So again to explore different ways to bring ourselves into the present moment by noticing all the different things we can be aware of that we can be conscious of.
That will include internal and external things,
So thoughts,
Feelings,
Breath,
Body and sounds and the environment around us as well.
So I'm going to start by becoming aware of the breath.
I'm going to try and keep my awareness nice and light and open and not focus or concentrate on the breath.
But just allow the breath to be in the centre or the foreground of my awareness.
So I can still hear sounds,
Notice thoughts.
I'm still aware of all the other things that are happening in this moment.
I'm just taking a bit more interest in the breath and how the breath feels in the body.
I'm going to see if I can really allow the breath to flow freely through the body.
I'm really enjoying the rise and fall of the breath.
So I allow the breath in and let go as I breathe out.
I'm going to begin to include all the other sensations of the body as well as the breath into my awareness.
So aware of the arms and legs,
Front and back of the body and the head.
Just having a scan through to feel the energy of the body.
Feeling the weight of the body.
And feeling the aliveness of the body,
Feeling the living presence of your body.
Allowing the body to settle into just being here in the present moment.
Allowing myself to arrive fully into the body.
Then moving to my thoughts,
Becoming more aware of my thoughts.
Noticing how I tend to identify with my thoughts and to think that I am my thoughts.
And realizing that I can observe and be aware of my thoughts just as I can any other experience that's happening in this moment.
Just like the body or the breath or sounds.
I become the observer of my own thoughts.
I can become the observer of the thinker and the thoughts.
I find I can only really be the observer of my thoughts if I become disinterested in the contents of my thoughts.
And give my thoughts complete freedom so I can allow any thoughts at all to come into my mind.
I don't make any effort at all to change or redirect,
To slow or stop any thought.
Allowing my thoughts to flow just as freely as the breath.
Allowing the thoughts to rise and fall within my awareness.
And I can do the same for my emotions and feelings.
Becoming the observer and not worrying whether how I'm feeling is positive or negative.
Not expecting or aiming to feel one way or another.
Just allowing myself to feel as I am.
Giving myself space to feel that way without judgment.
Giving my emotions just as much freedom as my thoughts and my breath to flow freely and to just be as they are.
Giving myself space just to be me and just to be as I am in this moment.
Letting go of any effort to be any different.
Being that unconditional space for me to just be within.
There's nothing else I need to be doing in this moment,
Nowhere else I need to be and no one else I need to become.
I accept all that I am and I allow myself just to be as I am.
And then having that feeling of releasing,
Of letting go,
Letting go of the body,
Letting go of the breath.
Letting go of the emotions and the thoughts.
Allowing everything to be free and to be just as it is.
Having that feeling of relaxing into the body,
Relaxing into myself,
Relaxing into this present moment.
And relaxing into this space of my awareness.
So next I'm going to use mindfulness of sounds to allow my awareness to really open up and widen and broaden and go beyond myself,
Beyond my body and breath and thoughts and feelings and to extend out into the environment around me.
So listening attentively with alertness,
With openness to all the different sounds that I can hear in the space around me right now.
Noticing any continuous background sounds.
Noticing the occasional sounds.
Noticing the nearby sounds.
And then really listening out as far as you can to the most distant sounds.
And even if there aren't any right now,
Keeping that awareness really wide and broad and open.
So if and when any quiet or distant sound has come,
You'll notice it and be able to listen.
And getting a sense that in the background between and behind the sounds there is a silence,
A quietness.
A silent space within which all the sounds are coming and going.
A silence that is always there.
And seeing if I can bring that quietness,
That silence into the foreground of my awareness and allowing the sounds just to drop back into the background.
Filling my awareness with the silence,
Being absorbed by the quietness.
And exploring that silent space and noticing it's also a space of stillness.
A space of emptiness.
A space of light.
And a timeless,
Changeless space.
And an unlimited space.
So everything that I experience that happens within the present moment happens within this space of my awareness.
So all the sounds happen within my silent awareness.
All movement happens within the stillness of my awareness.
All form,
All objects,
Including my body,
I experience within the emptiness of my awareness.
And all change,
All passing of time happens within my changeless and timeless awareness.
So holding the totality of the experience of this present moment,
Internal and external experiences,
The thoughts,
The feelings,
The body,
The sounds.
All limited experiences,
Movements,
Changes happening within my awareness.
Experiencing all these things from my silent,
Still,
Changeless awareness.
I'll leave a few minutes of silence now before we finish.
Just allowing yourself to fully relax into the present moment and into the space of your awareness.
All right.
All right.
All right.
All right.
All right.
All right.
Just a few more moments.
Feeling the sound and the silence,
Movement and the stillness,
Form and emptiness,
The self and the whole,
The present moment and the awareness within which it exists.
All right.
Okay.
So we bring the meditation to a close.
Take in a couple of deep breaths,
A bit of movement back into the hands and feet.
A bit of stretch at the back and the shoulders and just open your eyes if they've been closed whenever you're ready.
