Hello,
Dr.
Karen here,
And welcome to this meditation on awareness.
Find a comfortable position to sit in or lie in,
In a space that is quiet and allows you to be alone for a little while without being disturbed.
I just want you to take a few moments to settle in and start with your breathing.
So you're going to breathe in for a few moments,
Just whatever feels comfortable,
And then hold that breath in again just for a moment.
Don't fight or resist,
Let it out naturally as it feels comfortable.
And then once you've expelled all your air,
Just take a pause before you breathe in again.
This is the pattern of our breathing throughout this meditation together.
This is sort of a modified box breath where you don't force yourself into the holding of the breath or the breathing itself,
You just allow it,
But also just be mindful of each part of that breath.
So again,
Take a breath in,
Hold it for a natural moment at the top,
And release.
And hold there for a moment before taking your next breath.
Now we're going to take a journey through all of the ways that we experience the world,
All the places that our awareness shows up,
We're just going to go through them together and experience them together.
So become aware of your internal environment.
Notice the sensations that you're feeling inside your body.
What are you aware of inside your body right now?
Do you notice anything pulsating,
Any tingling anywhere,
Any feelings of hunger,
Any warmth,
Any constriction?
Focus inside,
Identify where those sensations are,
And just notice,
Become aware of them,
And ask,
Who is it that feels these sensations?
Who is noticing this?
And remove any judgment or any meaning behind any of these sensations that you're having and just allow them,
Just be with them.
Now I want you to come out of the body and start to notice what's in your senses.
If you have your eyes closed,
You have one less sense to notice,
But if your eyes are open,
You might see what's around you.
Notice colors,
Textures,
Shades of light.
Also notice the physical sensation of whatever you're sitting on or lying upon.
Just be aware,
And again ask,
Who's aware?
Who notices this?
And then you can use your ears to take in your experience of the world,
What you hear.
You hear my voice and the music behind me,
But what else?
Do you hear maybe traffic in the distance or gardeners,
Birds,
Airplanes?
Just notice these things in your experience,
No judgment.
Nothing needs to be any different than what it is.
You're just noticing things.
Do you notice any fragrances in your environment?
Maybe you can smell your own products,
A perfume or a cologne,
A soap.
Maybe something in your environment,
Someone's cooking.
Maybe a candle is lit and you can smell that.
Just take in that experience,
Just let that be there.
Who is having this experience?
Who notices?
This is the true essence of who you are,
This awareness,
This openness,
This allowing.
So take just a few moments,
Continue your breathing,
And you're just going to settle back into the I that is aware and be with all of these things,
Your inner sensations,
Your perceptions of the world around you.
Let's add in one more component of your experience in thinking.
What thoughts have come up for you as you're going through this meditation?
Are you thinking about the future,
What you need to do,
Perhaps reflecting on something that happened today or maybe 20 years ago?
As the thoughts come,
You just open to them,
Let them pass through.
They're like waves,
They come and go,
They are not you,
They are just your experience.
You don't have to try to stop the thoughts or control them in any way.
Just observe them and let them be.
There may be moments where you don't have thinking spaces,
Gaps between the thoughts.
Settle into those gaps.
Let's add one last component of experience in the form of feelings.
Are there any feelings coming up for you now?
Maybe in this meditation,
Something's come up.
Maybe when you sat for the meditation,
Something was already there.
Maybe you're feeling very calm and no feeling really is coming into the forefront.
Whatever the feeling is,
If you can name it,
Then name it.
You might say,
Happiness is here,
Or sadness is here,
Or again,
Maybe you're just noticing a sense of calm and there really isn't anything underneath that,
That you notice now and that's okay.
So now that we've taken time with all the aspects of our experience,
What is the commonality?
What is the background of all of these things?
Can you find that place,
That place that just watches,
Experiences,
And does not have an opinion one way or the other about the meaning of any of it and just allows?
If you can get into that space of awareness and just be there,
Abide in your awareness,
Sink into that space.
This awareness is with you all the time,
Every day,
In every moment,
And you can connect with it whenever you want,
But for now,
Let's end this meditation just by bringing your attention back to the breath,
Some in-breaths and exhale,
Just at your own pace.
Thank you for taking this time to meditate with me.
