Welcome to the art of mindfulness.
This guided meditation is about spaciousness.
Spaciousness,
As opposed to focused attention,
Encourages the mind to be wide open.
And it takes a gentle,
Relaxed attention to understand what a spacious mind is.
Today we're going to practice and try to cultivate that feeling.
First,
Find a seated position,
Whatever way is comfortable for you,
As long as you can maintain an upright,
Relaxed spine.
It's best to sit upright so that you remain attentive and awake.
It's best to sit upright so that you remain attentive and awake.
Close your eyes and simply feel the sensations in your body.
And try to begin with a beginner's mind.
Like this is new.
You've never done this before,
You've never felt this before.
Like the mind of a baby waking up to a new world.
Feel the sensations of your body.
Remove any sense of knowing.
No judgment.
No judgment.
No thoughts about how this is always this way.
Be curious.
Feel your body with an open,
Childlike mind.
And I want you to notice right away how sensations change.
Sometimes you feel it and it goes away.
If you pay attention for long enough,
You'll notice that there's an impermanence to everything.
It's like a river that flows past you,
Never remaining the same from one moment to the next.
So too is your body.
Never the same from one moment to the next.
And I want you to watch it and feel it with that understanding.
Stay and sit and feel.
And that awareness,
Inside of that awareness,
You're not holding.
You're not holding onto anything.
You're not gripping.
You're not wanting.
You're not gripping.
You're not wanting.
You are an empty vessel.
And you feel the sensations in your body shifting,
Moving,
Changing.
That's it.
The longer you stay with this,
The more alive your body feels.
Let's begin to expand the awareness,
Making it feel more spacious.
So let's start by feeling other senses.
The first one is listening.
I want you to listen in the same way that you felt your body.
Allowing the sounds to come to you and just being present with them.
Opening up and listening.
Now keeping your eyes closed,
Do the same thing with your sight.
Just noticing.
Noticing what you see under your eyelids.
Soft,
Gentle,
Loving attention.
Now do the same thing with taste.
Just bring your awareness to it.
You may not taste anything,
But that's okay.
And now smell.
As you smell,
You become intimately connected to the breath through the nose.
Now feel all five sensations,
All at the same time.
And relax.
Be present,
Be awake.
And let your mind become quiet.
Restful.
And as the mind becomes quiet,
Ask yourself,
What does it mean to have a spacious mind?
What does it mean to allow my mind to expand?
Be open,
Big,
Curious,
Watchful,
Loving.
Embracing the impermanence of everything.
And as you feel this spacious mind,
Include your body and your sensations within it.
So it's like you're taking in the entire world and feeling the sensations in your body.
Feel big,
Open and empty.
And notice how everything within your field of presence shifts and changes,
Never stays the same.
Every time you experience something,
You can say to yourself,
This too will pass.
This craving too will pass.
This tension too will pass.
This anger too will pass.
This wanting also will pass.
All of these things will pass.
So the nature that you begin to develop is of non-attachment,
Watching with wide open wakefulness.
Feeling the richness and the depth of everything and letting it pass.
This does not mean that you don't appreciate life and its beauty or feel the pain of life.
In fact,
You feel these things more when you begin with mindfulness,
When you live from a place of wakefulness.
But rather than holding on to them,
Gain insight into what it means to let them flow through you.
To live in a way that acknowledges the truth about everything around you.
Everything is in a constant state of flux,
Always changing,
Never the same.
Feel it,
But don't hold on to it.
Allow your mind to remain open,
Wide open and awake.
In a moment you will hear a bell and that will signify the end of this guided meditation.
But feel free to continue the practice on your own.
I wish you the greatest insight and joy on your journey.
Thank you for watching!
