Welcome to your Cultivating Presence Mindfulness Practice.
Begin to settle into the space that you are in and in a comfortable seated position upright so you can remain awake and aware for your practice.
You might sit on a chair or you can place a cushion or some yoga blocks under the sitting bones for assistance for the back.
If your back feels unsupported in any way allow the spinal column to rest against a wall.
Most importantly do not worry if the location you are in isn't perfectly silent or what you believe is conducive to reach a meditative state.
We often want to try to control the external expecting it to be perfect for us to maintain a sense of stillness and present moment awareness.
However we can only control the internal which is what we will focus on in this mindful practice today.
So allow your hands to simply rest on your legs when you're ready with the palms facing up towards the sky.
Start by getting a general sense of how your body and mind are feeling within this moment.
How do you physically feel?
How do you mentally feel?
Can you condense this feeling into one word now?
Now begin to bring the awareness towards your breath starting by the simple connection to each breath in and each breath out.
There is no need to try to control the breath here but simply observe without attachment.
If it feels easier place one hand on your heart and one hand on your belly.
Tune into the physical sensation of breathing.
Notice how with each inhale the belly expands with the chest rising and as you exhale the chest contracts and the belly releases.
Stay here for a minute exploring the body breathing itself.
The mind will naturally wander off at some point.
Once you notice that the mind has gone elsewhere lovingly bring the awareness back to the breath and back to the body.
Remember this is what true mindfulness is.
Actively bringing our awareness back into the present moment.
Take a few more breaths here.
Now release the awareness from the breath and rest your hands back onto your lap if they weren't there already.
Start to explore and get curious as to the sounds occurring around you.
Starting by noticing the sounds in the room that you are in.
Are there any sounds external to the room that you are in such as cars on the road or birds talking outside?
What do you hear?
Stay curious to all sounds around you for one minute now.
Can you hear any subtler sounds around you?
Can you hear the quiet rhythm of your breath?
The sound of the air entering your nostrils and then expelling out as you exhale.
Releasing the awareness from any external sounds and begin to bring into your mind's eye what parts of the body are connected to something physically.
Notice the right sitting bone connected to the earth beneath you.
Notice the left sitting bone connected to the earth beneath you.
Allow this physical support to let the body feel rooted,
Grounded and at ease.
And then in your own time explore the other areas of the body which are physically connected to something and allow these body parts to soften with each breath in and each breath out.
Visually allow each exhalation to drop into each body part and then allow this body part to soften further into the support beneath you now.
Remember you haven't failed if the mind has wandered off.
You are simply being a human.
Focus on any body parts connected to something for a few more breaths.
Taking some soft blinks to come back to the natural lighting around you.
Lastly immersing yourself in the here and now by focusing on one item in the room that you are in and for one minute give this item your undivided attention.
It's now time to release your awareness from this item.
On your next breath in draw your shoulders up to your ears and as you exhale release the shoulders back down.
Twice more now.
Take a deep inhale,
Shoulders to ears and exhale release.
One more time when you're ready.
Your practice is now coming to an end.
Notice how the mind and body feels and if there are any subtle differences compared to when you first started.
Our bodies and minds are different every day and you're welcome to take this practice on another day to cultivate a sense of presence when needed.
Thank you for being here.
