Come to sitting in a comfortable meditation asana.
Close the eyes,
Allow the body to settle.
Ensure the spine is straight and tall.
Head,
Neck and back aligned.
Chin parallel to the floor or slightly tucked to keep the neck lengthened.
Find a place for the hands resting in the lap or on the thighs.
Take a few deep breaths and as you exhale relax your whole body.
Letting go of any physical tension,
Mental tension,
Worries and concerns.
Consciously relax your whole body from your head to your toes.
Connect with the base of your body where your sitting bones are resting on the chair,
Floor or your cushions and the position of the legs.
Feel the whole weight of the body going down through these points creating a really solid stable foundation for your meditation posture.
Feel really steady at the base.
Relax the belly,
Allow the breath to flow freely and feel the spine tall and straight rising up from the base of the body.
Relax the shoulders and feel the elbows hanging close,
Loose beside the body.
Feel the shoulders sloping down away from the ears with each breath creating a long neck,
Relaxing the tops of the shoulders.
And observe the features of the face,
Softening the forehead,
Dissolving any frown lines,
Softening around the eyes,
Feel that the eyes are just floating in the eye sockets.
And notice that fine line of contact between the upper and lower eyelids.
Relax the cheeks,
Relax the jaw,
Even letting the bottom jaw come away from the top,
Teeth slightly apart if that relaxes the jaw.
Soften all the features of the face.
And as you draw your attention,
Your awareness away from the outside world,
Become aware of your inner world.
Cultivate stillness in the body,
Resist the urge to move,
Hold steady and still,
Motionless like a stone statue.
And notice how the breath is moving within the body posture,
The subtle movements of the body with the breath.
How do you know that you're breathing?
Observe those grosser movements of your body with the breath,
Related to respiration.
The natural movement of the ribcage,
Rising and expanding with the inhalation and subtly contracting with the exhalation.
The rise and the fall of the belly with the breath.
And then the finer movements of the body,
The back,
Shoulders.
Where can you notice the breath moving the body?
Sometimes it feels like the whole body is breathing.
There is a oneness between the breath and the physical form.
Allow any thoughts or images to come and go while you're following your breath.
Try to keep your attention with the breath,
Not missing a single breath.
Use the breath as an anchor to keep your mind still,
Fixed on one point,
In this case the breath.
And whenever the mind gets hooked up on thoughts or thinking,
As soon as you notice this,
Just acknowledge it and come back to the breath.
It's natural for the mind to wander,
So don't judge.
Just accept and bring it back to the breath.
Each time you bring back to the breath,
You're training the mind,
You're bringing it back to that one fixed point of concentration.
Dharana.
Dharana.
And if you find yourself wandering off with thoughts,
Think about where have you been.
Remembering,
Practice gentle awareness.
Be open and non-judgmental about whatever you experience.
Continue to observe the breath for just a little bit longer.
You might be observing the feeling of the breath through the nostrils,
Or the movement in the centre of the chest and the belly.
Just whatever way feels right for you.
Feeling the sensations and movements of the in and out breath.
Just let go of the breath focus and simply sit peacefully.
Just be with yourself.
Observe the effects of your practice.
And when you're ready to come out,
Slowly extrovert your senses.
Feel your body,
Feel the base of the body connected to your floor or chair or cushion.
Become aware of the space around you and where you are sitting in the room.
Take a few deeper breaths in and out.
And ensure that you are fully aware and the mind is extroverted before you begin to move.
Thank you.
