Welcome in,
Beautiful beings.
We're gonna start today's practice in a seated way and if you need to lay down,
Totally understandable.
You can find a propped up position or a laying down position that might not let you fall asleep,
But otherwise come into a seat,
Whether that's a seat on a chair or on the floor.
You might crisscross legs if you're seated or kind of prop yourself up onto a block or if you're in a chair,
Try to bring your feet down into the floor,
Maybe ankles not crossed.
I always like to say if you're doing anything that requires your attention,
Maybe not a good time to practice this practice,
So make sure it's time that you can take away and be still for a few moments,
A few minutes.
And then once you find your seat,
I want you to relax the arms.
That might require a shoulder shrug or a shaking out of the hands or the wrists or a bend and straightening of the elbows,
But then let the hands rest,
Let the arms rest,
Let the shoulders rest.
We're gonna begin this seat or maybe laying down if that's your preference with eyes open and sometimes we begin our mindfulness practice or meditation with eyes closed,
But we're gonna use our eyes and that sense organ to move through the senses and that's where we'll start.
So I want you to keep your eyes open and take a big breath in through the nose and then just sigh it out.
And with your eyes open,
You can still tune into the breath.
Let's see if you can let the breath become a little slower,
Maybe a little fuller or a little longer.
And then without moving your head around,
I just want you to notice what your eyes see.
You might name these things in your mind or just notice them without naming.
You might see a window or a door,
You might see light or maybe it's dark,
Maybe there's not much to see or maybe your landscape is cluttered with lots and lots of things to notice.
Notice.
Give it just a few more moments,
Noticing what you see,
Noticing what that sense organ of the eyes is looking out to.
And then I want you to close your eyes or find a softer gaze.
You might move your eyesight down to the floor,
Let the eyelids completely close.
And then I want you to move your awareness,
Your attention to your ears and what they hear.
Maybe there's a lot of noise around you,
Maybe it's very subtle,
Maybe there's a repetitive kind of rhythmic noise that you can notice.
Maybe you hear the music,
Maybe you can tune in to the subtle sounds of your own breath,
To the subtle sounds outside of the walls in the room that you're in and if you're outside of a room,
The sounds of nature.
Let your awareness notice what the ears are sensing.
And then keeping the eyes closed or that soft gaze,
I want you to move your awareness to your nose and just notice if there's an aroma in the room.
Notice if you smell anything.
Maybe there's not much to notice at all,
Maybe there's a strong scent of coffee or essential oils,
Maybe you burnt an incense before you sat down and just noticing what there is to notice here.
And if your awareness slips away to a place outside of this practice,
Outside of this space,
Gently,
Gently bring it back,
Reminding yourself that you're noticing what the nose is sensing.
And then I want you to move your awareness to your tongue,
The taste in your mouth.
Again,
Maybe it's subtle,
Maybe it's strong,
Maybe you had a sip of some tea before you sat down,
Maybe you ate lunch or breakfast or dinner or a snack,
So maybe just tuning in you can differentiate the different tastes on the tongue.
And then I want you to shift your awareness to that wider perspective of the skin,
The sense organ that we call the skin.
Notice what you're noticing here,
The texture of your clothes,
The tightness of the fabric,
Maybe there's air circulating around the room or out in nature and you can pinpoint the areas that it's touching your skin.
Maybe you can sense the temperature whether it's cold or hot and trace the lines of your skin from your toes all the way up to the top of your head and just notice all of the places,
The way that long hair might tickle the neck,
The way that your shirt might ride along the collarbone,
Where your sleeves end on your body,
What's covered and what's exposed.
And then I want you to draw your awareness to the breath,
Just feel the breath.
Just like the beginning of this meditation,
Slowing down the breath,
Making the breaths a little fuller,
A little longer,
But this time with eyes closed or that soft gaze.
And then draw in a really big breath through the nose and just sigh it out of the mouth.
If the eyes are closed,
Gently,
Gently letting some light in,
Maybe fluttering them open a few times before you come back to the space,
The environment,
The landscape that you're a part of.
And having this stronger connection to all of your senses,
Going out into your day and just maybe,
Maybe noticing a bit more.
Ending practice here together,
Drawing the palms together in front of the heart.
From my heart,
From my heart to yours,
Namaste.
