Allow the eyes to close or simply drop the gaze down.
But whatever you choose,
Make sure to turn the focus away from a world of doing and towards the richness and beauty of the inner experience.
Whatever actions have just been taken,
Whatever your day has already brought,
Gently allow it to rest in the past.
Whatever actions are about to come later on,
Whatever the day ahead represents,
Allow it to remain unknown.
Let it rest in the future.
It belongs to the future.
Let your senses expand and open.
Become aware of your breath very simply.
Notice the quality of your breath,
The depth,
The length.
Notice if you're holding your breath.
And as soon as we turn our attention towards that holding,
It starts losing up all by itself very naturally.
Become aware of the first point of contact between the air and the area just underneath your nostrils.
Notice the gentle breeze of the air just underneath the nostrils.
Notice if there is any difference in temperature between your skin and the air.
You might even be able to tell if there is a difference in energy,
In quality between the air that comes in and the heavier air that goes out.
With every inhale,
A new freshness,
A new life force.
With every exhale,
A new opportunity to release any tension and become more present.
Notice the air traveling up your nostrils and down your throat.
Notice if there is one nostril more dominant than the other.
Notice the cooler air brushing the back of your throat with every inhale.
And as you notice that,
Become aware of any tension you might be holding in the area around your throat and your jaw.
Notice that it takes some effort,
Tension takes effort.
And gently allow that effort to subside,
No effort.
Allow the air all the way down into your lungs and maybe by now even your belly.
Notice where do you feel the breath the most.
Is it up in the chest,
The middle of the chest or maybe lower down in the belly.
Wherever that is,
Allow your attention to gently stay there for a few precious moments.
If any thoughts come and go,
No problem.
This is very natural.
Just notice them and see if you can stay away.
Don't log in.
And let your attention come back to the breath.
Watching the effortless ebb and flow of the breath.
Become aware of your whole body breathing,
Your whole skin breathing.
Becoming a little wider with every inhalation.
Reaching out.
Becoming more spacious.
And contracting back down with every excitation.
Notice all the muscles that have to work for this to happen.
Allow the slightest of your conscious input.
You can trust life to breathe you as it always and already does.
You might already become aware that as you focus on the breath,
Everything gets a little quieter.
There is more peace,
More presence,
Greater clarity.
So allow that to deepen with every inhalation and integrate more fully with every exhalation.
With every inhale,
More peace,
More clarity,
More silence.
With every exhale,
Allowing every cell of your being to feel it.
Even the most distant cells from your heart.
Even your toenails can feel it.
Take a moment once more to allow your awareness to expand and open.
And include the whole of your experience right now.
The whole of your being.
What does it mean to be here right now?
What is my present experience?
You might become aware of your physical body.
Sitting on a cushion or on a chair or whatever support you are using.
You might notice areas holding in and areas feeling fully open and at ease.
You might notice unconscious tension.
You might notice comfort and also discomfort.
You might even notice physical pain.
Whatever you are noticing,
See if you can allow it to be fully here.
Without resisting it,
Without having an opinion about it,
Without even labeling it as pleasant or unpleasant.
It is very natural that we try to avoid things that are unpleasant and try to hold on to things that are very pleasant.
And these categories are categories of our mind.
So what if we challenge them just for a minute and have no opinion whatsoever of whatever we are experiencing?
What if we met it with beginner's eyes like a baby?
Let your attention travel to your thoughts and become aware of any thought activity present in you right now.
If there are no thoughts whatsoever,
That's very good too.
You can just stay without silence.
Become aware of how you experience thoughts.
Is it words in your head or images?
If they are images,
Are they black and white or in color?
If there is a voice,
Is it your voice or someone else's?
Are you both the listener and the speaker at the same time?
What's the subject of conversation?
You might notice that as we turn our attention towards our thoughts,
It's harder to experience them.
Everything becomes quieter.
When our attention goes out and gets involved in thoughts,
They seem incessant.
But as soon as we turn our gaze towards them rather than away from them,
It's as if they can't even come up.
Become aware of any emotions present in you right now.
And once more,
Become curious about how you experience emotions.
Is there a physical aspect to them?
Are they located somewhere in the body?
Are you capable of labeling them?
Become aware of any qualities this emotional experience might have.
Does it have a texture?
Is it open or closed emotion?
Does it have a color?
A direction of movement?
Does it have a weight?
And if this emotion could speak,
What would it ask for?
Is it possible to open to it whether it's pleasant or unpleasant?
Is it possible to open to experience it without having an opinion about it?
You might notice that as we turn our attention towards the emotion rather than away from it,
The resistance starts going down.
There is capacity to experience it.
There is capacity to stay with it.
There is capacity to investigate it,
Inquire into it.
There is capacity to say yes to it,
However difficult it may be.
It is already here.
And the more we deepen our capacity to say yes,
The more we deepen our capacity to say yes to ourselves.
And that is true love,
True self love.
You might discover that at the bottom of each emotion there is another one or another layer.
And the more you keep opening,
The more you discover your depths.
And under all layers of emotions there is a present of great and exquisite beauty.
May all beings discover it.
Om shanti shanti shanti.
Om shanti shanti shanti.
Om shanti shanti shanti.
Om shanti shanti shanti.
Om shanti shanti shanti.
