Welcome back to day four of seven days of mindfulness.
In this meditation practice we'll be focusing on breath,
The body and thoughts.
So let's begin.
As you begin to settle into your seat from wherever you are.
Perhaps sitting tall on a chair or today you might be lying on the ground.
Just noticing as you come into a comfortable space,
Very alive and alert spine.
Your posture,
Carefully drawing your head back in line with your neck,
Shoulders and hips.
Laying your arms and hands somewhere comfortable.
And choosing to either close down your eyes gently or perhaps keeping your eyes open with a soft gaze.
With calm awareness we will begin to bring our attention onto our breath,
Body and to thoughts.
Allowing them to come and go without any need or desire to fix or change this present moment experience.
Simply allowing ourselves to observe with kindness and curiosity.
Just noticing as your mind wanders and shifts from doing to being.
This is what minds do,
Acknowledging all that is here for you now.
When you're ready,
Begin to open your awareness now.
Pressing your attention if it's right for you,
The movement of the breath.
Not needing to fix or change the way that you're breathing,
But simply noticing how the breath is.
Just noticing the sensations of the breath as it rises and falls,
As it enters and exits the body.
Noticing when you place your attention here,
If anything changes.
With an attitude of patience and kindness,
Simply allowing yourself to observe.
Noticing with the breath,
Nurturing it with your awareness.
The pace of your breath.
You might be noticing where you feel the breath most vividly in your body.
Perhaps even placing a hand on the part of the body where you notice the breath moving most vividly,
Most intently.
And just sitting with this observation of the breath.
Breath rolling in,
Breath rolling out.
And knowing that if at any stage,
Sitting with the breath becomes challenging or uneasy,
You are welcome to move away from your attention on the breath.
And perhaps you might anchor to the sounds in the room or to your feet connecting down into the earth,
And knowing when it's time to come back to the sound of my voice,
And choosing to come back when you're ready.
As we continue to notice the breath rolling in and out.
Just following the beginning of the breath,
The middle of the breath,
The end of the breath cycle.
And again,
Beginning,
Middle,
And end.
Simply being here with the breath and the body.
There's no right or wrong,
Just observing with awareness.
And as we sit,
Perhaps now we might notice that our mind is wandering to thoughts or perhaps physical sensations.
And if you catch yourself turning towards thoughts,
Congratulate yourself.
You have arrived.
You are present.
You are awake and aware of this moment to moment experience.
The thoughts are not the enemy.
Thoughts are just thoughts.
Perhaps labeling the thoughts may be useful here in this moment.
Ah,
There is thinking here.
More worry is here.
Or perhaps remembering is here.
Judging is here.
Gently and kindly noticing what it's like to see the thoughts for what they are.
Much like the breath,
There's a beginning,
A middle,
And an end to the thought.
Perhaps we might notice some thoughts are more sticky.
Some are fleeting.
Some cycle around and others leave as quickly as they've entered.
Just noticing the thoughts.
Not needing to fix or push them away.
Knowing this is part of our humanness.
Part of this practice.
Part of observing moment to moment.
As we move away,
We come back to the breath.
Just gently coming back to the breath.
Acknowledging the thoughts.
Knowing they are always there in the background.
Placing your attention again as best as you can onto the breath.
Following the inhale and the exhale.
Just noticing if the breath is moving in the chest.
Perhaps the diaphragm.
Or maybe the lower half of the body,
The belly.
Noticing where the breath is being felt in this moment.
Surrendering to this experience.
Nowhere to be.
Nothing to achieve.
Simply sitting.
Arriving right here,
Right now.
Now slowly begin to expand your awareness onto your body as it sits here now.
Perhaps noticing sensations.
Maybe the temperature of the room or the space that you're in.
Perhaps sensing and feeling the touch of your clothes on your skin.
Maybe you might notice tightness or tension somewhere in the body.
Perhaps there's warmth and ease that can be felt here in this moment.
Maybe there's no particular sensations and that's okay as well.
Simply noting no sensation.
Perhaps a sensation.
Little sensation.
The curiosity opening up to the physical sensations that are here for you now.
Now beginning to expand your awareness into the whole body.
If you're lying down,
Perhaps noticing the length of your body and the earth supporting your whole body.
Or if you're seated,
The points of contact from your sit bones to the ground of the chair.
Slowly observing everything this present moment experience has to offer you.
Slowly begin to turn towards the senses of the body.
Tuning into the sounds that might be near or far.
Just recognizing here the sense of sound.
Sensing in sound,
Exploring the beginning,
The middle and the end of the sound.
And then slowly bring your attention on the sense of smell awakening to the sense of smell.
Perhaps there is something familiar here or something new.
Or perhaps there is no particular smell.
Lastly beginning to awaken to the sense of sight.
Starting to open your eyes ever so gently.
Letting in a sliver of light.
Very slowly,
Calmly with attention opening your eyes and letting in the colours and the shades,
The shapes and the textures.
Becoming aware and awake to your surroundings.
Looking down at this body and noticing your body and the posture.
The room or the space that you're in.
And when you're ready begin to move your body in any way that feels good for you right now.
As we bring this practice to a close.
Congratulations you have spent the last 20 minutes paying attention on purpose to your breath,
Your body and your thoughts.
Your practice is now complete.
