Welcome,
Let's begin by finding a comfortable position,
Either seated or lying down.
Allow your eyes to gently close,
Or soften your gaze if that feels more comfortable.
Take a moment to settle into stillness.
Let your body soften into the support beneath you,
And allow yourself to simply arrive here in this moment.
Let the breath be easy,
Flowing in,
Flowing out.
Now,
Imagine you're sitting on the shore,
At your favorite beach,
Facing a wide,
Open ocean.
The air is calm,
The view expansive.
This is a place of quiet observation.
Notice the waves in front of you.
Some are gentle and small,
Some are full and rolling.
Each wave rises,
Curls,
And returns to the sea.
This ocean is a reflection of your inner world,
Your thoughts,
Emotions,
And sensations.
They come and go like waves.
And you can sit here on the shore of the beach,
And you can simply notice.
You can observe,
And you can watch with openness and curiosity.
You are not the wave,
You are the witness.
Notice what's present in your own experience right now.
Perhaps there is a thought,
Or a feeling,
Or a sensation in your body.
There is no need to do anything with it,
But just allow it to be here as it is.
You might silently say,
This is what's here right now.
Or you might give it a gentle label,
Like sadness,
Or worry,
Or frustration.
Whatever it is,
You can practice observing it the same way that you watch waves in the ocean.
You can watch the thought or the emotion rise,
You can watch it curl over,
And you can watch it crash on the shore as it passes.
Bringing your attention back to the ocean,
Notice a wave far out on the horizon,
A gentle lift in the surface.
Watch it slowly build,
Rising,
Curling at the top,
And then rolling forward and meeting the shore,
And then it returns to the sea.
This rhythm is natural,
And your thoughts and emotions have a similar rhythm.
They rise,
They peak,
And then they soften,
Or shift,
Or fade.
You don't need to attach to them,
You don't need to figure them out,
You don't need to push them away.
All you need to do is notice,
Sitting beside the waves,
Breathing in,
And breathing out.
Resting in awareness that is as vast as the ocean.
Your awareness is spacious and steady.
And just like in the sea,
There is room for all of the waves,
Within you there is room for everything that arises,
Curls over,
And crashes.
Let's practice here a moment longer,
Resting in presence,
Observing the natural flow of your experience,
Like waves coming and going.
Notice the wave of this thought or this emotion,
Watch it rise,
Curl,
And dissipate,
Returning back to the sea.
This is the practice of mindfulness,
Noticing what comes without judgment,
And letting it pass,
While you remain here in the present,
Steady and whole.
Taking a few deeper breaths now,
Inhaling through the nose,
Exhaling out the mouth.
You've done a great job practicing.
Begin to bring awareness back into your body by feeling the ground beneath you,
Wiggling your fingers and toes.
Remember that the ocean and the vast awareness that is within you is always present.
When you're ready,
You can open your eyes or lift your gaze,
Bringing this open presence with you as you move forward into the rest of your day.
