Let's begin this practice by finding a comfortable position in the body.
When you feel the body well supported,
Begin to relax deeply into the eyes and allow the relaxation of the eyes to be an invitation for turning attention inward.
And with this inward attention,
Begin to notice the lived experience of the body.
And within this lived experience of the body,
Notice if there are any places in which you can experience neutral or pleasant feelings.
And by observing neutral and pleasant feelings,
Can you affirm a sense of okayness,
An okayness and gifting ourselves this opportunity to cultivate our heart and mind.
And now around this okayness,
This willingness to show up,
Initiate a quality of relaxation.
Bring attention to any parts or places in the body that feel tight.
And if you find such a place,
Each time as you breathe out,
Give yourself permission to relax.
Breathing out,
Relaxing and releasing.
Kindly revealing a posture of ease.
And after relaxing in one area,
Freely shift attention to another,
And for just another minute or so,
Relaxing throughout the entire body from the top of the head all the way down to the soles of the feet.
And alongside this deepening sense of relaxation,
Begin to embrace a quality of stillness.
Stillness that emerges from the recognition of having nowhere else to go,
Nothing else to do.
Come to rest in the stillness of being.
And finally,
Complementing relaxation and stillness with a quality of wakefulness.
If you're sitting,
Experience this wakefulness by keeping the spine upright,
Or perhaps feeling a subtle energy rising up along the front of the spine from the base of the pelvis all the way up to the crown of the head.
If you're lying down,
Maintain a quality of wakefulness by invigorating a deep sense of curiosity and interest,
Reminding yourself to use this posture for cultivating the mind.
And we'll round off this process of settling the body in relaxation,
Stillness,
And wakefulness with a cycle of coherent breaths.
Breathing in for a count of five,
Breathing out for a count of five.
And as you slow the duration of the breath,
Highlight the experience of wakefulness while breathing in and deepen the sense of relaxation while breathing out.
Use the coherent breathing pattern to further establish a deep sense of equilibrium,
Balancing wakefulness and relaxation.
And after completing several cycles of coherent breathing,
Then allow the breath to settle into its natural rhythm.
And whether the breath is long,
Short,
Deep,
Or shallow,
Quietly rest in a state of presence,
Clear knowing.
And now to further establish this state of presence with the qualities of openness,
Non-reactivity,
And discernment,
Open your awareness once again to all other sensations and feelings that can be experienced throughout the three-dimensional space of the body,
Momentarily observing sensations and feelings arise,
Persist,
And dissolve away.
And now let's refine this state of presence.
As we narrow the focus to specific regions of the body,
Let's begin by focusing on the area around the head,
Face,
And alongside the neck and touch into the sensations and felt experience in the head,
Face,
And neck.
Exploring first on the surface,
Maybe noticing sensations of coolness or warmth,
Tingling vibration of movement.
Maybe there are sensations that reveal heaviness or lightness.
And also noticing any feelings,
Pleasantness,
Unpleasantness,
Or feelings that are neutral.
And in this noticing,
Can you sustain a quality of presence that is open,
Not resisting,
Not pushing anything away.
Quietly observing.
And allow this observation to penetrate beneath the surface into the interior,
Maybe feeling subtle sensations deeper in the tissues around the bones,
All the while resting in this experience of openness.
And now shift the focus to the experience of sensation and feeling from the top of the shoulders down the length of the arms to the fingertips.
Fully present with the arising and passing of sensation and feeling through the arms and hands.
And along with remaining open,
Explore a quality of non-reactivity.
Not trying to fix,
Alter,
Or modify.
Remain fully present.
And of course,
If the mind involuntarily wanders away,
Again,
Come back to noticing sensation and feeling from the shoulders down to the fingertips.
And now shift the focus from the top of the shoulders down to the base of the spine,
The floor of the pelvis.
Observe this region of the torso,
Noticing sensations and feelings across the chest,
Down the length of the ribcage deep,
Inside the belly,
Around the small of the back.
And exploring down into the pelvis,
Around the reproductive organs,
Across the hip bones.
And openly and non-reactively observing the variety of sensations and feelings that arise from moment to moment.
And in this observation,
Discern how sensations arise,
Persist,
And dissolve away.
Both sensations and feelings coming and going.
And finally,
Shifting the focus of attention from the hips down the length of the legs,
Across the ankles,
Into the feet,
To the tips of the toes.
Observing the sensations and feelings of the deep quality of presence.
Presence imbued with openness,
Non-reactivity,
And discernment.
Once again,
Discerning how sensations and feelings arise,
Persist,
And dissolve away.
Strengthening your capacity to be with what is from moment to moment.
Acknowledging this ever-changing flow of experience.
And once again,
Now for just a minute or so,
Scan from the crown of the head all the way down to the soles of the feet.
Tuning in to the lived experience of the body.
And now with all pervasive awareness,
Expanding throughout the entire body,
Rest.
Being fully present.
Openly observing the arising and passing of sensation and feeling.
Being non-reactively aware.
Sustaining a discerning presence.
And finally,
Before bringing this practice to a close,
Consider if there's any situation or circumstance in your life where you would like to remain mindful of this presence.
Being open,
Non-reactive,
And discerning to whatever arises.
And if you can find a specific circumstance or situation,
Is it possible to formulate an intention to prospectively plan for bringing these qualities to bear?
And if an intention has formed,
Let it impress upon the heart and mind.
And with this,
Let's bring our session to a close.
Thank you for your practice today.
