So without trying to change anything or judge what's happening,
Just notice the state of mind that you're arriving with.
And notice how it is to acknowledge that state of mind,
But to rest the attention in the felt sense of the body.
So feeling your feet against the floor,
Feeling your back against the chair,
Any contact you might have with the floor.
If it helps,
You might allow the breath to deepen.
So perhaps a slightly more full in-breath that enables the belly to inflate and the chest to expand.
And a gradual out-breath that allows the breath to completely empty out.
So just feeling how it is to rest in the body while allowing the state of mind,
The patterns of thought to be as they are.
You might think of this shift as witnessing the mind from the perspective of the body.
So aligning the attention,
Grounding the attention in the body,
But still noticing the emotional state,
The storylines.
Now seeing if you can bring your attention even closer to the breath,
To follow the breath from the very beginning of the in-breath,
The air passing across the nostrils,
The rising of the shoulders and chest,
Expansion of the belly,
Reaching that point of fullness and then staying with the breath during the gradual release,
Shoulders falling,
Belly contracting,
Warmer air emptying out through the nostrils.
And seeing if we can set aside all other tasks with a need for any result and just be present.
Each breath a new experience rather than a repetition.
When you notice activity in the mind,
Whether the mind has resumed or that you've been immersed in the storyline,
Rather than aggressively pushing it away and trying to silence the mind by force,
Simply notice the shift.
There's a difference between lost in thought and aware of thought,
Thinking mind and observing mind.
And you can re-anchor yourself to the present by bringing the breath back into conscious awareness,
Re-inhabiting the body,
Feeling the feet on the floor,
Noticing the play of sensations throughout the body.
There's a way of connecting with the body more vividly.
You might direct the attention to the common places that hold tension.
So bringing attention first to the jaw.
You might notice if there's any holding or tightening,
If there's any room at all for the jaw to release,
To hang more loosely,
If there's any tension being created in the mouth.
When you notice that holding,
Notice the shift that happens when you stop holding and release.
You're getting attention next to the shoulders and mentally trace from the base of the neck outward.
Notice any sensations that are arising.
Notice particularly if there's tension or if the shoulders are raised,
Pushed forward or pulled back.
If at any point the mind moves into judgment about the experience,
Or into unrelated storylines,
Notice how it is to wake up out of the virtual space of storylines,
Projections,
The noise of judgment and evaluation.
Notice how it is when awareness returns.
You might sense this as an increase in space.
So going from the narrowness of a thought to the expanse of awareness that contains thoughts,
Sounds,
Sensations.
Bring the attention next to the belly.
Just noticing when the breath enters and exits.
Is there any degree to which the belly is tight?
Or is there any restriction that prevents a full,
Easy breath?
Is it possible to release that holding and breathe into a soft belly that expands on the in-breath,
Contracts on the out-breath?
If it helps to anchor your attention there,
You can put a hand on the belly so that the hand rises on the in-breath and falls on the out-breath.
Is there any degree to which the body is tight?
Is there any degree to which the body is tight?
Now let's bring our attention to the feet.
Notice any sensations present,
Particularly the pressure of contact with the cushion or floor.
Notice the contrast of this direct sensory information,
How that differs from the stories,
The projections of the mind.
Grounding the attention there in the feet,
Just investigating.
Let's sense all the parts of the feet,
Heel,
Arches,
Toes,
And back.
And now widening the attention to get a sense of the whole play of sensation occurring throughout the body.
You might notice sensations in the feet,
Belly,
Shoulders,
Jaw,
Hands.
Not having to direct the attention to any particular place,
Just widening out to sense the whole field of awareness.
This will include sounds,
Near sounds,
Distant sounds.
And this will include silences,
The space between audible sounds.
Seeing if you can sense this field of internal movement,
Sensation,
Sound,
The arising and passing of thoughts and feelings as just additional appearances in this field of awareness.
You might consider yourself a vast container in which all of these sensations and sounds and appearances occur.
Still aware of the breath and body,
But expanding to include sound and thought forms.
This open awareness is often referred to as mind like sky.
So we rest in a vast space.
You might think of the appearances of thought or sound as clouds,
Moving through the vast space of awareness,
But not taking it over.
Or if it's more vivid for you,
You might consider a vast space as an ocean.
So identifying and resting in the sense of the ocean rather than particular waves or appearances within that vast space.
You might consider a vast space as an ocean.
You might consider a vast space as an ocean.
You might consider a vast space as an ocean.
You might consider a vast space as an ocean.
You might consider a vast space as an ocean.
