Taking your seat and becoming aware of your body in the chair,
Feet on the ground.
Feeling the contact of your feet on the ground,
The felt sensation and how your body is supported and held in the chair,
Your weight cradled in the chair.
And as we do this practice remembering that we're not just bringing awareness to our experience but we're bringing a kindly awareness,
An awareness that's laced with care and tenderness and perhaps warming up your awareness by placing a hand on your heart area or another place in the body that for you you find soothing and comforting and becoming aware of the felt sensation of your hands,
The support and warmth flowing in from your hand,
Caring for you and starting by taking some deep breaths and on the out breath making it a long breath and really letting go,
Letting go of the busyness of the day,
Of the journey here and bringing your kindly awareness to your breath,
Becoming aware of the breath flowing into your body from the tip of the nostrils,
The sensation of air flowing in and out,
Down through the mouth and throat and into the chest region with the lungs expanding as you breathe in and then the releasing and letting go on the out breath or maybe down in the belly at our core,
Centre of being,
Feeling how the diaphragm presses down on the in breath,
Gently massaging and rocking the internal organs of the stomach and then the relaxing and releasing of the out breath,
So focusing your awareness on the breath at the point you choose in the body and becoming aware of this natural rhythm of the breath,
Breathing in and breathing out and feeling how the breath is filled with kindness and care,
Affection for yourself and for others,
Breathing in this kindness,
Feeling it spread through your body,
The warmth and on the out breath simply letting go and releasing and your mind may wander from time to time and that's okay,
That's perfectly normal,
We have been fobbed to have wandering minds and the practice is to notice when the mind wanders away,
Away from the breath in this case and noticing where the mind wanders to,
Whether it's sounds,
Clock ticking inside the room,
Traffic outside or maybe it's a sensation in the body,
An itch or discomfort of some sort or maybe it's sensations in the mind,
Thoughts arising,
Thoughts about what you're doing right now,
What's going on,
Why am I doing this,
What's the point or maybe it's thoughts about the past,
Your past day,
What you did at work or ate for breakfast or during the last week or maybe thoughts about the future,
Planning what you're going to do once you leave this class or maybe work you have to do tomorrow or maybe it's just daydreaming and fantasy,
Pleasant or not so pleasant,
Dreams and whatever pulls you away,
Just noting what pulled you away and then ever so gently and kindly escorting the mind back to the breath,
Bringing it back with tenderness and care just like you would a small puppy,
Puppies are ever so curious,
They're always pulled away chasing after a new smell or sound or some fancy arising in the puppy's mind and off it goes chasing it,
So our minds are a little bit like a small puppy,
Full of curiosity and willingness to run after one thing and then the other and knowing that that is how we have evolved to have mind,
There is a purpose for it but in the right time and the right place and at this present moment we are training in mindfulness,
So just seeing what pulled the mind away and ever so gently bringing it back,
Back to the breath and know that in that moment of noticing that the mind has wandered,
You are mindful,
You are in the present moment aware and in that moment,
In that pause,
You have choices and the choice for this training exercise is to come back to the breath,
Breathing in and breathing out,
Gentle rocking rhythm,
Flowing in and flowing out,
This rhythm that we were born with,
Always with us,
Always available to come back to,
The breath,
Breathing in and breathing out,
Breathing in kindness and tenderness,
Care for yourself and others,
May I be kind to myself and allowing yourself to feel in your body any naturally arising sensation,
Any sensations of warmth and care,
Allowing yourself to feel,
Allowing yourself to feel what you are feeling,
It's all okay,
Whatever it is,
It's all okay,
Breathing in and breathing out and now as we draw this short practice to a close,
Just sitting for a few moments before you proceed with your day,
Just allowing yourself to feel what you are feeling,
Allowing yourself to be.
