Welcome to sitting meditation.
To begin this meditation,
First find a comfortable seated position.
If you're sitting on a chair,
Place your feet flat on the floor.
Bring your body to an upright but relaxed position,
Allowing your shoulders to drop,
Allowing your hands to rest gently on your lap,
Holding your head straight,
Neither leaning forward nor backwards.
You can move your body slightly forward and backwards and side to side until you find a natural,
Comfortable position where you're upright and alert but relaxed.
Sitting like a mountain,
Tall and dignified,
Rooted in the earth,
Solid and firm.
If you feel comfortable closing your eyes,
Go ahead and close them now.
If you'd rather have your eyes open,
Simply look down without focusing on anything in particular.
We'll begin this meditation with one sound of the bell.
When you hear the sound,
Simply come to the present moment,
Arriving fully in the here and now.
There's nowhere to go,
There's nothing to do.
Bringing your awareness to the breath,
Noticing what it feels like to breathe in and what it feels like to breathe out.
Saying to yourself silently,
Breathing in,
I know that I'm breathing in.
Breathing out,
I know that I'm breathing out.
In,
Out.
And as you breathe in and out mindfully,
Perhaps experimenting with smiling,
Bringing a gentle smile to your lips.
Smiling doesn't mean pretending to be happy when you're not,
And it doesn't mean forcing yourself to feel a certain way.
Smiling is simply an invitation to be present and to bring compassion and kindness and open-heartedness to this present moment and to each breath.
Saying silently as you breathe,
Breathing in,
I know that I'm breathing in.
Breathing out,
I smile.
Breathing.
Smiling.
And noticing what it feels like to breathe and smile right now.
You may notice your mind wandering,
You may notice thoughts of the future or thoughts of the past.
All of that's okay,
That doesn't mean that you're doing anything wrong.
As best you can,
When you notice that your mind's wandering,
Simply notice that it's wandered off and gently and kindly bring your mind back to the present moment and back to the breath without judging yourself.
Breathing in,
I know that I'm breathing in.
Breathing out,
I know that I'm breathing out.
In.
Out.
And you may notice your mind wandering off many times and you may find yourself bringing your awareness back to the present moment over and over again.
That's okay,
That is mindfulness.
Taking a moment to check in with your body,
Noticing whatever sensations are present in your body right now.
Perhaps you notice stress or tension or pain or perhaps you notice relaxation and strength.
Whatever it is you're noticing,
As best you can,
Simply allowing it to be there just as it is without needing to change it or fix it in any way.
Breathing in,
Aware of the body.
Breathing out,
Smiling to the body with kindness and self-compassion.
Taking a moment to check in with your emotions and your feelings,
Noticing whatever is present for you right now.
Perhaps noticing pleasant emotions like happiness and joy or gratitude or perhaps noticing difficult emotions like stress or depression or anxiety.
Whatever emotions are present for you right now are okay.
You don't need to change them and you don't need to fix them.
As best you can,
See if you can notice the emotion.
Breathe in and breathe out,
Smiling to whatever it is you're experiencing.
Perhaps giving it a name as you breathe in with awareness and sending a smile as you breathe out.
Breathing in,
I'm aware of this emotion.
Breathing out,
I smile to this emotion.
Aware of emotion,
Smiling.
Checking in with your thoughts now,
Noticing where the mind is.
Is your mind in the present moment?
Has it wandered off to thoughts about the future or thoughts about the past or judgments?
Whatever is happening in the mind is okay.
With mindfulness,
See if you can just notice what's happening in your mind and stay in the present moment,
Breathing with awareness.
And stay in the present moment,
Breathing with awareness.
If you're noticing your mind wandering again,
That's okay.
That's totally normal.
It might help to imagine your mind like a puppy and you're training your puppy to walk down the sidewalk.
The puppy has a tendency to go here and go there,
Chasing at everything it smells and sees.
The mind can be like that too,
Wandering here and wandering there,
Wandering off into the future or the past.
With mindfulness,
Just noticing where the mind wanders.
Gently bringing the mind back to the present moment with kindness and with compassion,
With gentleness,
Just as you would train the puppy to come back to the sidewalk.
Returning to the breath over and over again.
Breathing in,
I know that I'm breathing in.
Breathing out,
I know that I'm breathing out.
In,
Out.
We'll end this meditation with one sound of the bell.
When you hear the sound,
You can open your eyes if they were closed and give yourself thanks for taking the time to meditate and be mindful with self-compassion and with awareness.
