Allowing your body to settle into a comfortable position.
Taking three purposeful breaths.
And on the exhale,
Just releasing any tightness or tension in your body.
So that your body feels loose and soft.
And when you feel ready,
Just opening to the sounds.
Opening to the entire field of sounds around you.
Allowing the sounds to come and to go.
You don't need to do anything with the sounds.
You don't need to make anything happen with them.
We're simply hearing.
Allowing our awareness to settle on the sounds.
As you listen to the sounds,
You may notice that they feel pleasant or unpleasant or neutral.
That there's this feeling tone with the sounds.
So as you listen,
Just see what the feeling tone is for you.
There are sounds that are always with us.
But now is an opportunity to be with the sounds,
To pay attention to them.
And now we'll just allow the sounds to fade into the background and gather up our attention and bring it to the feeling of the breath in your body.
Just beginning to notice that you're breathing.
We're breathing all the time,
But it's not something that we always pay attention to.
So now we'll just feel the sensations of the breath.
If it feels comfortable for you,
Just bringing your attention to the tip of your nose or to your mouth and breathing normally and naturally.
Whatever feels natural for you.
Feeling the breath as it enters your body and feeling the breath as it exits your body.
We don't need to be present for every breath.
We're just present for this breath right here,
Working one breath at a time.
Every breath is an opportunity to begin again,
To be present.
And as we do this,
Our attention is just bound to wander,
To travel away from the breath.
When you wake up and notice that your attention has traveled away from the breath,
See if you can let go of whatever it is that's taken your attention away,
Whether it's thoughts or sounds or even sensations in your body.
And in a gentle,
Non-judging way,
Bring yourself back to the breath and start over.
Feeling the sensations of the breath in your body.
If you feel comfortable feeling the breath at your nose or mouth,
You can continue on.
But if you care to,
Bringing your attention to your abdomen and feeling the breath at this part of your body,
Maybe even taking the palm of your hand and placing it on your abdomen to feel the rising of your body with the in-breath and the falling of your body with the out-breath,
The expanding of your abdomen as the breath comes in and the contracting of your abdomen as the breath travels out.
Just working one breath at a time.
If your mind feels very distracted and very busy right now,
You can always go back to listening to the sounds for a couple moments and then coming back to the breath and starting over.
So just noticing where your attention is right now.
If it's with the breath,
Just continuing on to the next breath.
And if your attention has wandered away,
Just seeing if you can bring it back to this breath right here,
Feeling the rising and falling of your body with the breath.
So giving yourself permission to let go of thoughts about the past,
Thoughts about the future,
And even a commentary or your judgment on the present.
Just allowing yourself to be with the breath,
Feeling the familiarity with your breath.
Noticing where your mind is right now.
If it's wandered away from the breath,
Just in a non-judging way,
Coming back to the next breath.
There's nowhere to get to right now,
Nowhere to be,
But right here,
You with your breath,
Feeling the serenity and tranquility that can come when you're able to allow your mind to settle and just be with the breath.
However things are happening right now is how they're happening,
Seeing if you can open to this moment with a sense of curiosity and spaciousness.
Just practicing one breath at a time.
In a moment I'll ring the chimes to signal the end of this meditation.
And when I do,
Just knowing there's no rush to open your eyes,
Just allowing them to open when you need to be.
Bell Bell Bell Bell Bell Bell
