The following meditation is a grounding style meditation.
So this meditation is useful for actually giving us a chance to centre in our day.
It doesn't matter which time of day it is but it will help us to have a time of silence,
To feel what's around us and is useful at times when we might feel stressed or overwhelmed.
So it's particularly useful at a time like we are in at the moment with this pandemic and a lot of unknowns and a lot of fears going on.
So the aim of this meditation is that it will just be a time of reflecting and observing and then we will end with a bell and we will do our grounding technique before we open our eyes.
So to start off with just bring your awareness to the sensations of your feet on the floor.
So if you've got your shoes on and if you're comfortable take your shoes off and just really feel the sensation of that firm floor under your feet.
Just notice in the places of contact and places without contact.
And as you do this just bring your awareness to the sensation of the chair supporting your body or the cushion.
So just notice in where it has contact with the thighs and the backside and if you're in a chair on the lower back.
And then notice the sounds around us.
Just cast your ears out to hear the different sounds that are around.
In the here and the.
And for a moment we will keep our eyes open.
So just look around you.
Just look what's in your vision.
If you're in a room looking around at what's around you.
Looking at the corners of the room.
Just looking what is there.
Or maybe you're looking through a window and just take a look at what's going on throughout your window.
But as you do this bring your awareness to your feet on the floor and that sensation of the chair or the cushion as you look around.
Just feeling the reality of that grounding feeling there as you look around.
Zen Master Douzhen talks about when we practice meditation.
Zha Zen in particular he was talking about we are just sitting.
So this is what we are doing.
At this moment we are just sitting.
Feeling the ground.
Listen to the sounds.
And then when you're ready just gently close your eyes.
And start to allow yourself to just centre in.
So you're feeling the sit illness of your presence as you sit here.
So we now start to watch the breath rolling into the body.
So notice the breath coming in up through the nose,
Down the back of the throat and into the chest,
Into the belly.
As you breathe in just notice all the subtle little movements.
The ribs moving,
The shoulders moving.
And then just allow the breath to come to its end naturally and to breathe out.
Just allow it to roll out naturally.
And this is what we'll do.
We just watch the breath rolling into the body or rolling out.
Just feeling that sense of movement of your breath moving in and out.
You're not trying to control it,
Just allowing it to natural pace.
And as you do this continue to feel that floor under your feet,
That chair or that cushion supporting your body.
And as you do this I'll just say this mindfulness mantra as we sit.
So we've got nowhere to go in this moment.
Nothing to do,
No one to be.
So in this moment we've got nowhere to go,
Nothing to do,
No one to be.
Nowhere to go,
Nothing to do,
No one to be.
So just continue with that now,
Just allowing your breath to roll into your body.
Feeling the sensation of the chair or the cushion.
And then allow your awareness when you're ready just to go out to the sensations in the body.
So we do this with a sense of acceptance,
We're not trying to push away what's there.
So just noticing your body places attention,
Physical sensations.
And again as we notice these,
As we observe these sensations there with that sense of acceptance,
We just continue to feel the feet on the floor and the breath rolling in and rolling out.
And then final bit of observation now if you are comfortable with it,
Bring your awareness to what your mind is doing.
Now the human mind is a problem solving bit of kit,
It's a problem solving machine.
So often it gets very busy,
Sometimes the things we have no control over.
But just for a moment without judgement just notice what your mind is doing,
Not whether worrying,
Whether it's true or not,
What's going on.
Just notice your mind.
And as you notice your mind and the traffic that flows through in the way of thoughts,
Bring your awareness to your feet on the floor and the sensation of your breath.
Just allowing things to be.
And then when you're ready just to come away from watching the breath.
And then when you're ready just gently open your eyes again.
And again take time just to look around the room.
Just noticing what's present when you're there,
Just noticing maybe what's going on outside your window.
And as you do this bring that awareness to that lovely breath,
Rolling in and out of your body,
All the physical sensations.
And then finally just bring your awareness then to your feet firm on the floor.
If you like give your toes a bit of a wriggle,
Just notice what's there,
That sensation of that floor.
And then we'll end,
We'll take a lovely deep breath in and sigh out through the mouth.
And that will be the end of the practice.
Thank you for practicing with me.
Have a good day.
