This is the 10 minute sitting meditation guidance.
So taking a comfortable seat,
One where the body will be balanced,
Alert,
And at ease,
Allowing the eyes to close,
Or using a soft gaze angled downwards,
And being aware of what's happening now,
Noticing this transition from the busyness and activity of the day to relative stillness and quiet.
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Aware of the body sitting and being supported,
Noticing contact with the chair or cushion,
Feeling the hands,
Perhaps on the thighs,
Or in contact with each other,
And if the feet are in contact with the floor,
Noticing that.
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Aware of what can be sensed in the body right now,
And bringing the attention to the sensations of breathing,
Noticing the breath perhaps at the tips of the nostrils,
Or noticing the rising and falling of the chest or abdomen.
So just selecting one of these areas to stay with,
And to be aware in a precise way of the actual sensations,
Not thoughts about the breath or ideas on how it should be,
But with curiosity,
What really are the sensations that I'm feeling right now?
What can be known about the breath?
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Aware perhaps of the texture of the breath.
Is it smooth or rough?
Noticing the speed of the breath,
Whether it's shallow or deep,
And once again,
Not to fix or change,
Just being aware of the breath as it is now.
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And at some point,
The attention is likely to get drawn into thinking,
And as soon as we notice that that has happened,
We are already aware,
So we can just redirect the attention back to the sensations of the breath,
The very matter-of-fact attitude,
No reason to beat ourselves up.
Knowing this wandering of the attention is just the nature of the mind.
Each time we bring the attention back to the breath,
We're strengthening our ability to clearly know what's happening and to be able to stay with that experience.
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Seeing if it's possible to stay with each full cycle of the breath,
So noticing the beginning of the in-breath and the middle and end,
Noticing if there's a pause,
And then the beginning,
Middle,
And end of the out-breath,
Staying with each breath,
Noticing its changing nature.
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Noticing where the attention is now.
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Present with just this breath.
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In a minute or so,
You'll hear three bells,
Which will signal the end of this sitting meditation period.
And so staying with the sensations of the breath for the remaining time.
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