Hello,
My name is Dr Howard Johnson.
Welcome to this brief practice to help us with anxiety and stress.
The practice has three stages,
First to acknowledge what's already here,
Second to feel our way to the breath in the here and now,
And third to connect to the simplicity and the calmness of the here and now.
So let's begin by finding ourselves a quiet spot and closing the eyes.
Beginning now,
Simply to acknowledge what's already here.
Perhaps anxiety,
Worrying thoughts,
Tension,
Stress,
Critical thoughts.
Perhaps we notice an overall tone or texture to our being,
Alert or tired,
Open or guarded.
Whatever we notice right now,
That's okay.
I invite us to practice silently repeating to ourselves whatever we find.
For example,
Worrying thoughts,
Worrying thoughts,
Worrying thoughts,
Or anxiety,
Anxiety,
Anxiety.
I wonder if we can let the experience just come and go,
Without adding to it or pushing it away.
Perhaps gently asking ourselves,
Did I expect to go a whole lifetime and never feel anxiety?
To never have critical thoughts?
To never feel exhausted?
Did I think that these things would only arise when it was convenient for me,
Or when I chose for them to arise?
Or is it more true that these conditions arise according to their own natural law?
However I'm feeling right now,
Whatever's happening in my mind right now,
Is just one of the things that can happen to a human being.
Simply acknowledging what's here as it already is.
And now let's move into stage 2 of the practice.
We can stop silently repeating what we find,
And begin to move the attention in a very deliberate way towards the direct feeling of the breath moving in and out of the body.
On an in breath,
Silently saying to ourself,
Here.
And on an out breath,
Silently repeating,
Now.
Breathing in,
Here.
Breathing out,
Now.
Feeling ourselves gently settling in to this moment,
With each breath coming and going.
Breathing in,
Here.
Breathing out,
Now.
Breathing in,
Here.
Breathing out,
Now.
Counting 3 more in breaths and out breaths.
And at the end of the third out breath,
Expanding the attention back out around the breath,
As though the breath could flow through the entire body,
Down the length of the body,
Down through the stomach and the pelvis,
Down both of our legs,
Into our toes at the ends of our feet,
And down the length of our arms into the tips of our fingers.
Including all the sensations on this great tide of breath,
Blowing in and out of us.
Bringing us into the third and final stage of the practice.
It's as though the entire body were breathing in and breathing out.
The whole body breathing.
The whole body breathing.
Noticing the sensations that we can feel in the body right now,
Perhaps tingling,
Vibration,
Swirling,
Rising,
Falling,
Tension or relaxation.
And as we notice the direct sensations,
Asking ourselves,
Is there any disaster in this sensation?
Is there any catastrophe in this buzz or tingle or sense of contact?
We can think of a disaster,
But can we find one in the direct contact with the sensation in the body right now?
The sensation isn't a disaster,
And it's not exciting.
A sensation is just this much,
Nothing more,
Nothing less.
The breath rising and falling through the body.
And now I'd invite us to make a shift in our attention,
Beginning to notice any sounds happening around us right now.
Hearing sounds simply as auditory sensations.
A high pitch or low pitch.
Loud or quiet.
Smooth or gritty.
Can I find any disaster in this auditory sensation?
Can I find any catastrophe?
Thinking can surely turn a sound into a disaster.
But is there any such thing in the direct sense contact of sound?
Noticing sounds just as sounds.
Nothing more,
Nothing less.
A simple beep,
A buzz,
The whisper of traffic,
The banging of a door,
The sound of the meditation track playing.
And finally,
I'd invite us to open our eyes again,
Looking at the world around us through our direct sense of sight.
The colour,
The colour,
The texture of objects,
The shape of objects,
The size.
Can we see any disaster or catastrophe through our direct sense of sight happening in the here and now?
Where is a disaster in this colour?
In this shade of light or dark?
In this texture?
We won't find any such thing.
We won't find excitement either.
The sense of sight is just the sense of sight.
Nothing more,
Nothing less.
As we learn to put down the thinking and connect with the here and now,
We recognise the truth of simplicity,
Of calmness and stillness.
Forming an intention as we move through the day to reconnect with this here and now truth at any time that we may need it.
For now,
I wish you a very peaceful and very happy day.
