this meditation,
Just take a few cleansing breaths.
Inhale,
Fill your body all the way up and as you exhale,
Sigh out through your mouth.
Before you open your eyes,
Take these next few moments and ask yourself how do you feel after your practice?
If you have a sense of inner peace,
A sense of calmness,
Just take a few breaths and bathe in these sensations and these feelings.
Sense of inner peace,
Try to commit to memory so that in stressful moments,
You can close your eyes and recall the calm inner peace that you are experiencing now.
