Mindfulness of body and breath meditation.
Sitting comfortably in a sitting position,
Either on a straight back chair or on the floor in a cushion.
Just making sure that the body is erect.
And just finding a moment now to arrive in this present moment.
Becoming aware of where the body touches the surfaces,
Either at the feet or the bottom on the chair.
The hands relaxed,
Perhaps on the thighs.
The head resting on top of the spine.
And when you are ready,
Gently closing your eyes if that feels comfortable,
Or allowing the gaze to fall gently to the floor.
And now moving to the sounds inside the room.
The sound of my voice.
And just allowing sounds to come and go as they please.
And perhaps making a choice to allow ourselves to be exactly as we are in this moment.
Aware of thoughts and emotions as they come and go.
Aware of the sense of touch.
And paying particular attention to awareness of sensations in the body as we encounter them.
And when it feels right,
Gently noticing the movement of the breath.
Feeling the sensations of the breaths rolling in and rolling out.
Without any need to control or change this moment to moment experience.
And if you wish to,
Placing the hands on the tummy.
Feeling the rise and fall.
And as we practice,
If at any moment emotions or thoughts or sensations become too strong,
And just remembering you can return to the breath as an anchor,
Or to the sensation of the feet on the floor.
And when you are ready,
Just returning to my voice and back to the meditation once again.
Just returning to my voice and back to the meditation once again.
Investigating the experience of a very alive body.
And how this aliveness is known through the senses.
Noticing the sensation of the hands,
Of the feet,
Of sitting on a chair or on the floor.
And if you like,
Perhaps imagining there is a balloon in the tummy.
Every time we breathe in,
Noticing that the balloon inflates.
And that every time we breathe out,
The balloon deflates.
And as best we can,
Staying in touch with the changing physical sensations in the tummy for the duration of the in-breath and the out-breath.
Is there a slight pause between the in-breath and the following out-breath?
There is no need to try and control the breathing in any way.
Simply letting the body breathe by itself.
And as best we can,
Bringing a freshness,
A beginner's mind to exploring the body as we breathe.
There is nothing that needs to be fixed.
And no particular state to be achieved.
Simply surrendering to the experience as it is,
Without anything needing to be different.
Just inhaling and exhaling.
At one moment,
We may be aware of the sensations.
And the senses.
In another,
The rise and fall of emotions.
Practicing letting go and gently coming back to the anchor of the breath.
The bottom on the chair,
Feet on the floor.
And when thoughts come into the mind,
Which they will,
Simply watching with a gentle curiosity,
Noticing if we get caught up in them.
We don't have to follow these thoughts or feelings or analyze them in any way.
Softening any judgments we have about them.
Just noticing thoughts and letting them drift on by.
And choosing to come back to the body,
Back to the anchor of the breath,
All the feet on the floor.
Whenever we notice that our attention has drifted off,
And is being caught up in sensations,
Thoughts or emotions.
Simply notice and then come back to the breathing.
No matter how many times we are caught up in sensations,
No matter how many times the mind wanders off,
Just keep bringing your attention back to your breathing.
And when you are ready,
Expanding the attention to include the entire body,
From the soles of the feet to the top of the head.
Being present to the experience of sitting here in this moment.
Gathering onto the sensations of the breath,
Noticing how it has been a constant companion.
And perhaps taking the time to appreciate this moment.
And now feeling the earth beneath us.
The sense of sitting here in this present moment.
The breath rolling in and rolling out down into the ground.
Breathing in and breathing out down into the earth,
Earthing ourselves.
And when you are ready,
Gently turning your awareness to the sounds in the room.
To the sounds outside of the room.
And maybe starting to move and stretch in any way that feels good right now.
The meditation is complete.
