This is a short practice to introduce a little mindfulness to whatever's going on for you right now and to take a few minutes to simply allow yourself to breathe and be,
Meet whatever's in the moment.
So to begin with just bringing a little attention to the comfort of your body.
You may like to lie down on your back on the floor or on the bed or you may wish to sit up and sitting in a comfortable chair or on a meditation cushion on the floor.
We're looking for a balance of something that feels easeful and relaxed but also supported and with the possibility of being alert rather than nodding off.
So once you've made any adjustments you need to make to your posture you might like to take a couple of deeper fuller breaths with a longer exhale to allow yourself to really arrive in this position and this few minutes of rest.
You may like to invite your body to soften a little and release just a little of any tension you may be holding with each out breath.
It can be helpful to to let go of any idea of striving to relax and simply allow yourself to be with whatever's here just for this moment so we're not trying to fix anything.
Bringing your awareness now to the points of contact between your body and the chair or the floor or the bed.
Whatever's supporting you.
You may like to invite yourself to release a little more into that feeling of being held.
Bringing your awareness to any sensations between your body and what's holding you.
So there may be softness of a mat or cushion or the chair.
Maybe firmness of the floor.
And now allowing your awareness to move from those points of contact.
Inviting the awareness now to rest in the breath in your body wherever you feel most aware of it.
That may be in the rise and fall of your belly with the in breath and out breath.
It may be in the swelling of your chest.
Expansion of your ribs or maybe even in the nostrils and the back of the throat with the air coming in and out.
And we're not trying to change anything with the breathing.
Just bringing your awareness to it.
And if doing that makes you feel uncomfortable or bringing your awareness to the breath doesn't feel like a safe place to rest then you may like to return your awareness to the points of connection between your body and whatever's holding you.
You might find that very quickly your mind begins to wander away from the breath or the points of contact.
That's absolutely normal and that's what minds do.
That doesn't mean we're not meditating or not doing it properly.
The process of mindfulness is about inviting our awareness to return over and over to what we choose to pay attention to.
And with as much kindness to ourselves as we can manage.
You may find that you're able to rest your awareness with the rise and fall of your breath or you may find that your mind is distracted or you're aware of other sensations in the body.
Whatever's here,
How would it be to just allow it for this moment?
Is it possible to offer ourselves a kind of softening of the body?
A softening of the attitude towards our experience?
Just as best we can.
And if that feels too challenging right now,
How is it to offer yourself some kindness or some acceptance of that?
Maybe inviting your awareness to return to the breath or to the points of connection with the body and what's holding you.
We're not trying to relax.
We're not trying to do anything except invite our awareness to rest in the body.
And then simply noticing when we get distracted,
When other things take our focus away.
And that's not a problem.
There's nothing wrong when that happens.
And it's the noticing that is the act of being mindful.
And whatever you notice,
How is it to offer yourself some acceptance of that as being just part of the human experience?
And whatever you notice here,
Whether it's peacefulness and relaxation or discomfort or irritation,
Restlessness.
Can you simply find a way of allowing that to be just part of being human?
Noticing too as these responses change,
Like the weather.
And now as we come towards the end of this short practice,
Letting go of any effort at all to maintain your awareness on anything and simply resting for a moment.
Inviting your awareness now to return to the points of contact between the body and the furniture or the body and the floor.
And then allowing that awareness to open out to include awareness of the room that you're in,
The space that you're in.
Maybe sounds that you're aware of.
And then when you're ready,
If your eyes have been closed,
Gently allowing them to open and returning to your day or your evening.
Perhaps thanking yourself for taking a few minutes to attend to what's really going on for you right now.
