Setting aside the task at hand and giving yourself the gift of some space as far as maybe turning off other devices,
Putting yourself on mute or not available,
And then deciding if you're going to practice today in a seated position or perhaps laying down.
Either will work.
Of course,
The one challenge of laying down is falling asleep,
And sometimes it can help having your eyes open to promote some wakefulness,
So choosing whether you want to be seated or laying down today.
And let's begin our meditation,
And I will give guidance for a seated position since that's the position that I'm in today.
So feeling your feet comfortably resting upon the floor if you're in a seated position,
How the floor rises up to greet our feet with equal and opposite pressure,
And then feeling the support of the chair upon thighs and bottom,
And again,
How the chair provides equal and opposite pressure,
That sense of being fully supported in this moment.
And if your back needs the extra support,
Please use the back of the chair to be kind to your back.
Otherwise,
You have the option of scooting forward just a little bit from the back of the chair and inviting a comfortable rising of spine up towards sky,
Nothing forced,
Just a one vertebrae stacking atop the other and then rising all the way up.
And then maybe a few simple shoulder rolls,
Noticing if there's any tension being carried in the shoulders,
Inviting shoulders to loosen and lower into herself,
Aligning head atop spine and shoulders.
Sometimes it's common for your chin and head to be jutting forward,
And just like pushing a drawer back into a cabinet or chest of drawers,
Sliding that head back atop spine and shoulders.
Again,
Not forcing,
Comfortably.
Inviting a loosening of jaw,
Teeth,
Unseparating from the upper and lower jaw.
Lips can either be gently touching or slightly parted,
Whichever you find more comfortable.
And eyes either open or closed,
Again,
Whichever you find to be a preference.
Oh,
And hands,
They can either be resting upon your thighs or cupped within lap,
Again,
Whichever you find to bring more ease and comfort to body.
And coming back home,
Settling into body,
Much the same way if you take a glance at a glass of stirred up muddy water,
And then set it on a counter,
And it begins to settle and clear,
Bringing this focus into body as a way of settling,
Inviting a clearing as well.
Truly embodying this experience right now.
You go through life,
Present within body,
But sometimes not really being there,
Not really being home.
And so,
Feeling the sense of body from head to toe and fingertip to fingertip in this moment.
And choosing a central focal point,
It's common to use body breathing,
But if you find something else to be of more ease than choosing that,
If you are using body breathing,
Coming in close to the felt sense of breathing.
Now,
With the inhale,
There is a expansion of body.
Maybe a pause at the end of the inhale,
Not forced,
Just noticing.
Then the letting go with the exhale.
Simply feeling,
Letting the awareness of the sensations of body breathing fill in your field of awareness in this moment.
Perhaps imagining that your field of awareness is like a container and body breathing is filling it completely.
All there is to notice is the sensations of body breathing.
And being the humans that we are,
At some point,
Our focus will drift.
It's a natural occurrence.
Typically,
Some sort of thoughts.
Maybe memories of the past or worries of the future.
And when this happens,
It's not a failure.
This is not a,
Oh,
I'm doing this wrong.
It's simply a natural occurrence.
During meditation and really during our entire day.
The practice of meditation is not about not losing focus.
Instead,
When you notice your focus has drifted away,
Simply acknowledging,
Oh,
Look,
I've drifted away.
And then with a gentleness and kindness,
Exercising our capacity to choose what we're focusing on.
Redirecting our attention back to body breathing once again.
Letting that fill our awareness,
The sensations of body breathing once again.
Now having some practicing of coming back to this central focal point.
Inviting ourselves to expand our field of awareness a little more broadly,
To include your whole body.
From head to toe and fingertip to fingertip.
Simply noticing sensations reporting in from different regions of the body.
Not necessarily going,
Looking,
Letting the body speak to us in this moment.
It's not uncommon that the first regions of body that call for demand or attention are regions of discomfort.
And inviting ourselves to hold that discomfort in your awareness right now.
That experience of unpleasantness.
What's it like to acknowledge the presence of this unpleasantness in this moment?
What is my first reaction to it?
Sometimes we'll want to ignore it or push it away or wrestle with it.
Simply acknowledging the unpleasantness and my initial reaction to it.
Again,
With kindness,
Curiosity.
Then much the same way that a mother cradling a cranky baby would respond to that baby in a loving kindness of sorts,
What would it be like in this moment to offer a loving kindness to this region of the body,
Which is simply reporting in.
Letting us be aware of this region.
Holding this region within our awareness much the same way a mother would be cradling a cranky baby.
I mean,
We like the unpleasantness.
It's more so greeting it with an acceptance and allowing of sorts.
How does that change our overall experience in this moment?
With our next in-breath,
One more moment being with this region of unpleasantness.
With breathing out,
Now coming back to body breathing once again,
Filling our awareness.
Now,
Opening our experience to noticing something pleasant in this moment.
Maybe it's the softness of clothing upon skin or warm air upon skin.
Certain sound in our environment or a certain smell.
We can open our eyes and visually take in.
Maybe there's something of beauty that we can notice.
Being with this experience of pleasantness in this moment.
A pleasant sensory experience.
What's my first reaction to this experience of pleasantness in this moment?
Sometimes we may find ourselves spinning off into thoughts as a result of this pleasantness.
Some memory association of it.
And inviting ourselves to practice savoring in this moment where we don't spin off into the mental world of past or future.
We simply stay with the pleasantness in this moment.
Letting that fill our awareness and drinking in this experience of pleasantness right now.
Not rushing past it,
But simply fully making contact with this experience of pleasantness in this moment.
What effect does that have on mind,
Body,
And emotions?
Practicing savoring in this moment.
Now,
Coming back to body breathing once again.
Inviting ourselves throughout the day when we notice some discomfort or possibly even pain.
Noticing our first reaction to it and just being with it.
Seeing how that affects our experience,
Our options,
Our choices.
And then when we notice some pleasantness,
Savoring it in the moment.
Not cheating ourselves of the joy and pleasure of that.
Now opening eyes and reconnecting with surroundings.
Maybe a little stretch as we come to a close.
Thank you.
Pleasure hanging out with you all until we meet again.
And be well.
