And let's begin.
First,
Bringing our attention to body.
And positioning our body in a way which balances gentleness to body and wakefulness to mind.
And so if feet are comfortably resting upon the floor.
Feeling the support of the floor upon soles of feet.
And then deciding if your back needs the support of the back of the chair and seated all the way back or scooting forward a little and being seated unsupported.
Either way,
Inviting a rising up of spine from your seat.
As if each vertebrae is slowly stacking atop each other,
Rising up through low back.
Through the thoracic region.
Up through neck and then up through the crown the top of head rising up towards sky That may be a few simple shoulder rolls,
Seeing if there's any residual tension being carried in your shoulders and inviting shoulders,
Loosening and lowering upon torso.
Arms draping down from shoulders.
And hands finding a comfortable resting place,
Maybe hands resting upon thighs or cupped within laps.
Wherever they find ease and comfort resting.
Then noticing the position of head atop spine and shoulders.
And if you notice your head kind of hanging out in front of your body,
Sliding that head back.
And so the weight of head is supported atop spine and shoulders.
Inviting a loosening of jaw.
Then deciding with lips either gently touching or slightly parted.
And then deciding either eyes open and simply inviting in the light while you're practicing or allowing lids to lower,
Whichever you prefer.
Settling in.
Coming back home to body.
And as a way of further arriving within body,
Bringing your attention all the way down into toes and feet.
Noticing what sensations are found within toes and feet and greeting those sensations with a welcoming,
Suspending judgment and striving,
Just noticing the sensations as they are.
Moving your attention now up into calves and thighs and hips.
And again,
Just noticing what sensations are found within this region,
Whether you find them to be pleasant or unpleasant or neutral.
Reading these sensations with her.
Curiosity and letting go of sorts.
Bringing your attention now into belly and low back.
Ribs and mid-back.
And chest and upper back.
Just noticing.
What sensations are found here?
Letting go of their urge to have to react or change those sensations and just noticing them as they are in this moment.
Bringing your attention now into shoulders and arms,
Forearms and hands.
Just noticing.
What sensations are found here.
Setting aside judging or striving as best as you can and just being with these sensations as they are.
Bringing your attention now back up into shoulders and then rising up next.
Rising up the back of head.
Moving forward across ears and jaw.
Muscles around mouth.
Upwards across face,
Across cheeks and eyes and nose.
Temple and forehead.
And arriving at crown,
The top of head.
Just noticing the sensations found here as well.
Greeting them as they are.
Letting go of any need to react or do,
Just noticing.
And also perhaps just noticing what it was like to practice self-care in this moment and checking in with body.
It's not only a way of bringing your attention into this moment,
It is truly a way of bringing kindness,
Compassion towards self.
And then choosing what your focus will be during this meditation.
Perhaps it'll be body breathing.
Just noticing those sensations,
Perhaps some of the rise and fall of chest and belly.
Or the movement of air through nose.
Being with these physical sensations as a way of further coming back home to body in this moment.
And for some folks,
Perhaps they find that the breath is not of ease and comfort.
And you can always choose another physical sensation in this moment.
Maybe it's the felt sense of feet upon floor,
Hands resting upon thighs.
Sometimes we think the only choice is body breathing.
And it's really more about.
What is a sensation occurring in this moment where I can align my attention?
Moving out of that time travel we do in our minds,
Typically into the past or the future.
And choosing some focal point in this moment.
And perhaps you can hear some of the noise coming from my environment today.
And that brings up a wonderful topic of distraction.
So often we think meditation has to be done in some perfect,
Serene place.
The reality is meditation is about really arriving in whatever our environment presents us with.
And so truly there is no distraction when we're practicing meditation.
It's really more so an opportunity of bringing together observation and curiosity.
And so we use the focal point as a way of reclaiming our ability to focus.
In the space-time of here,
Now.
And then we bring together observing,
Or witnessing is another word for this practice,
And curiosity with whatever we encounter either within or from without.
Just noticing.
With this noticing,
We can either just stay with the raw and filtered sensory experience,
Be it within our bodies or arriving from the environment.
Or we can take it one step further and notice our reaction to the sensory experience.
Perhaps clinging to the pleasant or pushing away the unpleasant.
It simply becomes something else to observe in this moment,
The initial sensory experience and our reaction to that.
Beauty of this practice is we can always take one step further back,
Broadening our field of awareness to observe.
What's happening next.
You may ask,
Why do we do this?
My first response is,
Find that answer through your own experience.
I know what I find is a.
.
.
Clearing of swords.
Almost like a fog.
And cleared away by the warmth of the sun.
And finding.
Fully showing up.
Just allows me to engage with.
The world in a different way.
So explore for yourself.
Why do we bother doing this?
Enhancing our focus,
No disinter reactivity.
Discover your own answer to that question today.
What are you finding in this moment?
Showing up in this way.
An opportunity or a discovery of letting go that which may Holding you back,
Dragging you down.
An opportunity of more of.
Something of showing up more of yourself.
And the gifts that come with that.
If your eyes were closed,
Opening eyes and noticing what it's like receiving through the eyes from this stance that you've cultivated.
Perhaps some of the filtering of that mental chatter,
Not quite as loud,
Allowing you to.
Receive or through your eyes.
That may be a little gentle stretch or movement as a way of transitioning back into the activity of your day.
From this place that you can tap into anytime,
Anywhere by calling upon the breath as a partner.
Inviting your full self into this moment.
So thank you and be well.
