Take a moment to find a comfortable seat.
Maybe you need to move around,
Roll your shoulders back away from the ears,
Stack the spine so that the heart is over the pelvis and that the brain is over the heart.
Take just a tiny tuck in the chin to lengthen the back of the neck.
Palms can come to the top of the knees,
Down for grounding,
Palms up for receiving.
And begin to notice the breath right where it is.
No need to change it just yet.
Gently in and out through the nose.
Become genuinely fascinated with the breath.
This force has flowed in and out of you for every moment that you have been in existence.
It has entered the body from every place you have been.
Feel it brush against the sinus cavities.
Feel where it makes space in the body,
Maybe expanding the chest or blowing up the belly.
Breath is vital.
Without breath there is no life.
Begin to deepen and elongate your breathing.
And for a moment see if you can shift your perception from having breath to being breath.
How does that change the experience?
Staying with a gentle,
Free flowing breath,
Begin to notice how you feel in the body.
Notice what's going on in the mind.
Maybe what emotions are coming up for you.
As you notice,
Try not to approve or condemn or judge,
Knowing that you are not your emotions,
You are not your thoughts,
And you are not the feelings of the body.
These are merely experiences that you are having.
You are the observer.
When we practice awareness and we return to the practice over and over,
We begin to dis-identify with the dramas of our lives.
It's as if we go from being an actor or actress on the stage to someone watching from the back of the theater.
We can see how our emotions arise.
We can see the causes and the effects instead of just moving with mindless reaction.
Notice your presence in the room.
It's almost as if you're observing yourself from somewhere else in the room.
Feel your body and then feel the space beyond your body.
We have no well-defined boundaries.
Where our skin stops,
We do not.
Our energetic bodies extend four to six feet beyond our skin,
Beyond our physical bodies.
Now feel into this space.
Feel how your energy ebbs and flows,
Interplaying and intertwining with the energy of the space you occupy.
Sink into self.
You are more energy than matter.
You are not a physical being having a spiritual experience.
You are a spiritual being having a physical human experience where your perception is limited to the five senses.
When we meditate,
When we sink into self,
We cultivate an awareness of that.
An awareness of our being,
Of our capacity to experience from an authentic,
Pure place.
Continue to breathe and explore the workings of the mind,
The feelings of the body,
The emotions that arise and not labeling them.
Just observing.
Observing as a thoughtful individual from the back of a theater would observe the actors and actresses of a play.
You are whole.
We are one.
Remain in meditation as long as you wish.
When you are ready,
Softly flutter open your eyelids and return.
As your sense of vision is restored,
Simply observe your surroundings without labeling,
Without naming,
Without judging.
The same practice that you just partook in internally.
See if you can do the same with your surroundings.
Carry this awareness into your day,
Into your relationships,
Into your life.
