This meditation is all about being present,
Right here,
Right now.
Before we get started,
I want to give you permission,
Just in case something starts tumbling out of you during this meditation,
Whether it's words or music,
And it's something that it just feels like it needs to come all the way out.
Basically,
You're giving birth to this thing,
These words,
This music,
Whatever it is.
It's okay to open your eyes,
Pause the meditation,
Write down what you needed to write down,
And then come back to the meditation.
You will know if that's what's happening.
If the words,
If the thing is tumbling out,
You will know that that's what's happening,
And then go ahead,
Pause the meditation,
Open your eyes,
Put it down on paper,
Then close your eyes and return to the meditation.
Now,
Let's get started.
Come to a comfortable position,
Whether that's seated or lying down,
Or my favorite position,
With your legs up the wall,
Close your eyes,
Close your mouth,
And arrive.
Breathing gently through your nose.
Welcome,
Welcome to right here.
Welcome to right now.
Welcome to your meditation practice.
Allow yourself to arrive in every part of your body,
Allowing yourself to feel supported by the ground,
By your chair,
By the wall,
By whatever is physically supporting you.
Whatever is physically supporting you.
Feel the places in your body that connect to the things that are supporting you,
The things that are beneath you,
Whether that's your feet rooted into the ground,
Your butt in a chair,
Your back on a cushion or on the ground.
Let's go a little deeper and feel the places where your clothes are touching you.
You don't have to explore this too deeply.
Simply notice.
Notice where you can feel your clothes touching you.
Notice where you can't.
If you're wearing any jewelry,
Notice where that touches your skin.
You are right here.
Right here it is right now.
There is nothing else right now.
This moment is the only moment.
Now imagine you have two boxes.
In one box,
You're going to put anything,
Any thoughts about the past.
The other box,
You're going to put any thoughts about the future.
So just be here,
Right here,
Right now,
In this present moment.
You can bring your attention to your breath if you want.
You can bring your attention to the sounds around you if that feels good.
And what's going to happen,
As always happens when we sit down to meditate and watch our thoughts,
Is we are going to see those thoughts.
They are like cars driving by on a highway.
And we're just sitting there on a bluff watching the cars go by.
Of course,
Our human brain sometimes want to chase those cars.
So if we try to chase a car that's from the past,
Something that has already happened,
Just put that thought in the box for the past.
You can go look at that later,
But not now.
Now is for right now.
If your mind starts chasing a car,
It has to do with the future.
Kindly and compassionately,
Pick up that thought and put it in the box of thoughts of the future.
Your job is to be right here,
Right now.
Right now.
Thoughts of the past go in the box of thoughts for the past.
Those things have already happened.
Thoughts about the future,
You trying to crystal ball things,
Those go in the box of thoughts about the future.
Your only job right now is to be right here,
Right now.
Now let's add a third box.
We call it a fantasy.
So this is where you're going to put any thoughts where you're just making stuff up.
It doesn't have to do with the past.
It doesn't have to do with the future.
It's when you start pondering things like,
Why do we have thumbs?
Or what was the plot line of the Smurfs cartoon?
Or when you start creating relationships or imaginary conversations or situations in your mind.
All of those things fall under fantasy.
So when thoughts of the past come in,
You put them in the box of thoughts for the past.
When thoughts about the future come through,
You put that in the box for thoughts about the future.
And when fantasy thoughts come in,
They go in the box of fantasy.
When they go in the box of fantasy.
So here you are honoring yourself in this present moment,
Being compassionate with yourself,
With your mind,
Gently guiding the thoughts about the past into the box for the past,
Gently guiding thoughts about the future into the box for the future,
And gently guiding thoughts that are fantasy into the box for fantasy.
And here you are,
Right here,
Right now,
Watching the thoughts go by,
Simply being.
Simply being.
Being.
We're not trying to stop our thoughts.
Thoughts cannot be stopped.
Just like a waterfall can't be stopped.
We let the thoughts go.
We just don't chase after them.
And when we do chase after them,
We lovingly sort those thoughts into the appropriate box,
Whether it's for the past,
For the present,
Or fantasy.
You can play with all of those thoughts later,
But right now you are simply being in this present moment,
Right here,
Right now.
You are simply being.
The noticing is the practice here.
When you notice that you have run away with a thought from the past or a thought about the future or a fantasy thought,
Then you gently,
Kindly,
Lovingly find yourself in the present,
Because you can't notice these thoughts about the past,
About the future,
Or about fantasy if you are not present.
And each time you run away,
You come back.
It's just like each time you fall down,
You get back up.
This is the practice.
You are simply being.
If you ran away again,
That's okay.
Come back to the present.
Be right here,
Right now.
Come back to your body,
Slowly,
Gently,
Kindly,
Lovingly.
Feel the places where your body touches the ground beneath you or the chair beneath you.
Feel into your toes.
Feel into your fingertips.
And slowly bring yourself back to the present moment.
Thank you for your practice.
