Please find a sitting position that allows you to be alert.
Her spine erect but not rigid and also relaxed.
Now close your eyes and rest your hands in an easy,
Effortless way.
Take a few moments to scan through your body and wherever possible soften and release obvious areas of physical tension.
We begin the practice of coming back by establishing our home base.
While there are many possible anchors such as sound or sensations throughout the body,
The most common and the one we will be exploring here is the breath.
Please breathe naturally and simple notice where the breath is easiest to detect and where the breath also feels pleasant or at least neutral.
So you might be paying attention to how the breath feels as it flows in and out of your nose.
You might feel the touch of your breath around your nostrils or on your upper lip.
Or perhaps you feel the movement of your chest or the rising and falling of your abdomen.
Or perhaps you feel your whole body like a balloon expanding with the in-breath and deflating with the out-breath.
So just take some moments to bring your attention to the sensations of breathing in one of those areas.
Relaxed Patentiveness There is no need to control the breath.
Rather sense you are receiving the breath much like you had listened to sounds.
With a relaxed awareness,
Discover what the breath is really like as a changing experience of sensations.
This life-bread is your home base,
A place to rest and be aware.
So in these next moments simply relax as the breath comes in.
Noticing what it's like and relax with the exhale.
Letting go.
And again noticing the immediate experience of sensations.
Noticing where your attention is,
You might find that your mind has drifted off into thoughts.
This is completely natural.
The mind is conditioned to move off into thinking about the future or the past.
When you become aware of thinking,
You might use a soft and friendly mental note.
Just say thinking,
Thinking and then pause and simply re-relax.
Just open the attention again,
Aware of the sounds around you,
Re-relaxing your body.
Feeling the aliveness in the body.
Relax your heart.
Without any judgements,
Just allow yourself to gently return again to the inflow and the outflow of the breath.
Let the breath be an intimate friend,
A home base that reconnects you with your own presence.
As you resettle with the breath,
You might notice other experiences.
The background sounds perhaps of a passing car,
The wind or a bird.
You might feel sensations of warmth or coolness.
Whatever's in the background can be there without throwing you away.
Just continue to rest with the breath,
To relax with the breath,
With the intention of noticing when you can,
When you drift off into thought.
If you discover that the mind has drifted again,
Simply pause,
Re-relax,
Open the attention.
Without any judgements,
Gently come back into this moment.
Just remember the thoughts are not the enemy.
You don't have to clear your mind of thoughts,
Rather you are developing the capacity to recognize when thoughts are happening without getting lost in the story-life.
Each time you notice that you have drifted or notice you have gotten lost,
It's an opportunity to strengthen your muscle of remembering of again arriving here now,
Gently coming back into the living presence.
As you notice the mind getting quieter,
You might sense the peace that arises when you relax even more and immerse your entire awareness into the inflow and outflow of the breath.
Breathing in,
Know that you are breathing in,
Breathing out,
Know that you are breathing out.
Be aware of the beginnings and the endings of each breath,
Fully here,
Awake,
At home,
In presence.
The poet Wu Meng writes,
Ten thousand flowers in the spring,
The moon in autumn,
A cool breeze in the summer,
Snow in winter.
If your mind isn't clouded by unnecessary things,
This is the best season of your life.
You can practice this meditation of coming back,
Informally as a way of quieting and collecting your mind at any time of the day.
Simply bring a full yet gentle attention to the breath,
Relaxing with the in-breath and relaxing with the out-breath and then continue on with your activities.
As a reminder for some people,
The breath is not the best anchor or home base,
It may be hard to detect and connect with or in some way unpleasant.
So if that's the case for you,
You might let the play of changing sounds be your anchor,
Or the feelings of sensations throughout the body,
Or just perhaps the sensations in your hands.
It is fine to experiment and find what sensory present home base most help you to settle and quiet the mind.
Good luck.
