The first thing you're invited to do is to become aware of your posture.
Becoming aware of the spine,
Each vertebrae stacked upon the other,
From sacrum to skull.
The back is vertical,
But not stiff.
The more effortless this can be,
The more flowing the breath will be.
We are attempting to engage in a posture that exemplifies dignity and being awake.
The idea is to sit with a sense of strength and stability,
To be comfortable and at ease,
Developing what is called our seat as we begin to engage in the practice.
So in addition to becoming aware of the spine,
Allowing the chest to rise slightly,
The chin is in line with the navel,
The eyes and the tongue are at rest,
And becoming aware of the sitting bones,
Whether you are sitting on a cushion or a chair,
Noting the placement of your knees or your feet,
Becoming aware of where the feet are in contact with the floor,
Allowing the pubic bone to descend,
The lower body becoming a base,
And on an out-breath,
Releasing attention on the body,
And on an in-breath,
Turning awareness to breathing,
Coming aware of where the breath is most dominant for you,
That may be at the level of the lower belly,
Or the ribs,
The chest,
Or the nostrils,
Choosing the place that is most dominant for you and honing your attention here,
Noting each inhalation and exhalation,
Noticing the initiation of the inhalation,
The pause at the top of the inhalation,
And the initiation of the exhalation,
Noticing how the breath moves in and out at your chosen point of attention,
Not manipulating the breath in any way,
Allowing the breath to be as it is,
And you are with the breath with each new inhalation and exhalation,
Each breath a new breath,
The inhalation blossoming and expanding the body,
The exhalation releasing the body contracting with the expiration of the breath,
Noticing when you take a long breath in,
Noticing when the breath is short,
Without judgment,
Without a story,
Simply being with the breath as it is in this moment,
In this place,
Right here,
Right now.
Inhaling and exhaling,
And when the attention wanders into thinking,
Gently escort it to the focus at present,
Which is on breathing,
Your task is to be with the breath as it is in this moment,
And you are with the breath with each new inhalation,
Your task is to be with the breath as it is,
Noticing when the mind wanders and bringing it back over and over again,
And you are with the breath as it is in this moment,
And you are with the breath as it is in this moment,
And you are with the breath as it is in this moment,
And you are with the breath as it is in this moment,
And you are with the breath as it is in this moment,
And you are with the breath as it is in this moment,
And you are with the breath as it is in this moment,
And you are with the breath as it is in this moment,
And you are with the breath as it is in this moment,
And you are with the breath as it is in this moment,
Exploring the parameters of that sensation as it is in this moment,
Its edges,
Its depth,
Its other qualities,
Whether it is challenging or providing ease,
Simply noticing the sensation without judgment or a story,
And when thoughts arise concerning the sensation,
If they do,
The instruction is the same,
Simply noting those and bringing your attention back to the focus in this moment which is sensation,
And when you have finished exploring one sensation fully,
Awaiting for another sensation to arise and bringing your attention to this one,
Exploring its qualities and parameters,
Is it simply at the level of the skin or is it deeper,
Remembering that a sensation may be pressure,
Temperature,
Tension,
Ease,
And noting if some sensations are particularly challenging,
Noting what arises then in the next moment,
Noting what arises then in thoughts or feelings,
And as best you can,
Note those,
And then bringing the awareness back to the focus on that sensation,
And should you feel the need to move,
Doing so mindfully,
But perhaps investigating whether it is possible to stay with whatever sensation is arising or do you really need to make the decision to move,
And if choosing to change your position,
Doing so with a kind of deliberation,
And then coming back to sitting,
Attending to sensations in the body as they come and go,
Noting if you can allow the sensation to be as it is,
Turning toward it even if it is unwanted,
Noting how the body and sensation in the body can become a compelling place for our attention and proliferative thinking,
And if you note a cascading of thought taking you into the future or the past,
Into some reverie or challenging thought,
And coming back to awareness of sensation as it is,
And its parameters and various qualities,
Repeating this process over and over,
Using the body in this moment as our focus of attention and awareness abiding here,
By becoming aware of sensations that arise in the body while we are practicing meditation,
The intention is to be able to notice what arises in the body when we have other experiences in life,
Whether they be positive or difficult,
Allowing us a place to bring our awareness when we need so that we may respond more skillfully.
And with the next out-breath,
Releasing your attention on sensations in the body,
And with the in-breath,
Allowing the attention to rise to the ears,
Opening the ears to whatever sensations are arising,
Hearing sound as it is,
Without naming,
Without judging,
Noting sound,
Without holding or clinging,
Allowing sound to come and go,
Seeing if you can bring curiosity to hearing,
Noting whether sound is continuous or discrete,
Loud or soft,
Noting the spaces between sounds,
And if there are no sounds,
Simply noting that,
Hearing as it is in this moment,
The ears open and receptive,
No need to judge or evaluate hearing,
Allowing and letting be,
Honing your awareness and abiding your attention on hearing.
The attention wanders to other sensations in the body or to thoughts or to emotions,
And when this happens,
Bringing your awareness back to a focus on sound,
Back to a focus on sound.
Bringing our attention to hearing can be a way of increasing kind of spaciousness,
Allowing us to be with changing experience as it is.
Attending to sound is another way of being with direct experience,
Attending to its qualities of pitch,
Timber,
Rhythm,
Tone,
Noticing the layering of sound,
Noticing the silence and being with that.
As hearing and attending to it may allow us to open our awareness,
And this may be brought to the observation of thinking,
So as we can be with sounds as sensations,
So we can cultivate a relationship to thought,
Also as a sensation arising from the mind.
So on the next out-breath,
Releasing your awareness of hearing,
And on the in-breath,
Bringing your focus to thinking,
Observing thoughts as they are,
Treating thoughts as sensations that arise,
Expand in the field of awareness,
And then recede.
Perhaps labeling thoughts when they are arising,
Thinking.
If you need to adopt this as a way of assisting your ability to maintain your attention,
Feel free to do so.
The observation of thinking as it is,
Coming and going.
There's nowhere to get to,
Nothing to do,
Except being present right here and now.
And if you wake up to find that you have been carried off by a cascade of thinking,
Noting that,
And congratulating yourself to waking up to the tendencies of the mind,
And then gently coming back to the observation of thinking.
Sometimes it can be helpful to imagine thoughts as bubbles that float up from the mind,
And then pass away,
Or as text on a screen that come into view,
Arising and passing.
Sometimes it may be useful to imagine thoughts as a kind of waterfall,
And you are standing behind the waterfall,
Watching as they cascade down,
Not engaging with,
Not retreating from.
Seeing if you can be curious about the thoughts that are arising,
Without needing to grip them or be gripped by them.
Thank you.
And now you're invited to bring the entirety of your awareness to experience whatever it is.
The sensations of breathing,
The sensations of the body,
Sounds,
And thoughts,
Or emotions if you wish.
Opening your awareness,
Accepting a kind of choicelessness in your attention.
It may be helpful to bring up the input of your consciousness,
It may be helpful to bring up the image of a tree,
With solid roots and trunk,
But the branches are flexible.
Thoughts and emotions are like storms or the wind moving through the branches,
Breaking them until they pass.
The tree is stable,
Without resisting or blocking,
Allowing the experience of the wind to pass through.
You too can be with experience,
Allowing thoughts and feelings to pass through without bracing,
Blocking or resisting.
The breath may serve as an anchor,
Allowing the attention to see thoughts and feelings with more clarity,
Making room for them and holding them with a more spacious and compassionate awareness.
And if you are ever carried off or lost in thought or emotion,
You can come back to breathing,
Giving it center stage.
Observing your experience without leaning in or away,
Staying with,
Letting be.
And with the next out-breath,
Letting go of this more expanded awareness and on the in-breath,
Bringing the attention back to sensations in the body,
Whatever they are,
Coming aware of whatever presents itself via sensations in the body as they come and go.
And now with the next out-breath,
Letting go of the sensation in the body,
And with the in-breath establishing awareness of breathing,
Noting the expansion of the belly on the inhalation,
And its deflation on the exhalation,
Being with the breath as it is,
Allowing the breath to be an anchor to experience as it arises and passes.
While attending to the breath,
Being aware of each moment,
Breath by breath,
Moment by moment,
Knowing that the opportunity to be mindful and attentive to experience is as close as the next breath,
As close as this breath,
And this breath,
And at the sound of the bell,
Letting go of this formal practice and coming into the next moments of your day.
