Settling Into Presence

This 25-minute mindfulness practice invites you to slow down, turn inward, and find your natural anchor—whether breath, sound, or body sensations.

This meditation was guided during my 4-month Mindfulness Facilitation Certification Program.

Transcript

So, We'll practice for about 25 minutes. Just notice how you receive that. It might be with excitement, It might be with nervousness, Maybe something else. Some of you might have already closed your eyes, But I'd like to encourage slowing down. So if your eyes are already closed, You can keep them closed, But if they're not yet, Slow things way down. Slow down settling into your posture, Whether it's seated, Standing, Or lying down. Slow down closing your eyes or placing your attention on your anchor, But instead you might just give yourself a few moments to either touch the floor like we did earlier or to look around the room. Maybe stretch, Adjust. Eventually your eyes might close or turn downward. Closing the eyes is by no means obligatory. And when that happens, Whether it's now or in a few moments, Begin to simply notice whatever you notice, How your quality of attention changes when the eyes are turned downward or closed. And if possible, Bringing in this quality of curiosity, Kind of like, What's it like now? What's here? What's possible? You might also notice sensations, Sounds, Feelings, Allowing them in even if it feels like a big swirl right now. Whatever posture you're in, Feel your body resting here. Noticing the parts of the body that are touching down on something. The floor, The chair, The sheepskin furry thing. How some parts of the body are pressing down and other parts are maybe lifting up a little and away from the floor, The earth. At the same time, Notice the floor, The earth, Pressing up, Supporting you. And in that acknowledgement, Can you maybe relax the body a little bit more, Allowing yourself to be held by the earth instead of holding or bracing any amount. If you haven't done so already, Welcome in the parts that you might normally leave out of practice, Or at least plant the seed for the welcoming to be possible someday in the future. And then coming back to noticing what you notice. Perhaps it's different from a few moments ago, Or maybe it's simply the quality of your noticing that's different. You might ask yourself or notice, What are you already easily noticing? For some of you, It might be your breath. For others, It might be just feeling the body or a particular part of the body and all of the sensations there. For others, It might be thoughts or something else. What are you already easily noticing? You might use that as your anchor. For example, Using the breath and noticing the rise and fall or the in and out of the breath. Or maybe following sensation, The tingling, The vibrating, The pulsating. If you're noticing thoughts, Instead of hashing out the content of the thought, You might drop back into the body. What are the sensations arising because of this thought? So bringing in some ease instead of forcing your practice to be a certain way, At least for this one. Again, Invite the body, The heart, The mind to relax. No need to get it right or perfect. You probably notice that the mind wanders. That's not a problem. The mind wanders just as naturally as the ear hears or the eye sees. It's just doing what it's meant to do. And so given that, When you notice that the mind has wandered, No need to judge it, No need to yank it back to the present moment. Instead, Just place your attention once again on your meditation anchor, The breath, The body, Whatever it was. And it's okay if it feels like you have to do that thousands of times. Some meditations are just like that. When you notice that the mind has wandered, Try to notice how you notice. So are you judging, Angry, Talking meanly to yourself or your mind? Are you able to be compassionate, Kind? Maybe it's somewhere in between or something else. It's worth noticing how we notice just to make sure that we're also cultivating a quality that we actually want. So in addition to practicing being mindful, If you notice the mind has wandered with kindness, Then you're also cultivating kindness. So doing your best to notice. Again, Invite the body, The heart, The mind to relax. When you notice that the mind has wandered, What you're actually noticing is mindfulness returning. So just in case you're still stuck in judging or wishing for the mind to be different, You might instead, At that moment, Celebrate that mindfulness return. Noticing your natural capacity to be mindful, To be aware, And that mindfulness happens on its own. Yes, It comes and goes, But it returns. So celebrating that or maybe being grateful for that. And then for the last few minutes that are left here, You might practice not doing, So instead just being, Which can be destabilizing for a lot of us, But it's kind of like don't practice. Don't try to be aware of your anchor. Don't try to bring the awareness back. Just be. Relax here. And you might notice that mindfulness comes and goes on its own. You might not. But just bringing in this quality of rest, Of putting down, Nowhere to go, No one to be, Nothing to do, And resting in that.