This is the breath and body meditation and if you'd like to close your eyes just to limit those distractions or alternatively lowering your gaze if that's more comfortable for you.
So come into your posture first of all sensing your feet on the floor,
Your body in the chair,
Maybe bringing your bottom to the back of the chair and letting your spine rise up,
Not striving just letting it follow its natural curve up the spine the neck up to the head.
And if you'd like to bring in your spine a little bit away from the back of the chair so it's self-supporting,
Letting your hands rest on your lap or by your side,
Letting the weight of your arms be heavy and relaxed,
Letting your shoulders drop down and back and letting your chest open so that your lungs can expand.
And if you'd like to soften in the jaw,
The neck,
The chest,
The belly,
Wherever you might be carrying your tension,
Can you let your body soften even if it's just one percent.
And then if you'd like to come into the breath if that's okay for you just sensing the movement of the breath in the body and if that's not comfortable for you maybe coming to the feet or the body and the surface it's resting on as an alternative anchor.
I'll lead the practice with the breath as the anchor.
I'll lead the practice with the breath as the anchor.
So noticing the breath creating movement in your body in this moment as you breathe in and you breathe out.
Where can you feel the breath the most in your body in this moment?
Where can you feel that movement of the air as you breathe in and you breathe out?
So maybe that's the nostrils,
Maybe it's the mouth,
Maybe it's the chest,
Maybe you can feel that rise and fall of the chest as you're breathing.
And maybe it's the belly.
Can you feel the movement of the skin and the belly expanding on the in-breath and releasing on the out-breath?
And these might be subtle sensations,
Might just be small movements in your body.
Might just be small movements in your body.
So just sensing them just as they are,
Not having to breathe in a particular way,
Not creating sensations,
Just noticing the breath creating movement in your body.
And every time your mind wanders,
Knowing that is the moment of mindfulness,
Noticing where our minds have gone,
All our minds wander,
And just bringing it back,
Bringing the mind back to focusing on the breath creating movement in your body.
And doing that with a sense of kindness and curiosity,
Not beating ourselves up,
Not judging ourselves,
Knowing that is the moment of success,
We've been mindful,
We've noticed and we bring our attention back to the area that we're focusing on.
So noticing the movement of the breath in the body in this moment.
And if you'd like to,
Expanding your awareness to the whole of the body.
So holding in awareness all the sensations of the body that might be there.
So it might be the feel of the feet on the floor,
The points of contact with the floor beneath the body.
It might be the sensations of the back of the body,
Resting on the chair or the bed.
It might be the feel of the air against your skin,
So maybe sensing temperature,
Maybe sensing the feel of your clothing against your body.
You're sensing warmth,
Coolness,
Tension,
Softness.
Might be sensing the posture.
And every time the mind wanders,
Just bringing it back to sensing the body.
And if there is any tension,
Just seeing if you can relax and soften it a little bit more.
Letting the surface that you're resting on hold you so that you don't have to hold yourself as much.
Letting the weight of the body go down,
Letting that surface and gravity hold you in this moment.
And at this moment,
You're just letting go of the tension,
Letting go of the tension.
And at times,
You might want to zoom in your attention like a torchlight,
Focusing on particular sensations in the body.
And at times,
You might want to zoom out that lens of attention,
Like widening that torchlight and bringing it out to the whole of the body.
So just practicing,
If you'd like to,
Zooming in,
Coming up close to sensations,
Exploring them,
Being curious.
And then zooming back out,
Holding the whole of the body in a broad,
Spacious awareness,
Whatever sensations might be there.
Just letting them be there.
We're not looking for anything particular.
We're not creating sensations.
We're just noticing what's here in our experience right now.
And sometimes when we sit a little bit longer,
It can be a little bit uncomfortable.
And we can deal with that a number of ways.
So we can shift our posture and get a little bit more comfy.
We can come up close and explore and be curious to those sensations of discomfort,
And doing that with kindness and gently.
Or we can breathe into that area.
So if there's any tension,
Any holding,
Any discomfort,
Breathing into that area,
And then using the out-breath to release from that area,
To soften it.
We're not trying to get rid of sensations.
We're just noticing the nature of them.
Just what's here.
Noticing it and allowing it to be here.
And the sensations may change.
There may be a pattern.
They may come and go.
So just noticing that,
If anything for you,
As the sensations come and go and ebb and flow.
If there are any intense sensations,
You might want to come back to noticing the breath.
And perhaps letting the breath drop down,
Maybe into the belly,
Noticing the sensations in the belly.
And if exploring the sensations at any point stops pulling for your attention,
Just return back to sensing the whole of the body.
Checking in with yourself from time to time,
Noticing if the mind's wandered,
If you've been pulled into different thoughts.
And being aware of your reaction to distractions.
Kindly bringing your mind back to the area that you want to focus on,
The breath and the body.
And noticing all the sensations that are here in your awareness right now.
And letting them all be here.
Allowing them to be as they are.
And as we come to a close,
Just noticing how you feel right now,
Mentally and physically.
Then letting go of the practice,
Opening your eyes or raising your eyes if they were closed.
Perhaps a bit of movement in the fingers and toes.
And coming back into the room,
Noticing the light,
Letting your body stretch and move however it wants to.
