Welcome to this seated mindfulness based meditation practice.
Let's begin by finding a comfortable seat,
Either on a chair with the feet firmly placed on the ground,
Cross-legged on a cushion,
Or kneeling on a meditation bench.
Ensuring your torso,
Shoulders and head are stacked in an upright but relaxed position,
Knowing you can use a support for your back if it is necessary.
And now taking a few deep breaths,
Bringing some awareness to the forehead,
The jaw,
The shoulders,
The abdomen and any other areas of the body where you might be holding excess tension.
Allowing your gaze to soften and lowering the eyes down to rest gently on a point on the ground about 4-6 feet in front of you.
Your hands can rest on your thighs or your knees,
Depending on the length of your arms and where they naturally land.
Tucking the chin in slightly to bring some length to the back of the neck.
And here you may like to drop in the question,
What is my experience like in this moment?
There is no need to look for a particular answer,
Rather inviting the question and seeing what unfolds in this moment.
Before we continue,
Knowing that you can choose to stop this meditation practice any time you feel it is necessary,
Even if it is halfway through the practice.
The awareness of the need to stop is also an act of mindfulness.
Still with this question in mind,
Seeing if you can bring your attention down from the head and into the body.
Not needing to look for anything in particular or change anything about your experience.
Just noticing,
What is my experience like in this moment?
As the body begins to settle,
Becoming aware of where the sensations of breathing feel most vivid in the body.
This could be the flow of air at the tip of the nose,
The rising and falling of the belly or the complete up and down sensation of breathing in the body.
Choosing one place and setting the intention to stick with it throughout the practice.
In mindfulness,
We are not focusing intensely on the breath and excluding everything else.
We are rather bringing a light and precise touch of attention to the breath.
A bit like a feather touching a bubble.
There is also no need to manipulate your breathing or change it in any way.
We are noticing the normal sensations of breathing as they are,
Throughout the whole duration of the inhale and the exhale.
It is only natural that the mind will wander off to other places,
Maybe thoughts about what you have been doing before this practice or what is to come afterwards.
Maybe thoughts about work,
What is for dinner or the list of things you still have to do today.
The practice of mindfulness is becoming more and more aware of these moments.
These moments where the mind has been somewhere else from where we intended it to be.
The idea is to treat each thought,
Sensation or emotion with the same attitude.
Trying our best not to react or repress some and favour others.
We are making space for any experience to arise and pass the best we can.
Allowing your thoughts to be as they are,
Passing events in the mind.
Then gently but firmly returning your attention back to the sensations of breathing.
You may notice some discomfort or other unpleasant physical sensations.
Seeing if you can bring some awareness to these sensations.
Not excluding them,
But rather seeing if we can allow them to be there.
While at the same time knowing you can move the body or turn away from them if they become too much.
Sitting with an awareness of breathing.
Without a need for anything special to happen.
Without a need to change our state or arrive anywhere else.
Seeing if we can allow our experience to be how it is.
While paying close attention to the sensations of breathing.
Knowing that no matter how many times the mind wanders off into thinking or we get distracted.
It is not a sign of failure or doing the practice badly.
Rather these are the moments we are becoming more and more aware of as they happen.
And remembering our intention of being with the breath.
And now shifting the attention from being anchored on the sensations of breathing.
To include the body as a whole,
The different senses and sensations that may be present.
The contact with the ground or the seat that you are on.
Lifting the gaze,
Taking in the sights of the room or place that you are in.
Noticing the sounds that are close by,
Far away.
Maybe the feeling of the air,
The temperature.
And now bringing some light movements into the fingers,
The toes.
Stretching the body in any way you feel you need.
And now finally bringing this practice to a close.
And setting the intention to move into the next part of your day with the same quality of awareness and care.
