So let's sit here together,
Sitting on the floor or in a chair.
Take your time to find a comfortable and upright position.
A position that is nothing less than what you already are.
A position that resembles and embodies a sense of dignity and a sense of integrity.
As we sit here for 30 minutes in an awareness of breath and body meditation.
Feeling free to soften or close the eyes or to leave them open.
As you be with the flow of the breath,
This breath,
This ever present friend and this breath.
This entering of life into the body and this exiting of life from the body over and over again.
The inhale and the exhale and this breath too.
The inhale and the exhale.
Noticing,
Feeling and being with the breath that comes in and goes out at your own pace,
At the rhythm that feels right for you.
And as you settle a little bit more into this practice,
Feel free to adjust yourself a little bit more to be even more comfortable and at the same time upright.
Taking a little bit of time here to settle in and perhaps settle down.
Bringing your attention to this ever present friend,
The breath.
Let's be here with the breath as best we can.
Rest OFF!
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And although our attention is with our breath,
The inhale and the exhale,
This flow of breath,
This flow of life,
It's only natural that our mind will wander off from this anchor,
From the breath as an anchor.
Mind will wander off perhaps into thoughts,
Emotions,
And that's natural.
And over and over again,
As many times as you need to,
And gently,
Kindly,
With patience,
Bringing your attention back to the object,
Back to the breath,
Back to right here and now,
To this life,
This breath.
Coming back with a sense of curiosity about this next breath that's never been breathed before.
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Being with the sensations of breathing,
The inhale,
The exhale,
The sensations of breathing,
Wherever you notice them the most easily,
The most predominantly.
That may be the nostrils,
It may be at the chest,
Feeling the movement of the chest as the breath comes and goes.
Or it may be at the belly,
Where you notice the breathing the most easily,
The most predominantly.
Being with the sensations of breathing,
The inhale,
The exhale,
The exhale,
The inhale,
The exhale,
The exhale,
The inhale,
The exhale,
The inhale.
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Can you be with the breath here as it is?
Remembering that the awareness of breathing is different than thinking about breathing and remembering that the awareness of breathing is different than controlling the breath so we're neither thinking about breathing or trying to control the breath,
Letting go of thinking about or controlling the breath and simply resting in the awareness of breathing resting in the awareness of perhaps where you feel the breath the most easily and in this dignified upright position like a mountain sitting the quality of stability steadiness,
Solidity of the body notice right now what it feels like to have taken your seat to take your seat and to know where you are and as you take your seat and you know begin to know where you are noticing also there's more opportunities in this practice for silence so there's also more opportunities to guide and trust in yourself in these quiet moments in these quiet moments guiding and trusting in yourself to know what to do can you also bring curiosity and begin to tap into touch into the attitudes of non-judging of non-striving and perhaps beginning to bring some more acceptance patience kindness and compassion to your practice and let's begin to explore not only the breath as the object of attention for this practice but also the body so can you transition from the breath to the body to expand your attention from the sensations of breathing to an awareness of the sensations in the body as a whole expanding the awareness to also include the awareness of the body as a whole sitting here now noticing the breath coming and going but can you allow the focus on the breath to be lighter softer to begin to recede into the background a little more as you bring the primary focus of your attention to the body as a whole into the sensations in the body associated with the breath and now to more than the breath what are you noticing here?
What can you experience here as you expand the awareness to include the body the whole of the body as you sit here in here.
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Perhaps you can feel the sensations of the feet or legs on the floor Can you notice the feeling of what the bottom is connecting to?
And maybe you have a sense right now of the feeling of solidity of the body Or maybe you can notice the temperature,
The coolness or warmth or the hot or cold in the body As you be with this body,
The sensations of the whole of the body You might notice also and be experiencing sensations like itching,
Tingling,
Pulsing Perhaps pressure or numbness And numbness also counts as a sensation in this practice Or you may have a sense of the air that's surrounding the body Perhaps touching the skin,
The sensation of touch And all sensations are welcome As is no sensations,
All experiences are welcome For they're your experiences right here and right now And so the invitation is to simply rest in the awareness of the body as a whole With whatever is or isn't arising and passing away There's no need to do anything or control anything Rather,
Can you be with whatever sensations are arising in the body moment by moment,
Breath by breath And if you find the sensations too strong,
Too intense or too difficult to be with the sensations of the body You can return to the breath as an anchor This practice is for you,
So guide yourself and trust yourself as to what you need And you can also use the breath as an anchor if you notice that your mind is wandering off Use the breath to return it back,
Return it to now And then once you feel like you've settled and re-established a little bit more sense of stability You can return again to the awareness of the body,
The whole of the body sitting here And then you can return again to the awareness of the body,
The whole of the body And then you can return again to the awareness of the body,
The whole of the body And then you can return again to the awareness of the body,
The whole of the body And then you can return again to the awareness of the body,
The whole of the body What are you aware of as you sit here?
What are you aware of?
If we just sit here as we are,
Whole,
Complete,
Aware of the breath,
Aware of the body Aware of thoughts and emotions arising Perhaps also aware of sound,
The sounds that are coming and going Perhaps we're aware of all these things,
Even though we're choosing to focus our attention on the body as a whole As we just sit here,
What are we aware of?
And when you feel ready,
If your eyes have been closed,
Allowing them to open In this moment,
Aware of the breath,
Aware of the body,
The whole body,
Even as you sit here with the eyes open And you take in what's around you,
The environment around you Receiving it in,
Steady,
Stable,
Present and awake in this moment to this one life,
This one life that is yours to live Sitting here for a few more breaths.
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