A 10 minute sitting guided meditation practice.
So settling into a posture that's going to be comfortable for you for the next 10 minutes.
Either on a chair or on cushions or if you feel you need to lying down.
And just taking some time to settle into your posture.
Bringing attention to how it feels to be sitting or lying down.
Noticing the places where your body makes contact with the ground.
Feeling of your sitting bones pressing down into the chair if you're in a chair.
Noticing this sense of pressure,
Tingling,
Warmth.
Direct experience of sensation of your contact with whatever supporting you.
Now you may find yourself very naturally settling into being quiet and still.
Or you may find that your mind is very busy.
Caught up with thoughts and preoccupations.
So if that is the case,
Perhaps just trusting that your mind will settle in its own time.
As you bring your attention to your direct experience of sensation.
Feeling your hands resting in your lap or by your sides.
Feeling of contact,
Warmth.
Perhaps even buzzy,
Tingly sensations.
A sense of aliveness in your hands.
And then feeling a sense of your body as a whole sitting here or lying.
Noticing anywhere in the body where you find yourself bracing or tensing.
And just inviting your body to soften.
Allowing your weight to sink.
And then if you're sitting upright,
Taking your full height,
So without force or strain.
Putting the length in your spine,
Your head balanced on your neck.
And then bringing your attention to your breathing.
So feeling the breath wherever you sense it most clearly.
This rhythmic rocking motion.
If you like you can place a hand on your belly to help you stay with the sensations.
And following the breath all the way through the breath cycle.
From the beginning of the in-breath,
Through the length of the in-breath,
Through the beginning of the out-breath and the entire duration of the out-breath.
Your breath may feel relaxed and easy,
Smooth.
Or it may feel tight and a little bit laboured or even forced.
But as best you can,
Just opening to the experience of your breathing just as it is.
Trusting that it will unfold in its own time.
Perhaps noticing that each out-breath is very naturally followed by an in-breath.
Noticing that the breath requires no effort on your part.
Almost as if the breath were just happening all by itself.
Now sooner or later,
And probably sooner,
You'll find that your mind wanders off.
So that's entirely normal.
And just simply coming back,
Gently but firmly,
Bringing your attention back to this breath coming in.
All this breath going out.
And then bringing particular attention to the point at the end of the in-breath.
The out-breath.
As the breath releases,
A moment of stillness.
Perhaps for just a fraction of a second.
Where nothing happens,
A slight pause.
Breathing in,
Breathing out,
And a still point.
And then bringing to mind that we're going to bring the practice to a close.
So tuning into a sense of the space your body takes up in the room,
Feeling of your weight on the chair or on the floor.
And a sense of the room around you.
And then listening to the sound of the bells.
