This is a guided 20 minute meditation.
If at any time you prefer to turn the volume down or tune out my voice,
Please feel free.
So we'll begin this practice by taking a comfortable seated position and in a room where you'll be free from distractions.
You may find it most comfortable to sit in a chair,
That's fine,
Or you may choose to sit with the support of a cushion at your back.
Please find a way to sit that's the least distracting for you and the most supportive of finding a place of calm but a tent of awareness.
And as you settle in,
Begin to bring your focus to all the points of contact that your body's making right now with the support beneath you.
Taking these next few moments for a brief sort of body scan,
Beginning with your feet and their position on the floor.
And then mindfully working your way up through your legs,
Your seat,
Your back,
Noticing shoulders,
Are they relaxed,
Your fingers and hands,
Are they resting on your thighs.
Wherever you are,
See if you can soften any tension that you're finding in your body.
Notice the muscles in your jaw and your face,
Are they relaxed?
And then to the best of your ability,
Assume a calm,
Open and receptive posture for this meditation.
Starting now to narrow your focus on your breath,
The rise and fall of your abdomen,
The coolness of the air on the inhale and the warmth of the breath on the exhale.
And as you become aware of thoughts,
Carrying your attention away,
Just gently,
Kindly,
Without judgment,
Notice that you've been drifting off,
Maybe into fantasy,
Planning,
Fixing,
Whatever,
And then returning to the rise and fall of your breath,
The sensations associated with the breath.
As thoughts drift in and out of your awareness,
Sometimes it's helpful to think of them metaphorically,
Maybe imagining thoughts as clouds in the sky passing by,
Or a leaf and a stream and the current floating by.
So without getting hung up in the content of the thoughts,
Just letting them,
Noting them there,
Not pushing them away,
But just noticing they're there,
And then letting them go.
It's amazing how by just not getting sucked into problem solving or analyzing,
Evaluating,
The thought just passes by,
It really does just move away without you even trying.
Using your breath as an anchor,
Noticing the belly expanding on the inhale and contracting,
Deflating on the exhale.
This really is a practice of becoming aware of our moments of mindlessness.
This skill that we're learning in stress reduction is becoming aware of when our mind is drifting off into habitual thinking patterns and learning to catch ourselves and pull our focus back from our habit of drifting into worry,
Fear,
Or whatever distractions might be there in the moment.
We may have to catch ourselves a thousand times in every sitting meditation,
But that's just as valuable as being in the moment,
Being able to notice when we're not in the moment is the real key.
Ask your friends to come along.
Drink with them.
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The nature of our minds is to wander and each time we drift away from the moment we are presented with an opportunity to reclaim ourselves from the shifting ruminating mind.
As thoughts and sensations and emotions bubble up,
There may be an urge to change or adjust something,
But see if you can stay with the urge just long enough to notice what you can about it.
Is there something familiar here or maybe something new to your awareness?
There's no need to judge it or analyze,
Just notice all that you can about it.
In a couple of moments you'll hear the chime and as you do please take a few moments to transition from this place of stillness,
Reflecting a moment,
Maybe choosing something from today's practice to keep in mind as you return to your day or evening.
You
