Welcome.
Take your seat.
Let the spine be upright but not rigid.
Soften your face and jaw.
Breathe naturally through the nose.
Let the body be solid and stable,
Yet pliant like soft clay.
All the activity of meditation is in the mind.
Rest with the body as it is.
Silently review these six points.
A quick checklist.
Motivation,
Goals,
Expectations,
Diligence,
Distractions,
Posture.
So with motivation,
Why are you here?
Peace of mind,
Clarity,
Training attention.
Goals.
Keep them modest,
Such as I'll keep returning to the breath with patience.
Expectations.
Hold outcomes lightly.
There's no bad meditation.
Diligence.
Engage fully for this whole sit.
Distractions.
Acknowledge any pulls,
Worries or plans and set them aside if they appear.
Posture.
Rescan and release tension.
Relax and enjoy yourself.
Close the eyes and open peripheral awareness.
Receive sounds and bodily sensations occurring right now.
Let attention move among what is present without analyzing.
If something pleasant appears,
Enjoy the pleasant feeling itself.
Let experiences come,
Be and go.
Gently limit attention to the body.
Contact,
Pressure,
Warmth,
Coolness,
Tingling,
Subtle movement.
Thoughts and sounds can remain in the background.
If you get pulled into thinking,
Notice it and then return to the body.
Keep relaxing.
Let quiet contentment gather.
Let attention tune to the sensations produced by breathing.
The rise and fall of the abdomen,
Movement in the chest,
The feeling of air near the nostrils.
Observe,
Don't control,
And savor any calm that appears.
Now choose one place where breath sensations are clearest.
Just inside the nostrils,
At the tip or on the upper lip.
Notice temperature,
Pressure,
Air movement at that spot.
Don't follow the air inward.
Stay with sensations at the spot.
Keep background awareness open.
To stabilize attention,
Silently count five or ten breaths without interruption.
If you lose track or drift,
Simply begin again at one,
No judgment.
When one round is complete,
Drop counting and continue with sensations at the nose.
Stay with the breath at the nose and gently follow.
Find the exact beginning and exact end of the in-breath.
Find the exact beginning and exact end of the out-breath.
Notice the tiny pause between in and out.
And the pause between out and in.
Let interest,
Not force,
Carry you.
This helps attention remain steady.
Whenever you realize you've wandered,
Savor the aha that waking up is a success.
Then gently return to the breath.
Avoid self-criticism.
Appreciating the awakening trains the mind to wake up sooner.
If other experiences appear,
Let them come,
Let them be,
Let them go.
Keep peripheral awareness online.
Now soften any effort.
Keep the breath central while allowing the whole field,
Body,
Sounds,
The sense of space to be present.
Now let go of the breath as the chosen object and rest in open awareness for a final minute.
Acknowledge your motivation and diligence today and when you're ready gently open your eyes.
