We'll begin our practice today just by finding a comfortable sitting position.
So you might like to sit cross-legged on a cushion,
Maybe kneeling,
Or in a chair of your choice.
As you settle into your posture,
Just beginning to notice where your body is making contact with whatever seat you're on today.
Find the connection of the back of your legs,
Maybe your lower back with the seat.
See if you can allow yourself to feel held and supported by the seat that you're in.
Knowing we spend so much of our energy day to day trying to keep our body upright.
Just noticing if we can just allow ourselves to feel held for a few moments.
You might like to soften your gaze a few feet down to the floor in front of you or closing the eyes if that's more comfortable.
As we continue to feel that contact with the seat,
Just beginning to feel the pull of gravity drawing you closer to the earth.
Allowing the body to feel heavy and at rest.
You might like to imagine that there's an invisible string that's coming out of the top of your head.
It's gently pulling your spine,
Neck,
And head upright towards the sky.
So the body's upright and dignified position.
There's no need to tense or strain the posture.
You might roll the shoulders up towards the ear on an in-breath.
Roll them back down on an out-breath.
Noticing if that creates any more spaciousness in the heart area.
Now that we're in a hopefully stable and supported posture,
We'll begin to just check in with the breath today.
It can be helpful to explore a couple different sensations of the breath and the body to see which one feels most alive and most accessible today.
You might notice the rise and fall of the belly or maybe the rise and fall of the chest with each breath as it comes in and out of the body.
Or you may notice the sensation of air coming in and out of the nose.
Just becoming aware of any changes in sensation and temperature with each inhale,
Each exhale.
After experimenting with those different sensations of the breath,
Just allowing your awareness to intuitively settle on whichever one feels most nourishing in this moment.
Just resting your awareness on that sensation of the breath coming in and out of the body on its own.
Noticing how the breath breathes itself.
There's no need to strain or force the breath.
When the mind wanders into thoughts,
Which it always will,
The intention of our practice is just to bring our awareness back to the next sensation of the breath.
So we need to judge where the mind is gone.
Simply returning to the breath and beginning again.
Noticing the rise and fall of each inhale,
Each exhale.
Feeling held by the seat.
Feeling supported by the earth,
By gravity.
Noticing where the mind is at.
If it's wandered,
Again,
Just bringing it back to the sensation of the breath.
Resting in this spaciousness for a few moments.
Releasing any effort of noticing the breath,
Of noticing the body and just allowing your awareness to become expansive like the sky.
Just for the last few moments of our practice,
Resting in the sense of spaciousness you've created the past five minutes.
There's nowhere to go,
Nothing to do.
You feel ready in your own time,
Just gently beginning to bring your awareness back to the sensation of the body resting on the seat.
The breath coming in and out.
Beginning to blink open the eyes if they've been closed and just returning to your daily life and seeing if you can bring a sense of this groundedness,
This spaciousness and ease you go about your day.
