This is a Being with Difficulty practice.
Listen carefully to the guidance and follow it as best you can,
But it's important that you take into account how you are and make your own choices about what's going to be helpful for you.
Being kind,
Being gentle,
And taking care of yourself is the most important thing.
So when you're ready,
Allowing the eyes to close,
Making a firm contact with whatever you are sitting on,
Finding a posture that is supportive and comfortable,
The spine upright but not stiff,
Shoulders are relaxed,
The head balanced,
Spend some time connecting with a part of the body that helps you feel steady and grounded,
Your anchor,
The feet,
The legs,
The hands,
The breath,
Perhaps your nostrils,
Wherever it may be,
A safe place you can always return to.
If you'd like to,
Consciously setting an intention for this practice,
Perhaps an intention to be gentle,
To be kind to yourself as best you can.
At a certain point,
When you feel able,
Inviting the mind to tune in to the sensations of breathing,
Or the sensations of your chosen anchor point,
Choosing a place that feels steady.
Allow your awareness to settle there.
No need to control the breath in any way.
Letting the body breathe naturally.
Tuning in to the full duration of the in-breath.
And the full duration of the out-breath.
These sensations may be very subtle.
Move in close.
Bring interest to the details.
Savoring the breath.
If at any point the breath becomes difficult,
Remember your chosen anchor point is always available.
If the mind has wandered from the breath,
Just become aware of this without judgment.
Noticing where the mind went and gently bringing it back.
However many times the mind wanders,
The breath or the anchor point is always here to return to.
Anchoring to the present moment.
Appreciating the breath.
Savoring and enjoying the breath as you hold it in awareness.
Just this moment.
Just this breath.
Each in-breath a new beginning.
Each out-breath a letting go.
A letting be.
In touch with the breath coming in.
In touch with the breath going out.
When you feel ready,
Expand the field of awareness and opening to the sensations from the body as a whole.
Feeling the space around your body.
Perhaps notice your feet,
Your seat,
Your hands.
Have a sense of the space that the body takes up and the movements of the body as it breathes.
Perhaps adding appreciation that you have a body that can breathe and feel as it sits here.
Check in with your posture.
Remember you can make any small adjustments that might be necessary.
Bringing mindful awareness to any adjustments you might need to make.
Open to and receive ordinary,
Everyday sensations.
Sensations that are obvious and those that are more subtle.
Be with the body.
Inhabit the body.
There may be parts of the body that are feeling pleasant.
Maybe a sense of warmth.
Lightness.
Comfort.
Perhaps choosing to move in close to some of these sensations.
Savoring the pleasantness.
Enjoying what's here.
And now,
Opening to the body as a whole as it sits here,
Breathing.
The mind may wander.
Notice where it went.
We bring it back.
Back to the body.
Sitting with sensations.
Right here.
Right now.
If physical discomfort is here,
An ache,
Some pain or intensity,
Remember there are two options.
The first is to adjust your posture to try and relieve it.
If you do this,
Bring awareness to the details of the movement so that it becomes a part of the practice.
The second option is to allow the discomfort to be here a little while.
If you choose to do this,
Connect with the breath or your anchor to help yourself feel grounded and steady.
Notice what it's like to be with the discomfort for this time.
You might even choose to feel the discomfort more fully.
Perhaps moving in closer to the sensations if that feels okay for you.
Breathing with these sensations rather than tightening against them.
Softening and opening to what is here.
But also knowing that at any stage whenever it feels right you can choose to move away from this intensity and return more fully to the breath or your anchor.
Or come back to the sense of a body as a whole in this present moment.
The invitation now if you choose to take it is to practice being with difficult thoughts and feelings.
If troubling thoughts or emotions are present perhaps worries,
Irritation you may choose to work with these.
If there are no difficult thoughts or feelings at present then you would like to explore using this approach.
Perhaps bringing to mind a difficulty or a problem that you have had in your life does not need to be a major worry.
A small difficulty or problem is fine.
Bring this difficulty to mind.
Notice any difficult thoughts or feelings that arise.
Intentionally make space for these difficult thoughts and feelings.
Allowing them to be here for a while and steadying yourself anchoring yourself holding yourself with kindness.
Perhaps seeing if the difficult thoughts and feelings are making themselves known in the body.
You might notice sensations of contraction or intensity.
Tightness.
Tension.
If you choose to allow these difficult sensations to be here for a while steadying yourself taking care.
If at any point it becomes too intense return to your safe place.
To your anchor.
And if your eyes are closed remember there's always the option of keeping them open.
But if it feels okay perhaps moving in a little closer to these difficult sensations for a while.
Approaching with gentleness with curiosity.
Breathing with them rather than tensing against them.
Softening and opening.
Perhaps saying to yourself it's okay to feel this.
Let me be with this unpleasantness.
Let me get to know it.
Allowing it to be here.
Remembering the choices.
Being able to move away if you should choose to do so.
Or simply coming back to a sense of the body as a whole.
As it sits here breathing.
Continuing to explore the difficulty if that is what you would like.
Returning to your anchor when needed.
Choosing what's right for you.
Taking care of yourself as you work with difficulty in this way.
When you're ready returning to a sense of the body as a whole.
Making any small adjustments you might need.
Holding yourself with kindness and care.
Sitting here.
Breathing.
Experiencing.
Right here.
Right now.
