Begin this meditation by finding a posture that works well for you,
Either with your feet comfortably on the floor or folded back,
Mostly upright,
The eyes either closed or softly finding a point of focus in the room.
Bring your attention first to the breath,
Feeling yourself breathe in and out,
Noticing the speed of the breath,
Just how it feels in the body.
Make this your first point of focus,
Really allowing yourself to be with each inhale and exhale.
Then as you continue in this process you might notice things arising in your attention,
Whether it's thoughts or feelings or sensations or memories.
And for this part of the meditation just allowing those things to fade as the breath is that central piece of focus.
You're not pushing them away,
You're just noticing them and bringing your attention back to the breath.
And then maybe as you start to observe these things in your consciousness you might start to notice some patterns.
Perhaps you notice you're labeling thinking a lot or feeling a lot or caught in a memory or sensation.
And just allow yourself to notice this now,
Bringing your attention back to the breath each time.
As you start to go deeper into this meditation,
Allowing yourself to find two items that are in your consciousness to focus on for this meditation.
Maybe that's thinking versus feeling or memory versus future.
Choose what feels best for you.
And after you've selected two items to focus on in this meditation,
When they come up just allowing yourself to softly label them before returning your awareness.
As you're in this part of the meditation you don't have to return your awareness to the breath,
You're simply allowing it to be free.
And maybe as you start to do this you might find things shifting in your awareness.
If you picked thinking versus feeling,
Maybe you're starting to notice how often you're labeling thinking today.
See if you can also pay attention to your attitude as you are labeling thinking.
Does that label contain harshness or condemnation or frustration or pain in it?
We're not judging what the mind is doing,
We're simply observing what it's doing.
And maybe as you start to do this you start noticing that the mind is becoming a little bit more open or a bit more quiet.
Or maybe not,
Just being with and accepting what's there.
And maybe at some point during this meditation you find yourself confused about what you are supposed to label.
Maybe you're uncertain if you are thinking a feeling or feeling a thought.
Just allowing yourself to trust what's happening in the present moment.
And now just letting yourself become aware of your inhale and your exhale again.
Just noticing if the breath feels any different at this point in the meditation from when you started.
Then bringing the attention down to something that feels solid within the body.
Maybe it's the butt as it's on a chair or a couch or the feet as they're on the floor or the hands on the knees,
But some place that feels solid that you can really absorb those sensations.
And once you've allowed your awareness to rest on this place,
The time that feels right for you,
Slowly allowing yourself to open your eyes.
