And let's begin.
First bringing attention to body as a way of arriving into the space-time of here,
Now.
And Finding a posture,
A positioning of the body,
Which is gentle and kind to your body,
What it needs this morning and invites a wakefulness.
So feet.
If you're seated,
Feet are comfortably resting upon the floor.
And thighs and bottoms supported by the seat of the chair,
And a moment of tuning into that sense of support.
Sometimes in life,
I think we feel like we're unsupported or struggling.
This felt sense,
We can literally feel a grounding,
A supporting of body.
Balancing that with a lifting up through torso and neck and the top of head towards the sky.
Feeling that.
Physical lift,
Providing perhaps even a mental emotional lift as well in this moment,
Body rising up to sky.
And through our body posture,
This bringing together grounding of earth and spaciousness,
Rising up of sky.
Then allowing.
The rest of body to settle in.
So where do you feel comfortable in this moment?
Where do hands find a resting place?
Choosing eyes opened or closed.
Being kind to self in this moment as we settle in.
And then 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 in this moment.
Bringing attention now up into calves,
Thighs,
And hips.
Noticing tension and inviting a letting go as best as you can.
Bringing your attention now up into belly and low back.
Ribs and mid-back.
And chest and upper back.
Noticing tension.
And inviting a letting go.
Bringing your attention now into fingers and hands.
Forearms.
Arms and shoulders.
Noticing tension.
Inviting,
Letting go.
Bringing attention now up into neck and head.
Across space.
And up to crown.
Noticing tension.
Inviting,
Letting go as best as you can.
And now having practiced this act of self-care by gentle tuning into body,
Just noticing what body needs in this moment.
Directing your attention to the sensations of body breathing,
Wherever the easiest to make contact with.
Perhaps feeling the rise and fall of chest and belly.
For the movements of air through nodes.
Not needing to change or manipulate the breath,
Trusting body will breathe as is needed in this moment.
Simply bringing your attention to these physical sensations of body breathing.
And by the reality of having minds.
That have evolved to scan and tune into novelty.
At some point.
Focused will likely drift away from body breathing.
Typically into memories of the past or anticipation of the future.
And that's okay.
It's just our minds doing what minds do.
And Also,
A capacity of mind is to notice this drifting away.
And so when you notice the drifting away,
Where's just a light touch?
Where did I drift off to?
Way of acknowledging what captured my attention in this moment,
What may be up for me in this moment.
And then a gentle kind coming back to body breathing once again.
As I was thinking about our meditation today,
A self-confession.
It's quite common for us mindfulness facilitators to talk quite a bit during guiding meditations.
Actually,
I prefer meditating in complete silence is my initial way of experiencing it.
And so noticing this tendency to talk a lot,
I want to offer you the opportunity of the spaciousness of silence today.
Sometimes that can be a little overwhelming and recognizing keeping it simple with our approach here.
Zooming into body breathing.
When you discover you've drifted away.
Just acknowledging at a light touch where you drifted off to and then coming back to body breathing.
And if there's any emotional resonance with where you've drifted off to,
Just acknowledging that as well.
As humans,
We have emotions.
We experience them.
Maybe a better way to frame it up.
So just notice the thoughts,
The emotions of.
Something unfolding and then gently,
Kindly coming back.
We have the capacity to do this.
Let's now play with that capacity.
And what am I noticing in this moment?
If it's something pleasant,
Then savoring the pleasantness of it.
If it's something unpleasant.
Suspending judgment and striving and just letting it be,
Remembering I am okay.
In this moment,
Even in the presence of unpleasantness.
And coming back to body breathing once again.
Breathing.
Observing this unfolding moment.
Letting go of wanting it,
Desiring this moment to be any different than it is.
And exercising our capacity to be with this moment.
As it is,
What is there to be found when I simply.
Hang out in this space as it is.
Remembering.
I am bigger than anything I encounter in this moment,
Any thoughts or emotions or sensations.
I can hold all this.
This capacity of witnessing and observing.
And at any point in the spirit of kindness and self-compassion,
I can step out of this.
Experience completely opening my eyes,
Moving around.
It's also an option too.
Then stepping back in.
As we come to the end of this meditation,
Perhaps a moment of gratitude to ourselves for the courage to show up and be present in this unusual way,
Hanging out in silence and cultivating compassionate well-being and presence.
Danny Arguetty.
A little gentle stretch and movement to transition mindfully back into the activity of your day.
Thank you all.
Pleasure to hang out with you and until we meet again.
Be well.
