To begin in meditation,
Bring yourself in to a seated posture.
Whether that's on a chair with a supported back,
Or a meditation cushion,
Or a stool,
Or something that allows you to keep an upright spine that's comfortable.
Then you can place your hands wherever is comfortable for you.
And you might like to meditate with your eyes open.
Closed,
Or half closed.
There's no wrong or right.
It's whatever feels more comfortable for you.
Now we're going to focus on the breath today.
To allow the breath to collect our attention.
So when you've found yourself a comfortable position,
Allow yourself to fully arrive with your whole body and mind.
Bring all your attention into this moment.
And notice the space you're in,
The space around you,
The sounds you can hear close by and far away.
And know that the sounds are part of this present moment.
That you don't need to resist them,
Or silence them.
That they're part of the now.
And you might gently scan over your body.
And be aware of the quality of your body in this moment.
You might notice,
Is the body tight,
Relaxed,
Stiff,
At ease.
You're just noticing the current quality.
And also bringing your attention to the quality of your mind in this moment.
An awareness.
You might be aware that the mind is distant,
Active,
Distracted,
Present.
And then noticing the relationship between the quality of the mind and the quality of the body.
And bringing your awareness in close now to the breath.
Notice the natural rhythm,
The inhale and the exhale.
And then lengthen each exhale.
Just to begin slowing the breath to a pace and depth that's comfortable for you.
Because when we slow down the breath,
We begin to slow down the nervous system.
And we can facilitate a slowing down of the mind.
Begin to notice just the inhale.
And to follow the inhale closely with curiosity.
Notice the beginning of the inhale,
The middle of the inhale,
And the end of the inhale.
See if you can find where the inhale begins.
And follow it all the way to where it ends,
When it's no longer an inhale.
And then move your attention to the exhale.
See if you can find the beginning of the exhale.
Follow it through the middle of the exhale,
All the way to the end of the exhale.
See if you can find the moment that the exhale changes to an inhale.
And when the inhale changes to an exhale,
Continuing to follow the breath,
Let the breath be your anchor,
The place that you come and lean against.
Because your breath is always here in the present moment.
We can't breathe the breath that happened in the past,
And we can't breathe the breath that's in the future.
We can only breathe this breath.
So if you bring your awareness to the breath,
You can be assured of being in the present moment.
When your mind wanders,
You notice,
But without judgment and criticism.
And then you simply bring your mind back to your breath.
And when your mind wanders again,
You simply bring it back.
And to facilitate a sharp awareness in the mind,
We count the breath.
You can either count from one to ten,
Or ten down to one.
And the breath is counted on the exhale,
So when a full round of breath is complete.
And that's the inhale through to the exhale,
One round.
And you only count a round of breath if your full presence and attention has been on that round.
If at any point your mind wanders off,
Or you become aware that your mind is thinking something else,
Even if it's simultaneously to counting,
Then you simply bring your mind back to the breath and begin counting again from one or from ten.
It may take weeks for you to get to two.
There may be some days when you're able to hold your awareness for longer on the breath,
And some days when it's more difficult.
Either way,
There's no judgement and no criticisms.
It's just about coming into this moment over and over.
So let's focus on the breath.
The full round,
The beginning of the inhale,
The middle of the inhale,
The end of the inhale.
The beginning of the exhale,
Through the middle of the exhale,
To the end of the exhale.
Each round of breath counted as one at the end of the exhale.
Counting as far as you can,
Up to ten.
And as soon as you become aware that the mind has wandered,
Or is thinking something else simultaneously to counting,
You pause and bring it back to the breath,
Beginning again at one.
So continue this now on your own for at least another fifteen minutes.
