This is a simple meditation designed to help strengthen your practice of being present.
Settling into a posture that feels right for you.
And when you're ready,
Gently closing the eyes or softening the gaze,
Taking a few deep breaths at your own pace to clear your mind and your energy.
In through the nose,
Out through the mouth.
And now allowing the body to breathe naturally,
Not controlling the breath in any way.
And taking a moment to set an intention or to simply recognize with gratitude what brings you to the meditation mat today.
And starting to fine-tune our focus by watching the breath.
Bringing your attention to the nostrils.
And noticing the coolness of the air on the in-breath and the warmth on the out-breath.
Do this for several cycles of breath,
Noticing when distractions arise and letting them float past you without becoming attached.
Coolness on the in-breath,
Warmth on the out-breath.
And then bring your attention to your hands,
Focusing in on the details and sensations there,
The palms of the hands,
The backs of the hands,
The fingers.
Not judging and not striving.
Simply noticing the aliveness in your hands.
And now broadening your attention to hold the sensations in the hands and the sensations of the breath in the nostrils,
Both in your awareness.
Distractions will arise in the form of thoughts,
Desires to move the body,
Environmental sounds.
Or not attaching to them,
Simply acknowledging and watching them float out of awareness.
You could imagine thoughts and distractions as leaves on a stream or clouds in the sky floating gently out of sight.
And then bringing your attention back to the hands and the nostrils.
In-breath,
Out-breath,
Palms,
Fingers,
Backs of the hands.
And then gently broadening the attention to scan the body.
It may be helpful to imagine a soft light illuminating the body as you go,
Like a flashlight in the dark,
Or a divine white light filling your body,
Starting at the feet,
Noticing any sensations in the soles of the feet,
The toes,
The tops of the feet.
And moving up to the ankles and lower legs.
When you notice distractions,
Simply acknowledge them and let them go without grabbing onto them.
Some distractions may hold your attention longer than others,
And that's okay.
The true magic of the practice is in the noticing and returning.
It doesn't matter how long you have strayed.
As soon as you realize you are off the path,
You are back on it again.
Bringing your attention to the knees and thighs,
Hips and pelvis.
Holding the entire lower body in your awareness.
Acknowledging when attention strays and gently returning focus to the body.
And then bringing your attention to the lower belly and the lower back.
The mid-belly and mid-back.
Returning your attention.
The chest and upper back.
Noticing the whole torso.
The gentle movement of the body with the breath.
Any sensations that stand out.
Not judging,
Not attaching.
Just noticing,
Releasing and returning.
And on to the shoulders.
The upper arms.
The elbows and forearms.
The wrists and the hands.
Returning your focus when it strays.
And then highlighting attention on the neck.
The jaw.
The back of the head and the scalp.
The forehead and the brow.
Noticing distractions,
Releasing them and returning attention when it strays.
The temples and tiny muscles around the eyes.
Returning your attention.
The cheeks and the mouth.
Holding the whole body in awareness.
The whole body,
Head to toe,
Illuminated in awareness.
Acknowledging when attention strays and gently returning focus to the body.
And then opening your field of attention to include your surroundings.
Noticing any sounds,
Near or far.
Not attaching,
Just noticing.
Sitting for a moment in awareness of sound.
Returning your focus when it strays.
Now becoming aware of the sounds and your body at the same time.
Sound and body.
Releasing distraction,
Returning attention.
And then noticing the space you are in.
Without looking,
Sense the volume of the space.
The walls around you,
The ceiling and the floor.
Returning your focus when it strays.
Awareness of the volume of the space you are in.
And then noticing the volume of your body in this space.
Sensing the distance between you and the edges of the room.
Releasing distractions and returning focus when it strays.
And then expanding your awareness to include all three points of focus.
The body,
The sounds,
The space.
Resting here in open awareness.
Acknowledging distractions and releasing them.
Returning your attention again and again.
The body,
The sounds,
The space.
The body,
The sounds,
The space.
And then beginning to end the practice.
Releasing your focus.
Taking a deep cleansing breath.
And bringing gentle movement to the body.
And when you are ready,
Opening your eyes.
Before we end,
I invite you to take a moment to consider how you can apply this practice in your day-to-day life.
Where do you find yourself most distracted?
What little adjustments can you make to bring mindful awareness to your actions or interactions?
And how can you also bring the gentle redirection to yourself when you find that you have gotten off course?
Sending love and compassion from my heart to yours and sincere gratitude for sharing in this practice with me.
