Find yourself in a comfortable seated position as a way to help still the body and mind.
Allow your posture to reflect wakefulness,
Strength,
And stability,
Knowing that this posture is an intention to be present in these next several moments and awake to your life.
Bring your attention now to the points of contact with your body.
Your feet resting on the floor,
A sense of the back and buttocks resting against the support of the chair,
Floor,
Or cushion,
And the weight of the body settling into the support.
Allow your lower body to be heavy and settled while inviting the upper body to lengthen.
With the eyes of the body closed or lowering your gaze,
Allow the body to soften.
The face,
The neck,
The shoulders,
The arms,
The hands,
The chest,
The belly,
The hips,
The thighs,
The legs,
And the feet.
As you begin to settle,
Take this time to set the intention to enter a period of non-doing.
Take this opportunity to observe what's going on in this moment with kindness and curiosity.
Turn your attention to the experience of breathing,
Noticing where you feel your breath most predominantly.
Maybe the nostrils,
The chest,
The abdomen.
Settling into just being with your breath in this moment.
Aware of the breath coming in and going out of the body.
Sometimes when we first bring our attention to the breath coming in and going out,
There's an inclination to want to change it,
An impulse to be involved in some way.
But see if it's possible if in this moment,
You can simply notice and be available to the experience of simply breathing.
So the breath is an anchor to the present moment.
This breath is new and unique and always in the present moment.
You might be aware of the difference between thoughts about breathing and the actual experience of breathing.
Resting your attention on the actual experience of breathing in and breathing out.
So likely it won't be too long before you notice that sometimes it's not easy to stay with the experience of breathing in and breathing out.
You may notice the mind drift to a sound,
A thought,
Or a feeling in the body.
When you notice this happening,
Gently guide your attention back to this breath.
There's always an opportunity to return to the here and now.
So now if you choose expanding the experience to encompass the whole body,
All the way from the tips of the toes to the top of the head.
Notice this breathing body.
Aware of the body sitting,
Aware of the contact with the chair,
The floor,
Or the cushion.
Maybe aware of the air touching the body.
Aware of the subtle movement of the body receiving and breathing out.
Aware of the subtle movement of the body receiving and releasing each breath.
Noticing sensations within the body and on the surface of the body.
As you sit and gently focus your attention on the body,
You may become aware of challenges.
Perhaps tightness,
Constriction,
Restlessness,
Or unease.
Some sensations might become intense.
Just knowing that you have choices.
You can adjust your body and relieve the particular discomfort.
And if that's your choice,
Being aware of the intention to move before actually moving,
And then being fully present as you adjust the body.
Another possibility is to narrow and focus your attention on the particular discomfort.
Bringing awareness to the particular area of the body and bringing a sense of curiosity to the sensation.
Perhaps you can be aware of the sensation.
Perhaps noticing qualities such as pulsation,
Throbbing,
Sharpness,
Or dullness.
Holding the area of discomfort in your awareness.
Maybe allowing yourself to come up close as if shining a light on the experience and knowing it for what it is.
Noticing any shifting or changing or thoughts that come up.
Or maybe even a wanting of things to be different.
So anytime you find your attention wandering,
Gently guiding your attention back to the whole body and the experience just as it is in this moment.
And now if you choose expanding your field of awareness to include sound,
Allowing the breath and sensations in the body to fade into the background.
Now being present and open to receiving sound.
Sounds inside the body or in the room or even outside of the room.
There's no need to strain or seek any experience.
See if it's possible to simply be available to the rising and falling of sound.
Here you might notice how quickly the mind comes in to label or make meaning out of a sound.
And just notice what the mind does.
And see if it's possible to just receive sound and to notice the space between sounds.
Being alert and available to the sounds that are coming and going.
And as you sit in this way,
You might become aware of the pull of thoughts or sensations in the body.
Know that at any point in the practice,
You can gently guide your attention back to the object of attention.
In this case,
Back to sound.
So now gently guide your attention to thoughts and allow the other objects to fade into the background.
You might experience thoughts as images or words.
They may appear orderly or as a tumble or cascade.
They may even stop completely as you bring your attention here.
As you pay attention to your thoughts,
You might notice that some thoughts are particularly attractive or satisfying.
And you might find that you want to engage with them.
Others may seem less appealing,
Maybe prompting a desire to move away from them or shut them off in some way.
As you sit here and pay attention,
This is a process of simply allowing,
Neither engaging with nor turning away from,
But just as being with the breath,
Simply noticing thoughts coming and going,
Noticing thoughts rising and dissipating.
Noticing thoughts rising and dissipating.
So as you sit here and pay attention to thoughts,
You might also notice that thoughts create an emotional tone in the body.
Notice any emotions that might be present in the body.
It may be that you notice a certain emotion that becomes intense and unsettling.
Just know that if this occurs,
You can always turn your attention to the breath,
Resting in the breath.
And then when you feel steady,
Shifting your attention back to your thoughts.
You might find that you choose to stay with the emotions that are present in the body.
You might notice the emotional resonance in the body and allow the emotion to have room to move and dissolve,
Noticing emotions coming and going.
Now,
Expanding your awareness to the entirety of your experience,
Emotions,
Thoughts,
The body,
Sound,
The breath.
Expanding awareness to take it all in without choice or preference.
So so so.
And now in the remaining moments,
Shifting your attention back to the breath,
Focus on breathing,
Allowing all other objects to fade into the background,
And simply be here with the breath.
So so as this meditation comes to an end,
Being aware of how important it is to take time to intentionally notice how things are.
This practice of being with your life just as it is and knowing that it's possible to move in this way into the rest of the day.
Being with yourself with kindness and the stillness that accompanies it all.
So
