Mindfulness is about being with the unfolding of moment to moment,
Just as it is.
Without judgment,
We bring a sense of compassion and set aside all of the analytical thinking,
The criticisms,
The storytelling,
And open to the possibility of being with everything just as it is,
In our direct experience with it.
So as we begin this seated meditation,
I welcome you to find a comfortable seated position where you can be supported and have the least amount of distractions or discomfort possible.
Although we will be welcoming distractions as opportunities,
We also don't need to have any unnecessary distractions around us when we are learning this practice.
So perhaps you can find a place where there will be minimal distractions.
If there's other people around you,
You can let them know you're going to go into another room,
You're going to be practicing some time of stillness,
Of quiet,
And ask them to respect this for you.
And if not,
Perhaps you wait until a time when you can have solitude,
Whether it's outside,
In nature somewhere,
Or it's in a secluded room,
Or around a lot of people who are not paying you any mind.
Okay,
So let's get started.
Finding a comfortable seat,
It could be on the floor,
On a mat,
In a chair,
And whatever position you've chosen to take,
Notice the surface that is holding you.
Feel the contact that your body is making with this surface.
Where do you sense those points of contact?
It might be at the bottoms of the feet,
The backs of the legs,
Depending upon your position.
Can you tune in,
Tune in like narrowing a spotlight,
Tune in to one area of contact where you feel the surface of the chair,
Or the floor,
Or a mat,
Or a blanket,
Or cushion touching the body?
And can you notice where there's some space where you feel the flow of air between your body and this surface?
You might tune in to the sensations of touch,
Texture,
Of clothing touching the skin.
Notice how easy it is for your attention to rest on this one area of sensation.
And also,
You might notice distraction,
Some pulling away of the attention to somewhere else.
It could be another sensation,
It could be a thought.
Notice whatever the content is that is pulling you away.
Just take note,
And then perhaps gently draw the attention back to this point of contact sensation.
And then sensing the body in its global state,
Its whole state of being in this space,
Feeling the touch of air on the skin,
The temperature that is experienced by the nose,
The cheeks.
Maybe there is a difference between the temperature felt in the left cheek compared to the right.
Notice the outer sensory experience of scalp.
Staying,
If possible,
With the external sensory experience,
Tactile sensations on the skin.
Take a journey through and around the face,
The top of the head,
The back of the head,
Exploring the sensations that are there,
Flowing down along the back of the neck,
And the front of the neck,
And the left side,
And right side.
And if you notice internal senses,
That's fine too,
Just see if you can notice them,
And then bring your attention back to the surface of the skin.
So acknowledging where the attention shifts,
Feeling that,
And then coming back to the surface of the skin at the shoulders,
Down and around the arms,
To the outer sensations on the tops of the hands,
The palms of the hands,
The fingers,
Tips of the fingers,
The outer layers of sensation across the top of the torso,
Front and back,
Along the middle,
The abdomen,
Middle back,
The sides of the waist,
Down through the lower torso,
The low back and pelvis.
Again noticing if the attention is drawn somewhere inward or outward,
Away from this sensory experience on the skin.
Just noticing without judgment,
And coming back to the skin along the legs,
Tops of the feet,
Tops of the toes,
Bottoms of the feet,
Bottoms of the toes,
And this whole body together,
Sensing the whole body together just as it is in this moment.
All of the outer sensations that are being received,
From touch,
To sound,
To smell,
To sight,
To taste,
You may notice if your eyes are open or closed,
And perhaps the difference that may occur when the eyes are open or closed when it comes to attention and tuning in without judgment,
We notice with curiosity and openness what is happening now.
We may notice tendencies of the mind to think about certain things,
To maybe feel some sense of yearning to do something else,
To focus on something different,
And that's okay.
We can welcome that too,
And we can take time to be with that,
To notice and observe the comings and goings of the mind,
Thoughts,
And other times we can set it aside.
Just for now,
I welcome you to set aside those thoughts,
The content of the mind,
For this practice,
To just be in the body,
And to notice as sensations move through the body.
Some of those may be in some relationship with thoughts,
Maybe activated by a particular thought or memory,
So that may be interesting to notice.
And then staying with the sensation rather than following the thought,
Rather than getting caught up in a story,
Just noticing,
Ah,
This thought of the future,
Or this thought about work,
Or this thought about a relationship,
Has activated a particular sensation,
Perhaps an emotion in the body,
So we're noticing that without getting caught up in it.
And then tuning back into the sense experience,
What is happening now in the body?
Where do you notice movement of breath?
Is there perhaps a change of sensation in the nose as breath flows in and out?
There may be a change in temperature of the air.
You might stay with the tips of the nostrils and just feel that as the breath flows in and out,
Or you might follow the sensation through the nose,
Into the throat,
Down into the trachea,
Into the lungs,
You might feel from the inside,
This experience of breathing.
Or you may notice another area of sensation occurring as the breath moves through,
Expanding perhaps in the abdomen with each inhale and releasing with each exhale.
Or you might notice the spaces between the ribs,
Between the collarbones,
Shoulder blades,
So you might tune into one sensory experience of the breath in one area of the body,
Or you might be with the flow of in and out,
In and out,
Like gentle waves flowing in and out.
So remember,
This is not about changing the experience,
It is with being with,
Being with the unfolding of experience just as it is.
So you might just take some time now to be with the breath,
A particular sensation,
To notice the tendencies of the mind and keep coming back to this sensation.
Take some time to practice this on your own.
I'll give you just a little bit of time to do that before we close.
I welcome you to see how you might carry this with you into your day,
To rest the attention on one sensation at a time and see how that goes.
The whole body together as one unified field of sensation,
Anchored here in this space,
At this time,
With a symphony of sensations arising,
Unfolding,
And dissolving away.
Thank you,
And have a beautiful day.
