The Body The intention of this Mind Time practice is simply to bring a warm,
Kindly,
Curious attention to the different parts of the body in turn.
And as ever,
We'll be working over and again with aim,
With allowing,
Enquiry and matter awareness.
And we do this practice in a posture that is relaxed and alert.
You could do it sitting upright in a chair,
Or perhaps lying down on the floor or a bed.
Have your feet and arms uncrossed.
And just finding whatever comfort you can right now.
And seeing what it's like to be OK to allow whatever's left over.
And if you want to,
You can close your eyes,
Or if you prefer,
Leave them open with the gaze unfocused.
And taking some time now to arrive more fully where you are.
Tuning into a sense of the body as a whole.
Just allowing.
Letting what's here be what's here right now.
And with a sense of enquiry perhaps,
Exploring the sense of touch where your body meets whatever you are sitting or lying on.
Sensing warmth,
Coolness,
Hardness,
Softness.
Whatever sensations may be there.
And with matter awareness just noticing how the mind responds to whatever turns up.
Tuning into sensations in the body.
Coming to an overall sense of how you're sitting or how you're lying.
And gathering the attention now,
Allowing it to settle more fully on the sensations of breathing in this moment.
Aware of the sensations of air passing over the nostrils or in the throat or chest.
And maybe taking a few deeper and more intentional breaths.
Just getting a sense of the movement of breath in the body.
The sensations of each in-breath,
Of each out-breath.
And in this Mind Time practice we're not trying to achieve any particular state,
We're not even trying to relax.
The intention is simply to direct awareness to different parts of the body in turn and to allow your experience to be however it is,
Moment by moment.
So letting the breath just breathe as it does.
And begin by bringing attention to the toes and feet.
And starting with the toes,
Becoming aware of whatever sensations or none there might be throughout the toes and the feet.
So there may be some sense of touch or pressure there,
Contact with the floor or with whatever you're wearing.
Maybe some tingling,
Maybe some numbness,
Maybe warmth or coolness.
Just exploring sensations throughout both feet.
And if you're not aware of any sensations here that's okay,
Just being aware as best you can be of the absence of sensations here in this moment.
And with matter awareness,
Noticing how the mind responds.
And moving attention to the lower legs,
The shins and the calves.
Just being aware as best you can be of sensations in the lower legs right now.
Maybe sensations on the.
.
.
I'll have to repeat that.
Maybe sensations on the surface or deeper within the muscles of the calves.
Maybe contact with clothing or perhaps some sense of warmth or coolness.
Whatever's here in the lower legs at this moment.
And when the mind wonders it's not a mistake,
Minds wonder it's what they do.
So when you notice that the mind has wondered,
Seeing that you've had another valuable moment of matter awareness,
Seeing where the attention went and gently,
Kindly bringing attention back to sensations in the lower legs right now.
And moving on to the upper legs,
The thighs,
Perhaps sensing individual sensations or maybe the whole pattern of sensations.
Moving attention to the pelvic area,
The groin,
The hips,
The buttocks.
Just sensing whatever's there in the pelvic area in this moment.
And moving attention to the lower back,
Exploring what's here.
Allowing,
Enquiring.
And when the mind has wondered,
Just acknowledging what you're actually experiencing in this moment,
Letting your experience be as it is,
Just noting there's thinking,
There's planning or whatever,
And then gently,
Kindly bringing attention back to the lower back.
Expanding the attention to the middle of the back,
The upper back,
The shoulder blades.
Just opening to whatever sensations there may be throughout the whole of the back.
Moving attention to the front of the body,
The chest and breast area,
The abdomen.
And moving attention to the hands,
The arms,
The shoulders.
And from there to the neck and throat.
The face,
Jaw,
Cheeks,
Tongue,
Teeth,
Lips,
Nose,
Eyes,
Temples,
Forehead,
Scalp and ears.
Now broadening the awareness to a sense of the body as a whole,
Including perhaps the sensations of gentle rising with each in-breath and of gentle release with each out-breath.
And when you're ready,
Bringing this mind-time practice to a close.
Just sitting or lying here,
Taking whatever time you need until it's right for you to move again.
