Establish yourself in a posture that feels comfortable,
A posture that expresses relaxation as well as wakefulness,
Being vividly alert with a sense of softness and openness,
Sensitivity and presence,
A posture that allows you to relax deeply without having to move for the duration of the session,
Taking one slow deep breath in,
Finding the longest comfortable breath that is available for you at this moment,
And letting it out slowly and smoothly,
Giving your whole body permission to settle.
And at the beginning of this practice,
Taking a moment to connect with the view that practice is kindness,
That this precious sacred time is a gift of kindness to ourselves,
A gift of care,
Of tending to what matters.
And through our practice,
This gift ripples out into the world.
And if you're sitting upright,
Gently lift up through the sternum,
Just a little bit to open up the being,
The sensitivity,
The aliveness expressed in the posture.
And with this sense of kindness,
Letting your awareness travel down through the body,
Slowly moving from the head to the throat and chest,
Into the belly,
The hips,
And all the way down,
Down the legs to the feet.
Notice all the places of contact with the floor,
With a cushion and a chair.
Noticing the simple pressure that you're feeling at all the points of support.
Let these tactile sensations of firmness anchor this moment.
And as you rest into the immediate somatic sensations of contact,
There's no need for naming,
No need for concepts,
No need to label anything.
Just settle in this very experience of being aware,
Just the simple sensations being known.
And from this point of arrival,
Settle your body in its natural state.
Fill your whole somatic field with vivid,
Bright presence.
Letting the luminosity of your awareness suffuse the entire space of the body,
Including the feet and the legs,
The front of the torso,
The back of the body,
Your arms,
Your hands,
Your face,
The whole area,
From all the places of contact to the top of your crown.
See if you can expand the awareness so that's even a little bit bigger than the physical body.
Feeling the texture,
The vibration,
The energy of this whole space permeating with warmth and living energy.
And as the in-breath arrives,
Notice any places of tightness or discomfort.
And take a moment to attend to these areas with a sense of care.
And with the out-breath,
Soften and relax your muscles,
Releasing any tension you might be holding.
Breathing in,
Scanning and sensing where the body is contracted.
And breathing out,
Releasing any aversion to these sensations.
And surrender all your muscles to gravity.
There's no need to hold on to anything.
Relaxing in a complete existential release.
Relaxing deeper and deeper with every out-breath.
And with every in-breath,
Energize and expand your awareness.
Relax all the muscles in your face,
Any holding your neck and shoulders,
And any contraction of the muscles in your chest and abdomen.
Noticing tension around the eyes,
The mouth,
The jaw,
The throat area.
Letting go as much as you are able.
In this way,
Settle your whole body in a posture of ease,
Of comfort,
And relaxation.
Taking a deep breath in,
Allowing your abdomen to expand.
And find your longest comfortable breath.
And then very slowly,
Very gently,
Take a controlled out-breath.
Release and relax your diaphragm as slowly as you're able,
Letting all air flow out by itself,
Gradually and evenly,
Until there is nothing left.
Continue letting go,
Releasing your breath all the way through the very end.
And notice how the next breath simply arises on its own.
Without any need for us to intervene,
It is enough to simply witness your body breathe in spontaneously.
Breathing in gently,
Deeply,
Fully,
Comfortably.
And with every exhalation,
Releasing all air,
Without holding anything in reserve,
All the way to that delicate point where it feels we are falling into vulnerability,
Or resting for a moment in that stillness,
Where we have to fully surrender.
And then without clinging,
Notice how the gentle stirring of the in-breath arises by itself.
And how through the in-breath,
This entire somatic field is being energized,
Filling this whole space of the body with bright energy.
And so simply allow the breath to move by itself.
And notice how this settles the wind in our energy system.
This is how we settle the breath in its natural state.
With every inhalation,
Remain aware of the full body space,
Stretching your awareness to include the whole field of somatic sensation.
And fill this whole body space with bright awareness.
And then breathing out,
Keep relaxing the body and the breath completely.
Surrendering yourself fully to this very moment,
Until the next breath flows in,
Without altering or manipulating it in any way.
And now we move on to settling the mind in its natural state.
And in this practice,
It's helpful to have the eyes at least a little bit open.
And as we breathe out,
And as we release clinging to the body and clinging to the breath,
We release clinging to the mind.
And we do this by letting go of the identification with the activities of the mind.
Distinguishing between awareness and all the spontaneous arising of mental formations,
Like thoughts and images,
Memories,
Intentions,
Or any labeling of experience as this or that.
And without chasing the ups and downs of thought and emotion,
We allow all the activities of the mind to dissolve by themselves.
Instead of accepting or rejecting anything,
We simply settle directly in whatever arises.
Relinquishing all identification,
All grasping,
All preference.
And in this way,
We let all our worldly concerns wash away.
If thoughts arise,
Don't take interest in the content or the implication or what these thoughts are referencing.
Just take note and let them dissolve back into the space of awareness.
Just noting them is enough.
Just settle directly within whatever occurs.
Don't try to alter,
Improve,
Or to block or hold on to anything.
Allowing your own mind,
Empty and luminous,
To settle into whatever is naturally occurring.
It is enough to simply relax directly in whatever arises,
Without trying to cultivate or change anything.
And then to sustain this simple knowing without becoming distracted.
Release all concerns,
All hopes and fears about the future and the past,
Dropping all goals and any desire for accomplishment,
Wanting to experience this or that.
Just allow the mind to rest with vivid clarity in an unaltered,
Empty state of mind.
Let it rest by itself and settle in the experience of whatever arises.
In this way,
We settle the mind in its natural state.
And so,
With every exhalation,
Relax your body deeper and deeper,
Release the breath all the way to the very end,
And release all activities of your mind.
The sense of relaxation comes from the release of grasping.
The experience of spacious ease,
Even when the mind is activated,
Arises from the release of grasping.
And the recognition of vivid clarity of your own mind arises through the release of grasping.
As appearances arise in space and disappear in space,
We rest as space which holds all experience.
We rest as the sheer luminosity of our natural state,
Everything known by itself.
And now,
Gently find your way back to the felt sense of firmness,
The simple sense of solidity of the body in contact.
And when you're ready,
Make a quiet inner bow of gratitude to yourself for having shown up today to practice.
