Open Awareness - "Open To Everything"

Let's start by focusing on some objects like the breath, body, and sound and then begin to open our awareness to whatever arises, in this 45-minute Open Awareness practice. Simply be with whatever arises ... as best you can.... for these 45 minutes together. Enjoy.

Gabrielle is a certified Meditation and Mindfulness teacher, as well as a Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) teacher.
She is an Insight Dharma Teacher Trainee in Australia and a Mindfulness + Meditation Coach worldwide.

Transcript

Finding yourself now in a comfortable posture.

Posture.

And if that is sitting,

Establish a posture so that you can feel comfortable,

Grounded and supported.

And noticing the body sensations as you sit here,

Noticing the feet,

The legs,

Hips and buttocks.

And if you're in a lying position,

Notice the body,

The body sensations here.

Bring your attention to the legs and arms,

Your torso and your head.

Feeling into this posture and allowing it to give you a sense of support and ease in your body.

And at the same time,

Sense of dignity and alertness.

For this open awareness practice,

We'll begin with connecting to a familiar object,

Starting with the breath.

As well as the whole body,

Sounds,

Thoughts and also emotions.

And then we'll let go of focusing on any of these objects.

Or focusing on any one object,

As we open to all that is arising in awareness,

In this open awareness practice.

So in a way we're opening to the flow of our life and mind,

Whatever comes and goes.

And perhaps we could imagine a spacious sky,

A vast and open sky,

With all the different weather passing through.

Just as the thoughts and emotions,

Body sensations and sounds will pass through,

Come into our awareness and then pass away.

We can imagine that like a vast open sky,

With a different weather coming and going.

As we,

As best we can,

Be present to this flow of our inner life.

So let's touch base with the breath.

And perhaps we can let go of any idea that we're trying to practice anything,

Or even that we're meditating.

As this breath that we're beginning to become more familiar with,

That we're bringing our attention to,

Is what our lives depend upon.

And the invitation here is to be more attentive to this breath.

Be more attentive to this breath that sustains our lives,

Day after day,

Year after year.

Bringing our attention to the breath as it enters and then leaves the body.

Feeling the breath in the body and perhaps beginning to rest in the breath where you feel it the easiest,

The most predominant.

That might be the nostrils,

The chest,

Or the belly,

Or somewhere else perhaps.

An invitation here to explore,

Where do you most easily access the breath?

Where do you feel it the most?

And can you be with it as best you can?

There's no need to change,

Improve or control the breath in any way.

We're letting the breath breathe itself in a way,

Letting the breath take care of itself.

As we become more familiar with this breath,

Noticing the sensations,

The feelings that are coming from this breath.

Perhaps noticing the breath coming in through the nostrils.

Perhaps feeling an expansion and opening a bit more through the chest and belly.

Maybe some other sensations as the breath enters the body.

And as the breath leaves this body,

What is there here to be felt?

What can you experience as the breath leaves the body?

A releasing perhaps,

A falling away,

A softening of the chest and belly.

What is here to be known by focusing on the breath as our object of attention?

And this breath that we depend upon,

That's always with us,

We can return to it as like a home base,

Like an anchor to the present.

At any time,

You can return to this process of breathing.

If your mind wanders off,

Then gently bring it back.

Return it back to the present,

Back to this practice,

Perhaps by using the breath.

And now beginning to.

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Shift your focus to the whole body.

To the whole body,

Including the sensations of breathing.

Sensing what is here.

What is here to be sensed and felt in the body?

And becoming aware of the wholeness of the body,

Its inherent completeness.

No matter what your condition,

What might be on your mind right now,

What might be troubling you or ailing you.

Becoming aware of the wholeness of the body,

Including the sensation of the breath.

As you feel into this being alive,

This shifting and changing of sensations.

And notice that you can be attentive to the breath.

Even though the body is the main focus in awareness.

So both breathing and the body,

Sitting or lying here,

Can be attended to.

Without having to get anywhere or to make something happen.

Without having to strive.

Just being here.

Noticing the coming and going of sensations.

Noticing the coming and going of sensations.

Noticing the coming and going of sensations.

Noticing the coming and going of sensations.

Noticing the coming and going of sensations.

Noticing the coming and going of sensations.

Noticing the coming and going of sensations.

Noticing the coming and going of sensations.

Noticing the coming and going of sensations.

Noticing the coming and going of sensations.

Noticing the coming and going of sensations.

Noticing the coming and going of sensations.

Noticing the coming and going of sensations.

Noticing the coming and going of sensations.

And you might have noticed that the mind has a tendency to wander away from the object of attention.

Can we gently acknowledge that the mind has wandered off?

And without judgement,

Without self-criticism or analysis,

Or even aggression towards yourself.

Can you acknowledge?

Acknowledge the wandering.

Noticing where the mind has gone to.

And gently and deliberately coming back over and over again to the object or objects of attention.

And perhaps using the breath or a sensation arising in the body to gently come back,

Come back to where we're at in the practice.

And then slowly and gently coming back to where we're at in the practice.

As we are attentive to the body and the breath here,

Can you notice the change?

This continual process of change and transformation.

And let's now shift the attention from the breath and body to now sounds.

Bringing the attention to the world of sounds and receiving them.

Perhaps sounds outside of where you are in the distance.

Perhaps sounds in the same room or space as you.

And what sounds are they here to know from your own body?

No need to go into an analysis of the sounds or to judge them or even to react to them.

Noticing the sounds,

The volume,

Perhaps the pitch or the tone or the frequency.

Noticing the sounds arising and passing away as we cultivate a receptive mind to receive what is arising.

Being present with nothing in particular to do or achieve.

Simply to have our attention on the arising,

Staying for a while and passing sounds.

Perhaps sounds.

Perhaps sounds.

Perhaps sounds.

Perhaps sounds.

Perhaps sounds.

Perhaps sounds.

Perhaps sounds.

Perhaps sounds.

Perhaps sounds.

Perhaps sounds.

Sounds arise and pass away.

And so do the processes of thinking and feeling.

Become aware of thoughts and also the accompanying emotions.

Allowing the breath,

The body sitting or lying here as a whole.

And the various sounds to be held lightly.

Perhaps moving them into the background.

As we bring this same quality of attention to thoughts and emotions.

And you may have already noticed the arising of thought and emotions.

As you bring your attention to the thoughts,

It's not an invitation to begin to further explore the thoughts and analyze or start to find solutions.

Although that may occur.

But the practice here,

The invitation is to become more attentive to this process of thinking itself.

This process of thoughts arising.

Staying for a while.

And then eventually passing,

Having an ending.

And they will naturally arise,

Linger for a while.

And pass in their own time without the need to put any effort towards it.

Bringing your attention now to these thoughts and emotions.

And you might be able to notice how one thought is connected to another thought.

Something like a story.

And you might also notice that the thoughts seem not connected or random from one thought to another.

You might notice that there's spaces between the thoughts.

And then at other times,

It might seem like there's so many thoughts.

It's like a waterfall of thoughts.

There's no space or no stopping.

The thoughts are just flowing.

Cascading like a waterfall.

And the mind is so busy,

So filled with thoughts.

And with this attention on the thoughts,

There's an opportunity here to be curious.

To offer some kindness and gentleness towards this mind,

This amazing mind.

And so too with emotion.

Emotions like happiness,

Sadness,

Grief,

Joy.

Emotions arising.

Staying for a while.

And then in their own time passing away.

They have their own life.

And as we be with these thoughts and emotions,

We're getting to know ourselves more closely.

More directly.

More intimately.

And we know this inner life.

This flow of inner life.

This flow of inner life.

So here as we're attentive to the emotions.

You may be able to notice how the thoughts and emotions,

As well as the body sensations,

Can co-create each other.

These thoughts,

Emotions and sensations,

Co-arising with each other.

Can you be attentive and experience this process?

No need to overthink it.

And now if you feel ready beginning to let go.

Let go of any particular object of attention.

Letting it all go as we open.

Open to the flow of our life.

Open to whatever's arising in awareness.

That may be the breath and body sensations.

Sounds and sights.

Smells.

Tastes.

And thoughts and emotions.

This open awareness is a mindfulness of the full range of experience.

Letting go of focusing on any particular object.

And being open,

Attentive to whatever is arising.

To whatever is predominant,

Moment to moment.

So simply being.

Being the knowing itself.

And the metaphor of the vast open sky.

This boundless expanse of a sky.

That at times there are clouds.

And at times there are snowflakes.

But none of these objects are the sky.

They are the contents of the sky that come and go.

This changing,

Transforming.

This continual changing.

But this vastness,

This boundless expanse,

This empty sky is still all there.

As best you can now,

Rest in your sky-like vastness,

This open expanse.

And if you need to,

Taking a few breaths,

Noticing the flow of the breath.

And once again opening fully to being the knowing,

The boundless.

To being here fully awake,

Fully present.

For whatever is arising,

Staying for a while and passing.

Thank you.

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