So let's go ahead and close our eyes and begin with a few deep breaths.
Inhale through the nose,
Exhale from the mouth.
With each breath,
Relaxing our muscles,
Finding our balance and settling into being here in this practice.
After our first deep breaths,
We can follow our breath naturally into its rhythm,
Noticing how the breath is entering our nose,
Taking a moment to settle into this space,
Letting any thoughts that we have from previous conversations or from the day pass by,
Releasing any of that energy related to them so that we can focus on the present.
Now as we drew the breath through our nostrils,
I'd like you to take in the sense of smell.
Notice what's there in your environment.
Become curious to any subtle scents.
Nose scents arise in your mind as you as you search for them.
Become curious about the way that the breath enters the nostrils.
Become present to the sensations of the nose.
Notice if your mind wanders to any stories about the scents that you smell.
See if you can let go of those thoughts.
Notice the smell for what it is.
It can be pungent,
Sour,
Sweet.
Now for your next breath,
Draw your breath deeply in so that it enters your mouth.
Become present to the sensation of taste.
Notice if you can sense any lingering taste that might be in your mouth.
Perhaps the sweet taste of a snack you recently had or stronger flavor of coffee that you may have had prior to coming to this meditation.
What flavors reside in your mouth and do you have any particular attachment to any of them?
Next,
We move to our sense of touch.
And for this,
I ask that you place one hand within the other,
Either cupping each other in a comfortable way or in a prayer posture.
Begin by noticing the sense of touch on your fingertips.
Is your skin cold,
Warm,
Moist,
Dry?
Tune in to your fingertips.
Do you feel any energy at the ends of your fingers where they're meeting your other hand?
Now move to the rest of your body.
Notice the feel of your clothes against your skin,
The touch of your ground on the soles of your feet.
Notice if you can feel the sense of touch from within your body itself,
Inside of your fingertips,
Inside of your feet.
And now we move to the sense of sound and hearing.
Spend a moment noticing the sounds that are close and the sounds that are distant.
I invite you to become curious as to how far the sense of sound can go.
Notice if your mind immediately labels the sound and let go of the label and notice the sound for what it is,
A wave of sound.
Now draw your awareness of sound as close to you as possible,
Noticing the sounds of your own breathing,
Perhaps the movement of your body.
See if you can sit with the sound without sending your mind to action.
Now I invite you to open your eyes and take a soft gaze to notice the sense of sight.
Become curious to the colors,
Shapes,
Textures that are in your awareness.
Again I invite you to let go of the label of what you are seeing and see it as color,
As shape.
Bring your periphery into your view as well.
Now focus in on one particular object,
Whatever it is you choose.
Hone into the details of that object,
Noticing its form,
Shape,
Shadows,
And textures.
As we look at this object become curious as to the object as a manifestation of sight and let go of the story of what this object is.
I invite you again to take on a soft gaze and view all that's in your surroundings.
Now once again let's close our eyes and take ourselves back to the breath.
With each breath notice how all your senses come together.
For this you may consider having a soft gaze again with your eyes.
With each breath noticing the smells,
Taste,
Sound,
Touch,
And sight.
If you're drawn to one particular sense I invite you to spend a few minutes with that particular sense.
Becoming present to what it is about this experience that's drawing your attention to it.
Now let go of that story and in the final minutes of our practice I invite you to offer some gratitude for this space and for taking this time for yourself,
For anything else in your life that you feel grateful for.
Now I invite you to let go of the gratitude,
All the sensations,
All the thoughts that arose during this practice.
Take a few more deep breaths and then return to our call.
