This is the mindfulness of body and breath meditation.
Settling into a comfortable position now,
Either lying on a mat or a thick rug,
Or sitting on a chair or a cushioned meditation stool.
If you're using a chair,
It's best to have a firm chair with a straight back so that you can sit away from the back of the chair and the spine can be self-supporting.
If sitting,
Just allow your back to adopt an erect,
Dignified posture,
Neither stiff and all tensed up,
But comfortable.
If sitting in the chair,
Have your feet flat on the floor with your legs uncrossed and allow your eyes to close if that's comfortable for you.
If not,
Just lower your gaze so it falls unfocused just in front of you.
If you are lying down,
Just be sure that your legs are uncrossed with your feet falling away from each other and your arms lying alongside slightly away from your body so the palms can be open to the ceiling if that feels comfortable.
Bring your awareness to physical sensations now.
Your attention on the sensation of touch in the body,
Where it's in contact with the floor or whatever you're sitting on or lying on.
And just spend a few moments now just exploring these sensations.
Now focusing your attention on your feet,
Starting with the toes,
Bringing your attention right down your body to your toes.
So you have the spotlight of attention on your toes,
Taking in the soles of the feet and the heels on the top of your feet until you feel that you're attending to all physical sensations that you become aware of in both feet.
And sensing this moment by moment.
Spending a few moments attending to the feet in this way.
Focusing how sensations arrive and dissolve.
And if there are no sensations in your feet,
That's okay too.
You may be feeling some sensations of tingling or even numbness.
And you're not trying to make sensations happen,
You're just simply registering what's already here,
Noticing.
Now expand your attention to take in the rest of both of your legs for a few moments.
Again from the pelvis and hips all the way up through the body,
Right up to the shoulders.
Noticing as you do if there are any sensations from your hips and pelvis up through the body,
Just noticing if there's any sensations here.
And whatever those sensations are,
Just allowing them to be in this moment.
Again bringing your attention to your left arm.
And then the right arm.
And then the neck and the head.
Just spend a moment or two resting in the awareness of the whole body.
See if it's possible to allow your body and its sensations to be just as you find them.
Maybe explore how it is to let go of the tendency to want things to be a certain way.
One brief moment of seeing how things are without wanting to change anything.
This can be really nourishing.
Now we're going to be focusing on the sensations of breathing.
Bringing your awareness to the breath as it moves in and out of the body.
Notice the sensations right down in the belly,
In the abdomen.
You may notice the changing patterns of any physical sensations at all in this region of the body as the breath moves in and the breath moves out.
You might find it helpful to just place your hand on your belly for a few breaths as you breathe in and breathe out.
Just feeling the belly rising and falling.
You may notice the mild sensations of the stretching as the abdomen gently rises with each in breath.
And maybe a different sensation as the abdomen falls,
The belly falls with each out breath.
And as best you can,
Follow closely with your attention so that you notice the changing physical sensations for the full duration of each in breath and the full duration of each out breath.
Perhaps noticing the slight pauses between one in breath and the following out breath.
And between one out breath and the following in breath.
There's no need to try and control your breathing in any way at all.
Just simply letting the breath breathe itself.
Almost like you're just witnessing your own breath.
Watching,
Noticing,
Becoming aware of the sensations as the breath rolls in and the letting go as the breath rolls out.
And sooner or later,
Usually sooner,
Your attention may wander away from your breath.
You might find that thoughts and images,
Plans or daydreams come up for you.
And that's okay.
No need to give yourself a hard time.
It's what the mind does.
This mind wandering isn't a mistake.
It's simply what the minds do.
So when you notice,
You become aware that your mind has wandered off and is no longer on the breath.
Just maybe congratulate yourself and noticing that the mind has wandered.
Simply acknowledge where the mind has wandered to and then gently escort your attention back to the sensations in your belly.
Simply focusing on the breath,
Using the breath like an anchor.
And as you're breathing in and breathing out,
It's quite likely that the mind will wander off over and over again.
And that's okay.
Just each time you notice,
Just remember that the aim is to simply note where the mind has been,
Whether it was past thinking,
Future thinking,
And then gently escorting your attention back to the breath.
To start with,
This can sometimes be difficult as you might find it a bit frustrating.
Mind seems so disobedient.
And sometimes we worry about this when we first start practicing,
But slowly and gently,
You will find that such frustration can create a lot of extra noise in the mind.
So no matter how many times your mind wanders off,
Allow yourself on each occasion to just be kind to yourself,
Cultivating some compassion.
Sometimes you bring the mind back where you intended it to be,
On the breath.
Breathing in and the breathing out.
See if you can view the repeated wanderings of the mind as an opportunity to have some patience within yourself,
Being kind to yourself.
And in time,
You may discover that this quality of kindness towards the mind wandering brings a real sense of compassion towards other aspects of your experience.
And that the mind wandering is a great ally in your practice.
It's not the enemy.
It's okay.
Refocusing,
Coming back to the breath,
Breathing in and breathing out.
Just continuing with the practice on your own for a few moments.
And remembering to remind yourself from time to time that the intention is simply to be aware of your experience in each moment.
As best as you can,
Use the sensations in your body and the breath as anchors to gently reconnect with the here and now.
Each time that you notice your mind has wandered,
Bringing it back to the anchor of the body or the breath.
