And let's begin.
Feeling your feet comfortably resting upon the floor.
Thighs and bottom supported by the chair.
And deciding if your back needs the support of the chair than sitting back.
Or if you're comfortable doing so,
Allowing yourself to be unsupported.
Either way,
Inviting a comfortable rising up of spine towards sky.
Nothing forced or rigid.
Simply a lifting up of spine through torso,
Neck,
And the top of head.
Bringing your attention to shoulders and maybe a shoulder roll or two to loosen and lower shoulders on torso.
Allowing arms draping down from shoulders and hands finding a comfortable resting place.
Either resting upon thighs or cuffed within lap.
Noticing the position of head relative to body and inviting head to slide back a little.
Supported by spine and shoulders.
Again,
Not forcing anything,
Just allowing the muscles on the back of the head to rest.
Neck of the neck to relax.
The spine and shoulders support head.
Inviting a loosening of jaw.
Lips either gently touching or slightly parted.
And deciding eyes opened or closed,
Whichever you prefer in this moment.
Now bringing your attention down your torso,
Down your legs,
And all the way down into toes and feet.
Noticing the presence of any tension or tightness and inviting a letting go as best as you can.
Bringing your attention now into calves,
Thighs,
And hips.
Noticing tension and inviting a letting go.
Bringing your attention now into belly and low back,
Ribs and mid-back,
And chest and upper back.
Noticing tension,
Inviting a letting go.
Bringing your attention now into fingers and hands,
Forearms and arms.
Noticing tension,
Inviting a letting go.
Bringing your attention now into shoulders and neck,
And rising up the back of head.
Noticing tension,
And inviting a letting go.
Bringing your attention forward now across ears and jaw,
Muscles around mouth,
Upwards across cheeks and nose,
Muscles around eyes,
Forehead and temples.
And arriving at crown,
The top of head.
Noticing tension,
Inviting a letting go as best as you can.
And now having practiced self-care with a checking into body.
Bringing your attention now to the physical sensations of body breathing.
Wherever you find it easiest to make contact with the sensations of breathing.
Perhaps feeling the rise and fall of chest and belly,
Or the movement of air through nose or mouth.
Not needing to change or manipulate the breath,
Simply filling your attention with the sensations of body breathing in this moment.
And for some folks,
Breathing may not feel a safe or comfortable focus,
And that's okay.
You can choose another sensory-based focus in this moment,
Maybe feet resting on the floor,
Or hands resting on thighs.
Filling your attention with a sensory-based focus in this moment.
And at some point,
Whether you've been meditating for years and years,
Or this is your first time,
Focus will likely drift.
And a common place that our focus drifts to is into thoughts,
Maybe memories of the past or worries of the future.
And first acknowledging this is okay,
This is what our minds do,
Generating thoughts.
And for this meditation,
When you notice that's happened,
With gentleness and kindness,
Ushering your focus back once again to body breathing or whatever your focus is in this moment.
Breathing,
Observing this unfolding moment,
Letting go of expectations,
Outcomes,
Anticipations,
And letting this moment simply be as it is.
An opportunity of suspending,
Judging,
Or striving.
Greeting all that you encounter with qualities of allowing,
Patience,
Curiosity.
No special place to arrive,
No special state to achieve.
Simply observing this moment as it unfolds,
And the space-time of here,
Now.
And before bringing this meditation to a close,
Maybe a moment of gratitude for showing up and practicing in this moment.
An opportunity to access this innate capacity we all have of mindfulness within.
And now if your eyes were closed,
Opening eyes,
Inviting in the lights and surroundings.
Maybe a gentle stretch or movement as a way of transitioning back into the activity of your day.
May you be well.
