Welcome to the short mindfulness of senses meditation.
Take a moment to settle yourself,
Take in a deep breath or two and find in a comfortable but alert posture.
You can either close the eyes or soften and lower the gaze.
Before we continue,
It's important to know that you can always stop this meditation at any moment,
At any time you feel you need to,
Even if it's halfway through this meditation.
Your awareness that you need to stop is also an act of mindfulness.
Take in a moment now to see if you can tune into any sensations that are present to you in your body in this moment.
Notice in your body just as it is,
Knowing that nothing needs to be fixed and no particular state needs to be achieved.
You may notice heaviness,
Lightness,
Pressure,
Weight,
Heat,
Coolness.
There may be vibration,
Pulsating,
Movement.
Noticing the sensations of the body and knowing whatever you find is completely fine.
Possibly dropping in the question,
Where are these sensations in the body?
How are they making themselves known to you?
Not looking for an answer to these questions,
But rather noticing using the feeling sense.
We are noticing without looking for anything in particular or anything special,
Only being aware with curiosity and interest of what's already here.
You may see if you can recognize and open up to sensations that may not be so pleasant.
So there may be sensations that are unpleasant,
There may be sensations that are more neutral,
And that maybe don't have so distinct characteristics.
Seeing if we can allow the full range of sensations to be present.
Now moving to bring your awareness to the sensations of breathing in the body.
Where are these sensations making themselves most known to you?
Maybe it's at the tip of the nose,
The rising and falling of the chest,
Or at the abdomen.
You may notice how bringing the attention to the breath in this way relaxes certain parts of the body.
Now letting go of these sensations,
And shifting your attention now to the sense of hearing.
What sounds are present today,
Both inside and outside the place or room you happen to be in?
There may be loud sounds,
Quiet sounds,
Sounds that are close,
Sounds that are far away.
While paying attention to these sounds,
The mind may wander off to other places and thoughts.
When it does,
Seeing if you can notice that the mind has been away,
And gently but firmly bringing it back to the sense of hearing.
Possibly bringing attention to the silence between the sounds.
You may find the mind labelling the sounds and wanting to make up a story about them.
It's the neighbours dog barking,
It's the sound of the traffic.
The mind may also react to certain sounds as pleasant and others as unpleasant.
Seeing if you can allow space for these reactions,
And only listening to the sounds themselves with curiosity and interest.
Now expanding your attention to include the body as a whole,
From the soles of the feet to the top of the head.
Including all the different senses and all the different sensations that may be present.
You may like to finish this practice by setting an intention for how you would like to proceed into the next part of your day.
And finally,
Lifting the gaze or opening your eyes,
And bringing this practice to a close.
