Beginning this practice by finding a comfortable position,
Seated or lying down.
You may like to gently close the eyes or they can be soft with the downcast gaze.
And just welcoming this moment of arrival in this period of practice,
Honoring anything that came before and opening to what's here now.
And tuning into your intention for presence,
Really inviting that in,
Allowing it to drop into the heart,
Into the body.
We'll explore a focused attention practice where we bring our awareness to the breath.
This helps improve concentration,
Focus,
And if the mind should wander,
Just really knowing that that's no problem.
It's part of the practice.
So as thoughts arise as they inevitably will,
Just gently noticing that quality of distracted mind and celebrating that moment of mindfulness and gently returning to the practice,
Returning to presence again and again,
Allowing the spine to be long,
The natural curve in the low back,
And letting go of any tensions and the facial muscles,
The shoulders,
The belly.
And beginning this practice by taking a full breath in,
A long breath out.
And as you're ready,
Allowing the breath to find its natural rhythm in and out.
No need to change the breath or manipulate it in any way.
Gently taking this time to notice how the body breathes.
You may feel the breath as air passes underneath the nostrils and the rise and fall of the chest and filling up of the belly.
Maybe there's a broad sense of the entire body breathings in and out through the pores of the skin,
Wherever it is.
Choosing one area to observe the breath,
Noticing the quality of the breath,
Tuning in wherever the breath is wherever the breath is most vivid,
Noticing the inhale and the exhale,
Like ocean waves lapping in and out whenever you find that the mind has wandered.
Just gently coming back to the breath,
Noticing the different aspects of the breath right now,
The phases of the inhale,
The exhale,
Whether the breath is warm,
Cool,
Deep,
Shallow.
Observe if there's a pause between the end of one complete breath and the beginning of the next.
The mind is wandering.
Counting can be a very helpful practice when working with the breath.
At the bottom of each exhale,
Count silently from one to ten,
Breathing in,
Out,
One,
Inhale,
Exhale,
Two.
Still noticing the sensations of the breath and gently counting one to ten at the bottom of each exhale.
When you exhale,
When you notice the mind wandering,
Just come back to one and start again,
Letting go of any judgment.
Udi Paksa,
A Tibetan Buddhist author and professor,
Says this about concentration.
Concentration allows us to really enjoy what we're doing,
Whether it's being in the country or reading a book,
Writing or talking or thinking.
Concentration allows us to think more clearly and deeply.
Beginning to close this practice,
Bringing your awareness back to the body,
Noticing any sensations.
How does the body feel?
Noticing if there are any sounds around you,
In and out of your space.
Bringing awareness to the contact points,
The weight and texture of clothing,
The air temperature on the skin.
Feel where the feet of the body make contact with the ground.
Maybe wiggling the fingers and toes to bring some awareness there.
Taking a moment to offer yourself gratitude or acknowledgement for being here and for taking this time and for the goodness of your intention to cultivate presence.
Really taking in the goodness of that and allowing it to be a source of joy for you.
As you're ready,
Gently opening the eyes and lifting the gaze and taking in the space around you.
Taking some moments as the body and mind return to alertness.
Really taking in the room,
The colors,
The light,
The shapes.
Really inviting this presence with you into this next moment of your day and closing the practice by taking a full breath in and a long breath out.
