So this is a meditation that's not really a meditation.
Whenever we think we're going to meditate we tend to trick ourselves that it's a special state to be in.
But awareness is already aware.
There's nothing really to do to step back into that because it's already happening.
So presence is what happens when we just let happen what's already happening and pay a bit more attention.
So with that kind of mindset of having no mindset at all I want to invite you to just relax yourself for a few minutes,
That's all.
Relax and perhaps notice a bit more the sensory experiences of drinking a cup of joe.
And I also want to invite you in that vein to not be static,
Move however much you like,
Look around,
Even let your mind do whatever your mind will do anyway.
It's such a pleasure to just relax for a few minutes and allow ourselves to to be free.
So anything in this meditation,
Non-meditation that I'm going to suggest is just a suggestion.
So take anything you like and leave anything you don't.
So if you want to you can watch your breath a bit more.
It's very enjoyable to breathe once you notice how enjoyable it is to breathe.
And if you want to you can take a few deeper inhalations and when you exhale you can relax your face a bit more,
Relax your shoulders a bit more,
Maybe sink a little bit more in your seat if you're sitting.
And of course having a coffee right there available.
Why don't you smell how beautiful the coffee smells.
And if you want to get really into it,
The art of smelling is to smell as if you don't already know what you're going to smell.
Of course there's this trick of the mind that says this is a cup of coffee,
I've had a million cups before,
I know what coffee smells like,
I know what coffee tastes like,
But you've never really had this specific cup of coffee before.
And every smell is not quite the same as the previous one,
Just as every breath is different from the previous one.
So I want to invite you to smell your coffee or anything else that's pleasant in your surroundings,
But take the coffee as an example and see if you can smell it with a kind of first-time curiosity.
What if you've never had coffee before?
How does it really taste in your nose,
In your sense of fragrance?
So I invite you to take this beautiful sense into your nose while you're also deepening your inhalation.
Be careful that you don't burn yourself on hot steam or anything,
But just connect your nose with your lungs.
Typically they can be a little bit separated,
But really connect this.
Inhale,
Feel the connection of the breath moving through your nose and then down into your lungs,
While you smell this beautiful taste in your nose.
And it's kind of an added game that also increases awareness.
Let's see if you can breathe as much in your left lung as in your right lung.
Do you notice that there might be slight differences there?
And if you want to relax a bit more you can exhale quite a bit longer than you inhale.
And I also want to invite you to actually look at your coffee.
So maybe you have it black or with milk,
Any kind of milk,
But I want you to check out the color specifically.
And color has this same thing of,
You know,
I know what black is,
I know what red is,
I know what blue is,
But see if you can really see the color.
You probably heard about this American painter called Pollock.
And what Pollock did in his paintings was he didn't want to depict anything.
He wanted the paint to be pure paint.
I find that so cool.
So can you look at the color of your coffee and instead of seeing the concept of black or the concept of brown or your already preconceived idea of what coffee looks like,
But really see if you can tune into the experience of color itself.
And that means don't do anything but just open your eyes and gaze at your coffee.
And really let the colors come into your brain.
Notice that there's this kind of opening that takes place and this stillness that is there in the color.
Maybe you can play with it a bit so that the light hits it differently.
If you're really lucky then there's even some sunlight to play with,
To look at the way the light catches the little wavy surface of your drink.
And maybe you'll notice that the more attention you pay to something you think you know,
The more you realize it's actually this completely new thing that you don't know at all.
You just think you know it because you project your thoughts on it,
Your previous experiences.
But this thing right here in your hands,
You've never seen that before.
Just let that sink in,
Pun maybe intended.
And of course if your drink is drinking temperature,
Don't drink your mouth.
But you can do the same with taste.
So when you take a little sip,
Allow the taste to really be experienced,
Instead of it just being something you ingest unconsciously.
So you can see for instance if it tastes different on the left side of your mouth than on the right side or the front and the back.
How does it feel on your tongue and against your cheeks when you are playing with the liquid in your mouth?
You could also combine it with having the coffee in your mouth and then smelling it at the same time,
Because the largest part of our taste is smell anyway.
So these are just a few invitations and you get the gist by now.
So I'll end the meditation shortly,
But you can of course mindfully drink the rest of your coffee by yourself.
Take in your surroundings,
Take in the drink and maybe also you can have some gratitude for all the people and beings and industries and processes.
Thousands of people literally that were in the process of bringing this coffee to you right here,
Right now.
Because if you're drinking a coffee right now,
That means at least some things in your life are going well and it might be pleasant and appropriate to connect with some gratitude for that opportunity.
Thank you.
