Welcome to this practice of relax and awaken.
Starting off by just allowing the body to get comfortable.
If it's lying down just allowing all the muscles to soften.
Still remaining present and also vigilant with our awareness.
If you're sitting just allowing all the muscles that aren't needed to maintain your posture to just also soften,
Relax.
Letting awareness be still,
Deeply relaxing into the breath.
Letting it settle into its own rhythm.
Releasing tension,
Releasing thoughts with each out-breath.
Breathing in,
Maintaining that sense of knowing.
Breathing in,
Long,
Short,
Deep,
Shallow.
Breathing out,
Maintaining that knowing of breathing out.
Releasing with the out-breath.
Continuing to just relax deeply letting go of any muscular tension with the out-breath.
Letting go of any thoughts.
And as the breath flows in you can also arouse your attention.
You can allow the breath to awaken you.
Focusing your attention directly on the sensations of the belly.
Breathing out,
Relax.
Breathing in,
Awaken.
Sense of being aroused within your mind and body.
Breathing out,
Releasing,
Relaxing,
Letting go with every out-breath.
So playing with this balance.
Relaxing and awakening with the breath.
So playing with this balance.
And also noticing how easy it is for the mind to wander.
Gently softening the body,
Coming back to this balance by relaxing during the out-breath.
You balance the busyness of the mind by arousing attention on the in-breath.
You balance the potential for the attentional imbalance.
The sense of dullness or dreaminess,
Tiredness.
And to the best of your ability maintaining this ongoing flow of mindfulness,
Awareness throughout the whole course of the inhalation and while releasing and relaxing on the exhalation,
Allowing awareness to be continually engaged.
So playing with this balance.
You can use our awareness or mindfulness from time to time to bring awareness to the quality of attention that's there.
Noticing if it's drifting or losing clarity or getting dull in some way or if it's busy and distracted.
And if it is getting dull or there's a sense of drifting or losing clarity,
Seeing if you can take a moment to take a fresh interest in the practice.
Breathing in,
Arousing your awareness,
Focusing your attention,
Noticing the abdomen rising and falling.
You can also use your mindfulness to notice our body,
Noticing our posture,
Being aware if there's any tension,
Breathing out,
Releasing.
Being aware of the breathing,
Noticing if it's naturally flowing or if it seems constrained or we're using some sort of effort.
Softening the body,
Letting be.
Coming back to the practice,
Relaxing the out-breath,
Awakening,
Rousing our attention on the in-breath,
Letting be.
And in a moment you'll hear the sound of a bell and that'll be the end of our practice.
And just this final moment as we do now,
Just acknowledging the choice.
This is so important for you to do for your mind.
Acknowledging the active choice of taking this time.
Out of all the things your mind said you would,
Could,
Should be doing for your own learning health and well-being.
Remembering this is an act of self-care and so just some way of acknowledging yourself for taking this time.
