Welcome to mindfulness meditation.
This version of mindfulness meditation is intended to be done seated.
Make sure you are seated in a comfortable position,
Either on the floor,
Perhaps with the support behind your back and under your seat,
Or perhaps sitting in a chair if possible.
Center your body over your hips,
Your back straight,
Hands in a comfortable position.
You may choose to lie down.
If you are lying down,
You might want to place support under your knees to ease the stress on your low back.
Take a few moments to find whichever position is comfortable for you today in this moment.
Honoring yourself for where you are today,
Knowing that wherever you are is exactly where you need to be.
Take a few moments now to welcome yourself and start to be present.
Breath.
Becoming aware of the breath.
Feel where it comes into the body,
Where it is most prominent and distinct,
Perhaps at the nose or the chest or the belly.
As you breathe in and out,
Become mindful of the breath,
Perhaps noticing its quality,
Be it fast or slow,
Shallow or deep.
You may feel sensations of warmth or coolness.
Allow yourself to breathe in and out without trying to change your breath in any way,
Simply acknowledging that after every in-breath,
There is an out-breath,
And after every out-breath,
There is an in-breath.
Being present and mindful with the breath.
It is inevitable that the mind will wander.
Recognize the wandering mind and come back to the breath.
Being present,
Breathing in and breathing out.
And as you settle with the breath,
Be mindful of its ebb and flow as it comes and goes.
Mindful of the transient nature of the breath as you breathe in and as you breathe out.
Being present fully to the breath.
Body sensations.
Gently withdraw your awareness from the breath and become aware of your body sensations.
Feel and sense deeper into the body.
Your body is designed to feel.
It is designed to connect to different sensations,
An itch,
A twitch,
Heaviness,
Lightness,
Pain,
Comfort.
Present and unpleasant and neutral feelings.
Be mindful of what comes and what passes.
If your mind wanders from your body,
Acknowledge where it went and then gently bring your mind and your focus back to the body,
Being fully present to the body.
Sound.
Now withdrawing from the body,
Bring your awareness to sound.
You might have considered sound a distraction.
Include it now in your practice.
Become mindful of the different sounds that you hear.
Your ears are designed for hearing.
The way that the air circulates in the room,
Around you,
Towards you and away from you.
Perhaps the sound of your breathing,
Your inhale,
Your exhale.
And other sounds that you may hear in the distance or close to you,
Include them in your practice.
And if your mind wanders,
Acknowledge where it wandered to and gently come back to hearing,
Being fully present to sound.
Mind states.
Now withdraw being mindful of sound and bring your awareness to your thoughts and emotions.
Plans of the future,
Memories of the past.
Notice how like the breath,
Sensations and sounds,
Thoughts and emotions reveal the nature of change.
Being fully present to your thoughts and to your emotions in the state of your mind.
Choiceless awareness.
Gently withdraw from your state of mind and bring your awareness into the present moment,
Into choiceless awareness.
Mindful of what is taking place from moment to moment.
Mindful of what simply is in this moment.
Be aware of what dominates,
What is distinct in this moment.
Be aware of sensation,
Sound,
Thought and emotion.
Sit here in the now.
And being present to constant change.
Acknowledging and allowing for there to be change occurring in the present moment.
As you observe the nature of change,
Notice a growing understanding that change is the nature of things that transients can bring you peace.
Loving kindness.
Gently withdrawing from choiceless awareness,
Come back to the breath,
Breathing in and breathing out.
Watching the rise and the fall of your body as you breathe in and as you breathe out.
Now gently withdraw your awareness from your breath to a sense of loving kindness.
To the compassion and the love that you hold deep in your heart.
Bring it up and out now and turn it back onto yourself.
Allow loving kindness to enter and to bathe every cell of your body.
Allow loving kindness to wash up and down your whole spine.
Allow loving kindness to flow through you as gently as the breath,
The inhale and the exhale.
Congratulate yourself for taking the time to practice being here at peace.
As you end this meditation,
May you be at peace.
May we all be at peace.
