Hello and welcome to this guided meditation practice.
My name is Andrea Colombo and I'll be guiding us into this practice dedicated to the cultivation of a quiet,
Calm,
Relaxed and peaceful mind.
Allow me a few words before we start with the actual meditation practice.
Being able to experience a quiet,
Calm and peaceful mind is essential.
It's essential especially within Buddhist meditation practice because a quiet,
Peaceful,
Calm mind can give rise to wisdom,
The capacity to see more clearly what is actually taking place in our life moment to moment.
A clear mind allows us to see with more accuracy what is happening within our mind,
The thoughts and the pattern of thoughts that often causes unnecessary suffering.
A clear mind also allows us to see more clearly within our heart the symbolic locus of emotions and to see more clearly what emotional states we are experiencing and how powerful they can be in directing our life,
Our behaviors,
Our actions.
And a clear mind also allows us to see with more precision and appreciation the qualities that create and support our body,
This very precious human body.
So we clear the mind that is a natural rising of wisdom to see clearly our thoughts,
Our behaviors,
Our actions,
Our emotions,
Our responses to our emotions and all the different conditions that support us in every single moment of our existence as well as giving us a better chance to face the many difficulties,
Experiences,
Challenges and celebrations that we all have during this amazing human journey of ours.
And now let's take a few moments,
If you haven't already,
To begin the practice by taking a few moments to pay attention to our body and finding a comfortable and stable position,
A position that is going to support you during this practice and also a position,
A posture that is reflective of your intention to be present,
Aware,
To be able to remain as stable as possible in this ever-changing moment-to-moment experience.
It does help to be able to sit upright whether you are in a cushion or on a chair so that your breath can move smoothly and also again taking this posture that is reflective of your intention to be present,
Not a stiff position but one that allows you to be in balance and stability and within some degree of comfort.
And if you haven't closed your eyes,
Please feel free to do so now and if you find it difficult or challenging,
Keep your eyes softly closed allowing just a little bit of light,
Lowering your gaze right before you.
And begin by noticing that you are breathing right now.
Notice the quality of your breath.
Notice the experience of breathing.
Let the breath move very smoothly without any interference on your part,
Just allowing this natural movement of breath in and out of the body,
In and out of the nose without the need to control or change your breath in any way.
The most important aspect is the attention and the awareness on the breath.
This again is quality.
A certain degree of interest may help you connect more to this ever-changing experience that we can notice through the breathing,
The experience of being alive in this moment.
So notice how your body responds to each breath.
Notice the sensations of the breath coming in through your nostrils and descending into the rest of your body,
Down into the belly.
Notice the expansion of each breath,
The expansion of the body as you breathe in,
And the retraction of the body as you breathe out.
Tune in into this natural flow,
Allowing your mind to rest only in this experience right here,
Right now,
Letting everything else go.
Whatever has happened in the day,
Whatever will happen or you'd imagine that will happen,
Let it all be.
Right now,
Stay here,
Just right here where you are in this moment.
Whenever the mind starts to wander off,
Which is very natural for the mind to do,
Be patient,
Be kind,
And bring the attention back to this moment,
To this breath,
Without any worries,
Without any judgment,
Simply returning to now.
And continue to allow this moment to unfold as it is,
With no agenda,
With no other intention,
But to simply be here with yourself,
With this moment,
As it unfolds,
One breath at a time.
Remindering the mind from anything else that it may be interested in doing or engaging in,
And support in this mind,
And remaining right here,
And staying connected to this moment through the sensations that you're experiencing as you continue to breathe,
As you continue to feel the movement of breath in and out,
The responses of the body to each breath.
We may begin to really experience the natural quiet,
Calmness,
Peacefulness that can arise.
We give our mind something very simple to connect with,
To be aware of,
And nothing can be more simpler and soothing and supportive than being aware of this breath,
Of this moment,
Of this sensation,
Of these sounds.
Noticing they're coming and they're going.
Noticing the movement of experience,
Just like you notice in the movement of breath,
The movement of sensations in your body,
The movement of thoughts through the mind.
Perhaps you've been noticing the emotional mood and how that too can change.
And there's a sense of quiet and peacefulness that again can arise as we simply pay attention,
As we observe with our awareness,
While remaining fully present.
And it is amazing to notice the sense of presence,
The sense of presence that undoubtedly we are all feeling right now,
The sense of presence that arises from our awareness and our mindfulness of the experiences that we are having,
All happening right here,
Right now,
In this ever-changing moment.
Experience the quiet and the calmness that arises by not having anything else to do but to just rest right here in full awareness,
Just as you're doing.
The sense of quiet and peacefulness that arises by keeping this experience very simple.
Simply being aware while remaining fully connected to this moment,
Not of our past,
Not of our future but this,
This precious moment that we are sharing right now.
This moment of full aliveness.
Do notice when the mind wanders off,
Which again the mind will do very easily.
And so with kindness and with patience we bring our full attention again to this moment,
Reconnecting with the breath,
Reconnecting with the body,
And resting again right here,
Right now.
Simply aware,
Giving ourselves full permission to just do this,
No demands,
No pressure,
Just resting in awareness,
Mindful of the experiences that we are having,
Mindful of their calming and their going,
Just like each breath.
The breath that comes,
Stays,
Goes away.
So do all of our experiences.
They come,
They stay for as long as they need to,
And they vanish.
It is with a clear mind that we are able to experience this coming and going while remaining fully aware.
As if you were undistracted while watching out in the ocean or the river or the hillside or in the woods,
The movement of nature right before you,
Right inside of you,
While remaining fully present,
Stable in the awareness of the changing moment,
Allowing peace to settle in,
To settle into our mind,
Our heart,
Our body.
The awareness that gives rise to our capacity to see,
Feel,
Experience with more clarity,
Each and every moment of our experience as human beings.
So allow yourselves to fully rest moment to moment.
Continue to do so for the next few moments,
Taking advantage of this precious time that we have right now and in general,
In terms of the time that we have.
In our human journey,
In our life,
A life that we are seeing unfolding right before us,
Within us,
Right now,
One breath at a time,
One experience at a time.
See this with clarity,
Calmness and peacefulness of mind.
I hope you found this practice helpful and supportive and if it was so,
Please feel free to share it with anybody else who may be in need right now.
Thank you and thank you for your practice.
