As It Is

A mindfulness meditation to appreciate the profound simplicity of the present moment. Experience the wholeness and completeness of being totally free of desire and expectation. Be with yourself and your world just as it is.

Transcript

As this meditation is about as it is,

Rather than having a break and then going into a meditation from our normal state,

Let's see if we can just have a soft start,

A gradual easing into the experience,

And just,

Without thinking I'm starting to meditate now,

But just maybe start to connect with your senses.

So just having a look at what you can see,

And maybe noticing a particular colour or pattern,

Perhaps noticing something where you are that you haven't really noticed before,

Or just looking at it anew.

And then going through your other senses,

So listening to what you can hear,

Sounds close by or further away,

Just very naturally.

I rarely bother with smell and taste when doing these,

But if you want to just check in briefly with smell and taste,

And then when you're ready you can go to the sense of touch and just notice all the things that you are in contact with,

So the feet and the floor,

Whatever you're sitting or lying on,

Feeling those parts of the body that are in contact,

In connection,

Feeling that pressure,

Warmth,

Feeling that support,

And feeling the contact with your clothes on the skin,

Maybe feeling that slight fullness of the air.

And I'm going to close my eyes and see what sensations I can feel inside the body.

Maybe muscles and joints,

And getting a sense of the energy of the body,

How the body is feeling,

Aware of any discomfort or tension or pain in any parts of the body,

Allowing the body to adjust its position if that feels right.

So part of the idea of as it is,

It doesn't mean having to keep everything still or static,

It's not about trying to freeze and pause and stopping,

Because everything's moving all the time,

Externally and internally,

It's about allowing these movements to continue as they are,

So the breath will continue,

If the body wants to move you allow the body to move,

So not making any effort to change anything,

And not making any effort equally to stop anything changing.

It's the idea of a natural momentum,

A natural flow of change.

So one of the most obvious sensations in the body is the breath,

So becoming aware of the change,

The flow,

The momentum of the breath,

And feeling those sensations in the body.

Keeping your awareness nice and open,

Perhaps using the breath as a kind of anchor into the body and into the present moment,

But still aware of and allowing everything else to happen around the breath.

Beginning to feel like I can start to really settle into the body and into the present moment,

Allowing myself to relax into just being here and now with the body and with the breath.

Sense of easing,

Allowing and letting go.

Really allowing a feeling of having no goal or expectation,

Making no effort to attain anything,

To experience anything,

Other than whatever happens to be happening right now.

So not just being patient,

It's being patient,

So it implies you're waiting for something with patience,

But actually you're not waiting for anything at all.

So just like if you're driving,

You can put the car into neutral.

That's kind of what we're doing now,

Just coasting.

This does give us the opportunity to explore the present moment and really notice things that perhaps you wouldn't normally notice.

Noticing things happening externally,

Also noticing what's happening internally in the body and the mind.

So we can be inquisitive exploring with genuine interest in this experience of being present.

Making no demands on yourself and no demands of your environment.

Rediscovering this simplicity.

And as our awareness becomes fine-tuned to the present moment,

We remain gently attentive and effortlessly alert.

The present moment can begin to feel quite delicate,

Quite fragile.

We hold it gently within our awareness with care,

With attention,

Seeing real value in the present moment and experiencing it as quite a precious thing.

Appreciating how unique each moment is and how special it is to be able to experience this moment.

Maybe it can actually start to feel quite liberating for the mind to be accepting everything just as it is.

We usually use the mind and our thoughts as the tool to problem-solve,

To work out how to be,

How to act,

How to change things,

How to make things better,

How to avoid things,

How to make sense of things.

So giving our thoughts and our mind a complete break from having to do any of that work by just being with everything just as we find it and begin to bring a sense of real space and freedom to the mind.

If it's open to accepting the simplicity of the experience then we can begin to really get a sense of being rather than doing.

It can be quite a relief for the body as well as the mind to be still and quiet and for the body to be joined by your awareness in the present moment.

So often our minds,

Our thoughts are not connected with the body.

So allowing these two to come together is beneficial for both.

Let's have a few minutes then without any more commentary.

Just giving ourselves as much time and space as we need to gradually,

Gently ease into the simplicity of being part of this moment in all its simplicity.

Let's have a few minutes.

Let's have one more,

Please.

And for the last minute or two,

See if you can get a sense of the wholeness of the present moment.

And including yourself in your experience of this moment.

So the world outside and the sounds and the environment,

Your body and the breath,

And your mind,

With all those thoughts,

Feelings and emotions.

These are all equally aspects of this one present moment.

So within a really light and gentle open awareness,

See if we can experience all these things,

The ones we call internal and the ones we call external,

The ones we identify with and the ones we see as other.

Let's see if we can just allow every aspect of this one present moment to simply be as it is within our open awareness.

Okay,

I'm very excited.

Let's see if we can end the meditation as we go.

We've begun it and that is in a gentle,

A natural transition.

So really not ending anything.

And just continuing to notice.

So I notice how I feel now.

I notice how the body is feeling.

And the breath.

I notice how my body feels and the sensations I experience if I feel I can't move the body a bit and have a bit of a stretch.

If my eyes have been closed then as I open my eyes just noticing what I can see as I did at the beginning.

Just being aware that I'm still present,

Still connected to everything that's around me,

Still listening to sounds.

Still aware of what's happening in my mind with thoughts and feelings.

Still happy to just allow everything to be as it is and for it to continue to unfold moment by moment.

Reviews

‘As it is’ meditation is a very gentle and light self-awareness meditation, which helped me in accepting my chronic pain sensations and other emotional discomforts. I go as far as to say that it has given me healing energy rest bites which are a wonderful gift and truly appreciated. It is a very calming, centred and simple practice that offers an abundance of body and mind benefits.

Stephen, that was so calming & peaceful. I am finding now that I have to bring myself into the present so many times a day now!
Thank you. 🙏💖🕊🦋

A nice technique. Soothingly guided. Have added to my playlist. Thanks