On the nostrils,
If you can feel the breath there,
And if not you can use another location,
Maybe the abdomen.
And just bringing some gentle curiosity to how the breath actually feels moment to moment.
Just getting interested in that experience,
Allowing attention to settle there on the breath coming and going.
So we're going to be working with mind wandering in this practice.
When you start meditating,
You'll be spending probably most of your time mind wandering for a little while.
And in this practice,
We're going to encourage the mind to notice mind wandering more quickly.
So eventually when you're mind wandering,
You'll have what we call an aha moment,
Or a moment of spontaneous awareness,
Where you notice that you are mind wandering,
You become aware of that.
And you can't force this to happen,
But you can make it more likely by encouraging the mind to have more such moments of awareness.
So usually the tendency after these moments of awareness is to grip the breath more tightly,
And to create more tension in the body and the mind.
So the first step to encouraging these aha moments is simply not to do that.
So we want meditation to feel good,
We want those moments of awareness to feel good,
To feel supportive,
Not punishing.
So let's imagine that you've just had a moment of spontaneous awareness,
You've noticed that the mind has been wandering,
And the first thing you want to do is very simply just relax the body again.
You'll often notice after a period of mind wandering that there's some tension that's developed somewhere in the body,
And so you can just let that go when you become aware.
Relaxing that tension in the body and just noticing how that feels good.
And then when you've relaxed,
Just very gently bringing attention back to the breath sensations again.
So I'll give you a minute or so just to settle attention on the breath,
And if you notice that the mind has wandered,
You know,
Drifting,
Thinking about something else,
Just repeat that very simple step of noticing any tension that's developed in the body while you've been mind wandering,
Relaxing that tension,
Enjoying,
Relaxing,
And then returning attention to the breath.
So where's your attention now?
Is it with the breath?
Or has it been caught by some distraction?
And if it has been wandering,
Just if you notice some impulse to tighten up the mind,
And force attention back to the breath,
Or to bring in some judgment,
Seeing if you can just hold that lightly,
Noticing any tension,
Relaxing,
Coming back to the breath.
So let's do this again,
And if there isn't mind wandering happening by itself,
Just allowing the mind to wander,
Just calling any old thought to mind.
It's a funny thing that sometimes when you intend for the mind to wander,
It becomes impossible,
But it's okay just to pretend that the mind is wandering.
Just for the sake of doing this,
A-ha moment practice,
Learning to encourage that moment of waking up from mind wandering.
So again,
Let's imagine that you've had this moment of spontaneous awareness,
And again,
Noticing any body tension,
Relaxing,
Savoring that experience of having a body that's at ease.
And also just noticing what's it like to have this awareness of what the mind is doing.
So a few moments ago,
You were helplessly being pulled along by some train of thought,
And now you're aware of what the mind is doing,
So you're free to choose whether to attend to those thoughts or not.
And what's that sense of awareness?
And what's that sense of awareness like?
How does it feel to be aware?
What's that difference between being lost in thought and being aware of thought,
Aware of what the mind is doing?
Maybe there's some sense of spaciousness,
Choice of freedom in the mind.
Again,
You're aware of thoughts that are arising rather than being totally defied by them,
Being lost in them.
And see if you can just appreciate,
Celebrate that feeling of awareness,
Encouraging the mind to spend more time here.
And again,
Returning attention to the breath,
Bringing that simple curiosity to the moment-to-moment sensations that make up your experience of the breath.
Maybe notice how it's actually easier and more pleasant following the breath when the body and the mind aren't tight and forced.
And of course,
There'll still be distractions arising,
There'll still be mind-wandering.
Your job right now isn't to try to prevent distractions from arising,
Which is impossible,
But just responding skillfully when you notice distractions.
And soon you'll be able to notice and let go of distractions more quickly without needing to force them out.
And so again,
Settling attention on the breath,
And if at any time you notice the mind wandering,
Just repeating those simple steps.
Enjoying the relaxation in the body,
And savoring the presence of awareness.
Enjoying that state of mind,
Appreciating your mind for helping you back to that awareness.
And then,
Softly,
Without any forcing or judgment,
Moving attention back to the breath sensations.
And when you notice the mind's been wandering,
Just appreciating relaxation in the body,
Appreciating awareness in the mind,
And then,
Allowing attention to settle back on the breath sensations.
With softness,
With curiosity,
Not using force.
And if you keep practicing in this way,
You'll soon start to notice mind-wandering much more quickly.
You'll have more awareness of what your mind is getting up to,
And you'll be able to keep attention on the breath much more easily.
And actually,
In general,
You'll have more choice of what you're going to do next.
And you'll be able to focus on the breath much more easily.
And actually,
In general,
You'll have more choice about how you use your attention.
