Taking a few moments to settle in,
Lying on your back or in a chair,
Allowing the surface that you are lying on or sitting on to take on the work of holding you up.
Bringing attention to the body,
To the points of contact,
Noticing pressure and also noticing where the body is not in contact with the surface that you are resting on.
Now bringing your attention to the entire body,
The front body,
The back,
Sides and everything in between.
Perhaps there is a feeling of calm or tension,
Restlessness or maybe even agitation.
Your task is simply to notice,
To register it in your consciousness,
The body as it is in this moment.
Now gently bringing attention to the breath in the body,
Seeing if you can be aware of where the sensations of breathing are most prominent for you.
This may be at the nostrils,
The mouth,
The throat or in the rising and falling of the chest.
Or at the abdomen as the belly expands and deflates.
Allowing the breath to do what it naturally does without manipulating it or changing it or getting in the way.
Simply being with the physical sensations of the breath just as they are.
Breathing in and breathing out.
Breathing right here,
Right now in this moment.
Hey You!
It is not starting.
And now on an out-breath letting go of this primary attention on breathing and on an in-breath gently shifting your attention to the back,
Top and sides of the head,
Allowing the attention to freely float in this area,
Detecting any physical sensations that present themselves,
Trying not to interfere with them as you attend to this part of the body,
But rather bringing attention to specific sensations as they make themselves known to you and exploring them,
Keeping in mind that a sensation may involve warmth,
Coolness,
Tingling,
Moisture.
If you experience no sensation or numbness,
See if you can be fully present and experience that as you explore the back,
The sides and the top of the head.
And on an out-breath,
Releasing this focus of attention from the head and on an in-breath bringing it to the face from forehead to chin,
From ear to ear,
Allowing the attention to move around the face,
Experiencing any sensation that arises and bringing your attention to that area as best as you can,
Investigating it in all of its qualities and then waiting for another sensation to emerge and exploring it,
Attending to the chin,
The lips,
Inside the mouth,
Your tongue,
The cheeks,
The eyes,
The eyebrows,
The ears,
The forehead,
Letting whatever sensations arise and simply noticing,
Noticing them come,
Persist and go,
Letting your attention linger,
Noticing sensations as they change if they do.
When sensations arise,
Allowing your attention to penetrate these areas in detail,
Noticing where they begin and end,
Their edges,
The movements,
If there are any at all within the sensation,
If they are restricted to the skin or moving deeper into the body,
Being curious about each sensation,
Just as it is with whatever is arising in this moment as you examine the face.
And now on an out breath,
Gently moving the attention away from the face and on the inhalation,
Connecting it to the neck and the throat,
Allowing the attention to hover in this region of the body,
The front of the neck,
The back of the neck and the side,
Noticing sensations that well up,
Giving them your full and undivided attention,
Noticing where the neck is and is not in contact with the surface that you are resting on.
From time to time,
The attention will be pulled away by thoughts arising,
Perhaps into the past,
The future,
Maybe fantasy into worry or judgment or critical thoughts,
Or your attention may also be hijacked by other sensations elsewhere in the body.
If this happens,
Gently escort your attention back to the body in this moment,
Which at present involves returning the focus to the neck and to the throat.
And now on an exhalation,
Guiding the attention away from the neck and on an in breath,
Establishing it on the shoulders,
The shoulder joint,
The top front and back of the shoulders,
Focusing on any sensations,
Large or small arising.
If there are more intense sensations,
See if you can attend to them by exploring or opening up to them rather than resisting or fighting them as you attend to the front,
Sides and back of the shoulders,
Moving deeply into the shoulder joints,
Working at opening up to them rather than resisting,
Bracing or fighting.
And now on an exhale,
Letting go of this focus on the shoulders and on the inhale,
Moving the attention down the arms to the hands,
Exploring its position and where it is in relation to the body.
Attend to any sensations that crop up,
Exploring the hands in their entirety.
There may be tingling,
Pressure,
Numbness,
Maybe warmth,
Observing as best as you can the quality of the contours of these sensations that arise in the hands.
Once again,
If attention is pulled away by thoughts or other sensations in the body,
See if you can let these be in the background and return to the current object of this meditation,
Which at this moment is the hand.
Exploring the front of the hands,
The palms,
The fingers and the thumbs,
The back of the hands,
The back of the fingers and the nails,
Taking in the entirety of the hands and whatever sensations are showing.
Sensations may be due to clothing as it touches the skin or the arms as they make contact with the surface that you are resting on.
There may also be more subtle sensations below the level of the skin.
Your task is to study these sensations with curiosity and non-interference.
If more than one sensation comes up,
Feel free to attend to the one that really piques your curiosity.
Directing attention now to the mid and lower back and drawing attention to any sensation that comes up and exploring it in detail.
The lower back particularly is a region that presents for many of us challenging sensations.
If these are present,
As best as you can open up to these,
Leaning into them,
Allowing whatever sensations arise to follow their own course as you bring curiosity to this experience.
And now moving the attention on an exhale from the back body and on an inhale shifting it around the sides of the body,
Coming to rest on the chest as it rises and falls.
There may be sensations made by the clothing against your skin as the chest moves with each breath.
You may be aware of your beating heart,
Letting your attention fully penetrate into each sensation as it arises,
Allowing it to do whatever it does,
Observing moment to moment as you examine the chest and the ribs.
And now moving the focus of attention to the abdomen,
Attending to the belly as it rises and falls,
Which each breath in and out.
Many sensations may arise in the stomach to which we apply descriptions.
At this moment,
We're simply trying to observe whatever sensations are arising in the abdomen without thinking about them.
Releasing the attention on the out breath from the abdomen and bringing it to the area of the pelvis,
The front,
Sides and back,
Including the organs of reproduction and elimination,
The pelvic bowl,
The genitals and the buttocks.
Noticating any sensations that call your attention in this region of the body.
Observing the sensations that show up and then moving in for a closer look.
Trying as best as you can to move into the sensation rather than resisting,
Tensing or bracing against whatever is arising.
Notifying sensations may arise in the pelvis.
This is the case,
Noting them,
Investigating them and then waiting for other sensations to arise.
And now gently letting go of the pelvic region on the out breath and shifting this mindful attention to the right hip,
Joint and thigh,
Exploring the top,
Sides and back of the thigh,
Including pressure,
The sensation of clothing and the position of the legs.
And now moving across the pelvis to the left hip,
Joint and thigh,
Exploring the top,
Sides and back of the thigh,
Noting pressure,
The sensation of clothing and the positioning of the leg.
And now exploring the knees,
The kneecaps,
The calves,
The shin,
The ankle joints,
Getting to know the legs and any sensations that present themselves,
Exploring them to the best of your ability,
Being present as best as you can with whatever is arising.
Okay.
And now on an exhale,
Letting go of attending to the legs,
Breathing in and out,
Moving the attention along the back of the body,
The back of the heels,
The calves,
The thighs,
Buttocks,
The spine,
The lower middle and upper back.
Noticing tenseness,
Looseness,
Pain or comfort,
Vibration,
Whatever is present,
And resting in this exploration scan of the entire back body.
Continuing to move your attention along the back of the arms,
Shoulders,
Neck and head,
Attending to the back of the head and the scalp,
Noting any sensation that wells up in this moment.
And as sensations come and go,
See if you can gently move from location to location,
Lingering for a moment and attending to one sensation,
Exploring it and moving on.
And now bringing the attention to include the entire front of the body,
The face,
The neck,
Shoulders,
The chest and the arms,
The hands,
The torso,
Pelvis,
Legs and feet,
So that you are now attending to the body as a whole and allowing the attention to travel until a sensation tugs at your attention,
Checking in with that sensation and then moving down the front of the body all the way to the feet.
And once again becoming aware of the physical sensations of the breath as it enters and leaves the body,
Attending to things just as they are in each moment.
So being aware to experience as it unfolds in this moment and in this moment,
Remembering that this state of clarity is available to you at any time by simply bringing your attention to the breath or to the body.
And now expanding your attention to include hearing,
Allowing sounds to come and go the same way you've been attending to sensations of the body,
Seeing what it is really like to hear.
If you've had your eyes closed,
At this point,
The suggestion is to bring your attention fully to the room as you gently open your eyes,
Aware of body,
Aware of breath,
Aware of sight and aware of sound as you attend to the end of this formal period of meditation practice,
Which we will end with the sound of the bell.
