Hi,
Welcome back to the Meditation for Beginners series.
I'm so pleased that you're here on day five.
Let's not waste any time and get right into it.
So taking a comfortable seat,
Take a few moments to settle in to your breath and the space around you and closing the eyes when it feels right.
And as you get settled in,
I invite you to choose something to focus on for today's practice as an anchor for your attention.
Some options are your breath,
Really focusing on the rise and fall of the inhales and exhales.
Or perhaps you'd rather focus on the feeling of your hands together in your lap or the solid feeling of your feet grounded on the floor.
Another option is to choose something external to yourself,
Like the landscape of sounds that you can hear from where you are.
Choose whatever resonates with you in this moment.
And as we sit,
If you change your mind and you want to try a different anchor,
Do that.
It's great to have experience practicing with each of the different possible anchors so that you can get familiar with each of them and what feels best to you.
Take a few deep breaths to help you drop in to the body.
There's nothing else to do now except be here with your attention on your anchor.
Having an anchor during practice gives something for your attention to rest on and come back to.
My favorite anchor is the breath.
I like how it changes subtly with every inhale and exhale.
Each inhale is nourishing and each exhale is an opportunity to let something go.
On days where I'm having trouble getting out of my head,
I also really enjoy using sound as my anchor and giving my mind a rest from thinking by tuning in to the symphony of sound around me,
Whether it sounds from inside the room where I'm in or the outside world.
When the moment you realize that your attention has wandered,
With kindness and compassion,
Bring it back to the anchor.
And truly,
Here is mindfulness,
Noticing a thought,
Acknowledging it,
And training your mind to come back to the present moment again and again.
And when I say bring your attention to your anchor,
What I mean is to really feel any and all sensations that you're experiencing.
If you're using your feet as your anchor,
What exactly does the rug under your feet feel like?
What about the texture of your shoes or your socks?
Are there differences in sensation that you can feel between your toes versus your heel?
Now widen the scope of your attention from your anchor to include your entire body,
From the top of the head to the soles of the feet and everything in between.
How does the body feel right now?
And now opening the eyes,
Bring your awareness to the space around you,
Reorienting to the room or the place where you are.
Wonderful job today.
I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow.
