So I just want to invite you then to find your comfortable meditation posture.
Just allowing yourself to feel settled in the seat.
Just taking that moment to land and arrive.
Maybe feeling the points of contact where your body meets the chair.
And sensing into that sensation of how the ground meets the feet,
The pressure,
Warmth,
Coolness,
Vibration.
Sensing into the hands.
Noticing their position whether they are in your lap,
On your legs.
Maybe they're in contact with each other or apart.
And then just becoming aware that the body is breathing.
Sensing into what it feels like as the body breathes in and what it feels like as the body breathes out.
Not trying to change the way the body is breathing,
Just allowing the breath to be the way that it naturally wants to be.
Just allowing this whole system of body,
Mind and heart to come into presence.
And acknowledging that sometimes it might take the mind a little while to be ready to settle.
And that's okay,
There's no rush.
Maybe just recognizing how the mind is right now.
Sometimes there can be lingerings of whatever we were doing earlier on.
Or maybe still thoughts of what's coming later today.
And just remembering that in meditation we're really not trying to stop any thoughts from coming or to stop the mind from processing.
Just recognizing that if they come that is the nature of having this human mind.
It's just taking this moment now to come back to the breath.
Sensing into the body,
Feeling the body in this moment breathing,
Is how we practice and how we encourage the mind to settle.
Just allowing the mind to join the body where it always already is,
Right here.
Right now in this very moment.
With this breath.
Maybe noticing how the breath is right now.
Sometimes it can be quite short and shallow.
And sometimes it can be deep and slow.
Knowing that there's no special way that the breath needs to be.
Just let the body breathe itself however it naturally wants to be.
And if the mind does want to take your way into thoughts,
Daydreams,
Plans,
Memories,
Antices.
Just recognizing that this is the nature of having a mind.
And then just remembering the breath.
Here it is.
We might hear that reminder many,
Many times that it's okay for thoughts to arise.
It's not necessary to try to suppress them or push them away.
And yet we can sometimes still find that there is that temptation to,
To want the mind to be quiet.
To want to stop the thoughts from coming.
But just knowing that every moment is an opportunity to begin again.
And remember that we're really not trying to stop the thoughts.
And we're not trying to put too much effort on the breath.
It can be quite helpful to think of the breath or to think of breathing.
It's just something that is good to remember.
So that when we're being with the breath,
We're using very little effort.
Just enough to know that the breath is coming in.
Just enough to know that the breath is going out.
When we get carried away into distraction,
We just remember there is a body.
There are sensations.
And there is this breath.
So maybe now becoming aware of the whole of your posture,
This whole body breathing.
Feeling once again into the points of contact in the seat.
Sensations of pressure or tingling,
Pulsing,
And the feeling of the feet,
And the hands,
And the breath,
And the whole body.
And in a moment,
We'll bring this meditation to an end.
With the sound of the bell.
And as we prepare for that,
Maybe reconnecting with the good intentions that we have for ourselves and for others.
May the merit of our practice be for the benefit of all beings.
May we all be happy.
May we all be healthy in body and mind.
May we all live with ease.
