Find a quiet place in which to take a comfortable seat.
Sit up tall,
Relaxed but alert,
And gently close your eyes.
Breathe patiently and fully,
Yet gently and quietly.
In and out,
Through your nose.
Give yourself permission to do nothing.
Give yourself permission to embrace this moment of stillness,
In which there's nothing at all that needs to be done,
Other than staying here,
Relatively still,
Watching the breath.
As you watch the breath with an easy,
Relaxed,
Spacious mind,
Place some small amount of attention on what else the mind or the body is feeling.
Notice your own discomfort in simply being present,
Doing nothing.
Notice if the mind would rather run off toward the future,
A to-do list or planning.
Notice if the mind would rather busy itself with reviewing the past or thinking.
And each time you notice,
Acknowledge the pull of movements of distraction.
And then with the loving patience of a compassionate elder,
Give your mind permission to rest.
Help the mind settle,
Be at peace,
Be still,
By guiding toward awareness of body and breath,
Without thinking of breath,
Present with breath,
Without thinking of body,
Present with body.
Feel into breath and body as you let the mind rest back.
Allow for the mind to feel spacious,
Open and at ease.
Allow the mind to drop into the joy and the bliss of no longer needing to do,
The bliss of simply being.
This not doing includes no longer fighting against the movements of the mind or the rising thoughts.
Allow this to,
To simply be.
Chase nothing,
Distractions will arise,
But there's nothing to do.
Just notice,
Acknowledge and love.
And you'll find yourself again in the spaciousness of presence with the body and with the breath.
Feel into the preciousness of this moment,
This relative quiet,
Relative stillness.
Recognize its beauty with your whole body,
The freedom in resting back,
The spaciousness in stillness.
Give yourself permission to stay right here for as long as you'd like.
There is nowhere to go,
Nothing to do,
Nothing more sacred or more worthy than this.
Just watching,
Noticing,
Being present with your body and your breath.
Give yourself permission to be still.
