So we'll begin with the meditation and before we actually get into the set I just share just a few reflections on on the meditation itself.
You know in in the buddhist tradition and in other traditions of meditation as well there are very many different forms of meditation and in many of these forms we're trying to cultivate or develop particular states of heart and mind or body whatever.
You know for example if we're doing a concentration meditation where we're trying to you know in a gentle and kind way get the mind really focused you know focused and one-pointed and you know and malleable but also you know that focus and so we're trying to you know in a sense we're trying to create a state or generate or cultivate a state.
Similarly if we're cultivating loving kindness or compassion you know we're inviting those qualities to arise in us you know.
But with mindfulness meditation we're not really excuse me we're not trying to develop any particular state we're not you know calm may be part of what comes up or joy may be part that comes up but it's it's not the states that we're looking for we're really what we're cultivating is a way of being with our experience and essentially that is one of welcoming or accepting whatever is arising in the body and the heart and the mind.
So what that kind of means is that we're we're bringing I think of it as a kind of non-controlling attitude to our experience.
We're not trying to make it something you know or change it from something but we're really allow you know allowing what is here to be here to come and to go when things are ready to go.
So not clinging to anything not pushing anything away not judging what we're what's happening for us but bringing this open receptive awareness to our experience.
So with that I just invite you to come into a posture that's comfortable and relaxed now sitting with your back straight maybe let your hands rest comfortably in your lap or on your knees or on your thighs maybe inviting the shoulders to relax letting the chest be open so you can breathe easily and if you're comfortable you could let your eyes gently close let your attention come inward or if you prefer you can just keep your eyes open with a soft unfocused gaze and you might find it helpful to just take a few longer deeper breaths it's a nice full deep in breath filling the chest filling the lungs and then a long slow out breath releasing letting go on the out breath breathing in calming the body breathing out calming the mind letting the deeper breathing help you just to settle into being here being here and open to whatever is present for you right now and if you feel comfortable you might invite a smile or a half smile activating the muscles around your eyes and around your mouth maybe thinking of someone or something that brings you some joy or happiness just inviting the smile maybe inviting the smile down into your body into the heart area when we do this we we gladden gladden the mind gladden the heart we bring you know create the conditions for happiness joy to to be present or it can be helpful as we begin the meditation just letting the breath be as it is returning to its natural rhythm breathing in breathing out as you breathe in just know you're breathing in and as you breathe out know you're breathing out we can see this practice as a really a practice of attunement attuning ourselves like we would but you know we find the you know the dial on a radio and tune into a particular station we can tune into different aspects of our experience so you might just tune into your body right now and just notice anything that stands out for you maybe there's some tension in a particular area of the body maybe you can just let your awareness come to that area and notice what feelings are present and just let them come let them be when they're ready let it let them go maybe notice something in another area maybe some excitement or some energy and just let your attention kind of tune into that maybe there's a feeling of pressure where the body touches the chair or the feet touch the floor you can tune into that just letting the sensations come and go in their own time just allowing whatever is present to be here to come and go in its own time so we're not holding on to anything not pushing anything away not judging our experience resisting it it's simply being aware of it with kindness and in the same way as you tune into the body you might now tune into your mood or emotions you know notice what's present if anything right now there might be a sense of peace or there could be some sadness or some tension or worry see if you can again make space for for whatever is here right now again letting whatever feelings sensations thoughts whatever's present letting them come and go in their own time you might you feel ready tune into the mind you know tune into noticing whether there's a lot of thinking in the mind or whether the mind is fairly settled and calm however it is just allow that to be as it is so we're putting this putting our awareness at the center making our awareness or or resting in awareness maybe a better way and tuning it to where we we want to pay attention and if you find yourself pulled into a lot of thinking just choose to let the thoughts go not follow them and just come back to the awareness notice the difference between awareness of thinking and being caught up in thought pulled along by our thoughts so just resting in this attitude of accepting with kindness whatever is arising you might find it helpful to just let your attention rest on your breathing in breath and the out breath and let that be your home base where you rest your attention something strong calls for your attention you can move to that be aware of it when it passes just come back to the breath again just notice where your attention is right now and anytime you notice that you're caught up in thinking,
Planning or remembering or daydreaming just gently and kindly let your awareness come back to the body come back to the breath come back to this moment being here you might just take a moment to check in with your body and notice if there's any area where there might be some tension or some kind of unconscious holding resisting and invite that area to relax just relax into being here nowhere to go,
Nothing to do just simply to be here with your experience as it is and just noticing where the attention is right now knowing that you can begin again in any moment no matter how many times the mind has gone off or for how long you can always just come back to this breath,
This feeling,
This sound,
This moment thank you
