Coming to sitting upright and comfortable on a chair,
Sofa or the ground.
Opposite a burning candle.
And keeping your gaze fixed on the candle for a few moments.
Then slowly and gently closing your eyelids.
Start with gently tuning into how your eyelids feel.
Stay in contact with one another.
Then expanding your awareness to feel your eyes and your eye sockets.
Filling your eyes with your awareness and noticing all the little sensations that are present in your eyes.
Now expanding your awareness from your eyes to include your whole body sitting here.
Filling your whole body with your awareness.
This body that right now is fully in the present moment.
Our minds might drift off to what happened yesterday or tomorrow.
But our bodies are always here right now.
So noticing all the sensations in your body,
Filling it with your awareness.
Now in your own time,
Slowly and gently opening your eyes and looking at the candle in front of you.
Resting your attention on its flame.
Being curious about its flame.
Is it moving,
Gently flickering or is it completely still?
What colors are in the flame?
And what's its shape?
Connecting with the flame,
The element of fire.
Now as you're keeping your gaze on the flame,
See whether you can connect with your breath.
Feeling the in breath and the out breath.
Feeling the cool air filling your body as you're breathing in.
And the warm air leaving your body as you're breathing out.
Following your breath as you're resting your gaze on the flame.
And if your mind drifts off into thoughts,
Know that this is not a mistake.
This is what minds do.
They drift off all the time.
In mindfulness we learn to notice when the mind is drifted off.
And then gently bringing your attention back.
Again and again and again.
So resting your attention on the candle,
Following your breath.
Now closing your eyes again.
How are you feeling now?
Relaxed,
Heavy,
Maybe anxious,
Happy.
Being curious about what emotion is present here for you right now.
At the end of this meditation.
Then letting go of your body.
And when you're ready,
Gently opening your eyes and either ending this meditation or spending some more time with your candle.
