Meditation.
Mindfulness of body and breath.
This is a short meditation designed to settle and ground yourself in the present moment and so finding a comfortable position,
Either lying on a mat or a thick rug or sitting on a firm straight back chair or a cushion.
If you're sitting on a chair allowing your feet to be flat on the floor with your leg is uncrossed and allowing your spine to be straight so that your posture supports your intention to be awake and aware.
Your posture can be dignified but comfortable,
Not stiff or tensed up and if you're lying down allowing your legs to be uncrossed with your feet falling away from each other and your arms lying alongside and slightly away from your body and now allowing your eyes to close if that feels comfortable or lowering your gaze and bringing your awareness to the sensations where the body is in contact with whatever is supporting you.
Spending a few moments exploring these sensations.
Now gathering your attention and moving it to focus on your feet so that the spotlight of attention takes in the physical sensations in both feet and ankles.
Any and all sensations,
Moment by moment.
Noticing how sensations arise and dissolve in awareness and if there are no sensations simply registering a blank this is perfectly fine.
We're not trying to make sensations happen.
We're simply paying attention to what is already here.
Now expanding your attention to take in the lower legs and then the knees and the rest of the legs and so holding both legs now,
Centre stage in awareness and expanding attention again up the body to the pelvis and hips,
The lower back,
The lower abdomen and gradually expanding attention to move up the torso,
To the chest,
The back,
Right up to the shoulders.
Noticing all the physical sensations in this region of the body and now expanding again to include the left arm and the right arm and the neck,
The face,
The head until you're holding the whole body in awareness now and seeing if it's possible to allow the sensations in the body to be just as they are.
Not trying to control anything or wanting things to be different from how you find them and now bringing your awareness to the centre of the body,
To the sensations in the abdomen as the breath moves in and out of the body.
Noticing the changing patterns of physical sensations here.
If you like you can place your hand here for a few breaths and feel the abdomen rising and falling,
Being fully alive to the sensations of breathing for the full duration of each in-breath and the full duration of each out-breath.
Not trying to control the breath in any way at all simply letting the breath breathe itself.
Sooner or later you'll probably find that the mind wanders away from the breath to thinking,
Planning,
Remembering or daydreaming and whenever this happens there's no need to criticise yourself.
Simply registering where the mind has wandered to then gently escorting the attention back to the breath and remembering.
The aim is simply to notice where the mind has been and then gently escort the mind back to the breath moving in the body and now using the stretches of silence to practice this by yourself and coming back to the breath whenever the mind wanders and remembering that the breath is always available to help bring you back to the present moment.
Whenever you find your mind scattered and dispersed by the rush and busyness of your life,
Always here as an anchor deep within you,
A place of stillness and peace.
