Finding a comfortable seat and settling in as you find ease in your body.
Making any adjustments as you need to settle your body.
Perhaps allowing the shoulders to soften,
The belly to soften.
You're noticing as your hands and your feet soften.
Relaxing the muscles of your face.
And sitting tall but with ease and finding a kind attention within yourself to see you through this practice.
And as we settle in together,
Let's begin by first welcoming in the body.
Noticing your body here in space seated.
Welcoming your body to the practice.
Next we welcome in our heart.
Welcoming your heart to this practice.
Now welcoming in your mind.
With your body,
Heart and mind present here to the practice,
If it resonates with you,
Welcome in your soul.
The divine essence of self,
Your Buddha nature.
Whatever you call this divine aspect of self,
Welcome it in.
Body,
Heart,
Mind and soul.
Ready for this mindfulness practice.
Allowing yourself now to begin to notice your breath.
Noticing the temperature of your breath as it enters the body.
Noticing the temperature of your breath as it exits.
So you sharpen your awareness to the breath.
Now noticing where the breath is landing most obviously for you,
Where you can detect it.
Perhaps it's in the nostrils,
The back of the throat.
You might notice it more in your chest or your belly.
Take a few breaths here to notice where your breath lands.
There's no right or wrong,
It simply is.
So just noticing.
Continuing to focus on your breath,
The inhale and exhale as they come and go again and again.
Breathing in and breathing out,
Noticing where the breath lands.
Using your breath as an anchor for your mindfulness practice.
Breathing in,
Noticing where your breath is landing.
Breathing out,
Letting go.
Focusing on your breath,
Inhale and exhale.
Allowing the breath to be easeful,
Not forcing anything,
Just allowing the breath to be as it is.
Now using your breath as an anchor for your mind,
Let's move into mindfulness of thoughts.
And as you notice your thoughts through this practice,
Can you bring a kind awareness,
A kind attention to your thoughts?
You could imagine yourself standing or sitting in a beautiful safe wooden bridge that crosses the gently flowing stream.
And from this vantage point of the bridge,
You see your thoughts as they pass by,
Flowing down the stream underneath the bridge.
And sometimes your eyes,
Your mind will follow them all the way downstream.
The goal is to not dive in and follow them to the end of the stream.
See if you can use your mindfulness every time you notice a thought to come back to the breath,
Come back to your vantage point of the bridge,
Simply watching,
Noticing with a kind attention.
And all thoughts are welcome,
All thoughts are welcome in this stream that flows by you and underneath you.
If you end up swimming downstream or perhaps walking downstream,
Know that you can very easily climb out anytime you choose,
Dry yourself off and make your way back to the bridge.
So allowing your anchor to be your breath like we practiced before,
Inhaling,
Noticing where your breath lands,
Exhaling,
Letting go,
Holding your awareness as best you can on the breath,
But watching for thoughts as they float downstream,
Taking note and then coming back to your breath.
Keeping your mind anchored on your breath,
But noticing thoughts as they pass by.
You might find it helpful to label thoughts as they arise,
Provides a way of more easily letting them go,
Letting them float downstream by themselves.
You might notice that you're planning or making a list,
Perhaps a thought is judgmental,
Maybe it's a happy thought,
Maybe it's a frustrated thought.
Labelling your thoughts as they arise and letting them go,
Knowing all are welcome.
So you settle back into your breath.
Taking note of how easy it is for the mind to drift away from the breath.
Every time you notice this,
It's a moment of mindfulness and gently guide your awareness back to your breath.
Inhale,
Noticing where your breath is landing,
Exhaling,
Letting go,
Noticing thoughts as they arise,
Labelling them,
Letting them pass by and returning to your breath.
Let's take one more minute here of mindfulness of thoughts,
Holding our attention anchored to the breath.
Noticing with kind attention where your mind is at now.
What thought is present?
Is it awareness of the breath,
A particular thought that's carried you downstream?
Labelling the thought whatever it is,
Letting it go.
Now letting go of the practice,
No need to notice your thoughts,
No need to focus on the breath.
Allowing yourself a few moments here of stillness and simply being,
Do your practice of mindfulness with kind attention.
As we near the end of this meditation,
Taking a few moments to reflect back and notice if there were any thoughts that predominated,
Were there patterns to your thoughts,
Repetitive thoughts.
With a kind awareness,
Just take note,
Becoming aware.
Now letting go,
Let those thoughts continue to drift downstream.
Take a nice big inhale through your nose,
Fill up the lungs and exhaling,
Letting go.
Letting go of the practice completely.
And I wish you a beautiful beginning of your day,
Remainder of your day or evening.
And thank you for your practice.
