Make sure you've taken a comfortable seat and that both sitting bones are evenly sitting on whatever you're sitting on.
So you might shift your weight left to right,
Front to centre,
Finding the centre of your point of gravity.
And then allow your hands to rest somewhere where it's not putting a strain on your shoulders but you can allow your shoulders to just hang down the back.
And then slowly allow your eyelids to close down.
And with the eyelids closed just check in with your posture once again.
The reason we put so much emphasis on posture in meditation is because the posture should be a reflection of the state of your mind.
So in meditation we are alert and focused but at the same time there is an attitude of loving kindness,
Of ease,
Of softness.
And it is only by balancing out the sense of focus and determination with loving kindness and ease that we eventually find clarity and calm both within our meditation practice and outside of it.
So we'll start with this sense of determination within the body.
Making your parts of your legs which are in contact with the floor a little bit more stable and then use that stability to draw the crown of your head up and away from your tailbone so you're lengthening through the spine.
Feel yourself becoming long from the tailbone up to the crown of your head.
And then having found some determination and focus within your posture start to soften ever so slightly.
Softening your shoulders away from the ears,
Allowing your arms to hang heavy from the shoulders.
And find any tension within your belly and your chest and just relax that tension,
Releasing so the breath can move freely through your body.
And the important thing to remember about your meditation practice is by checking in first with the body you're able to cultivate this awareness of what it is that you need in this practice.
And some days in our practice we find maybe we are slightly over energized,
Feeling quite harsh,
Like we have a lot of energy and these days it might be helpful to bring a little bit more softness into the body so we're not trying too hard to focus within the meditation.
And on days that we find that our energy is slightly depleted,
If we're feeling a little bit tired,
Unfocused,
It may help to bring a little bit more awareness to the lengthening of the spine,
To a strong and determined posture.
So we're setting ourselves up for a little bit more focus within the meditation.
So take a few more moments here to balance out your posture.
Find places where maybe you're engaging,
You're holding on where you can soften a little bit more.
Or maybe finding ways in which you can sit with a little bit more pride and determination,
As though a king or queen on her throne.
And then as you start to refocus your attention,
Keep about 50% of your attention on your posture.
And bring the other 50% of your attention to your breath.
Choose somewhere within the body that you can clearly feel the breath,
Whether it's through the nostrils,
In the chest or the belly.
And watch the breath from the lookout point of the body.
So you're using your posture as the seat,
As the viewing point from which to gently follow the breath without over focusing on the breath.
Each time you notice that you've become distracted,
Bring yourself back first to the posture of your body.
If there are any micro adjustments you need to make within the body,
You can scan through and see where you would like to bring more of a sense of determination into the posture,
And where you would like to bring a sense of softness into the posture.
And then draw your attention back to the feeling of the breath within the body,
While still keeping about 50% of your awareness on your posture.
You you you you you and if you notice that you've been distracted,
Whether by a thought or a physical sensation or a sound,
You may want to notice the effect that the physical sensation or sound or thought has on your posture,
On your body.
Maybe certain muscles tense up in response to a sound,
Maybe the background in response to a certain feeling in the body,
Maybe you feel your face constricting or the shoulders constricting in response to a certain thought.
The important thing is not to then get caught up in thinking about how your body responds,
But simply to notice the effect that the distraction has on your body,
On your posture.
And then see if there are any micro adjustments you can make to your posture,
To come back to this place where you're balancing determination and softness within your physical posture.
You you you you you you you you you you you you and remembering that this determination yet softness within the posture is a reflection of the state of our mind within our meditation practice.
So we often think that the more focused we are,
The more determined we are,
The better our practice will be.
When in fact this determination only really works when it's balanced equally 50% with a sense of softness and loving-kindness within the meditation.
If we are just determined and focused and strict in our practice,
Then the training just becomes a training in being hard on ourselves.
You By bringing a sense of softness and kindness into the practice,
Particularly in those times when we notice that we've been distracted,
The training becomes so much more effective in cultivating clarity and calm,
In bringing our minds back to the breath,
Back to the present moment,
Time and time again.
You you you you you you you you you Now slowly,
Letting go of the focus on the breath or wherever your attention might be,
Bring it back fully once more to your posture,
Allowing your posture to be a reflection of the state of your mind,
Opening your awareness to any sounds,
And then whenever you're ready in your own time,
You can finish off the practice in whatever way feels comfortable to you,
And allow your eyes to open.
