Welcome to your mindfulness of the breath and body meditation.
For this practice you can be sitting in a chair on a cushion on the floor or perhaps on a bench and if seated does not feel supportive or accessible to you today you may also practice this standing or laying down.
You may choose to close your eyes if that feels safe or softening your gaze downward.
Now allowing your awareness to briefly scan through your body and wherever possible softening and releasing any obvious areas of physical tension.
You might take a few very full breaths in through your nose and out through your nose and then allow your breath to be natural.
Now bring your attention to where you most easily detect your breath or perhaps where it's most pleasurable.
Letting this place of experiencing the breath be your home base,
An anchor to the present moment.
Noticing this breath right here and if the breath is not a good home base for you,
You might instead anchor your attention to the sensations in your hands or the sensations of your whole body sitting here.
Now with a relaxed interested attention get curious about what the sensations of the breath or your chosen anchor really feel like moment to moment.
Where is your attention now?
Each time you notice that your mind has wandered off is itself a moment of mindfulness.
Gently bring your attention back to your chosen anchor offering a relaxed wakeful presence.
Now scanning your body and noticing if any particular sensations are strong and calling your attention and if so you can allow your breath or your chosen home base to recede into the background and bring an interested kind presence to those sensations that are calling your attention.
What do they feel like?
You might be aware of heat or chills,
Tingling,
Aching,
Twisting,
Stabbing,
Vibrating.
With a soft open awareness feeling those sensations as they are noticing are they pleasant or unpleasant and as you fully attend to them do they become more intense or do they dissipate?
Just noticing how they change and when those sensations are no longer a strong experience returning to mindfulness of breathing or your chosen anchor.
Just coming back to that home base.
If you find it difficult to stay with strong sensations you might try breathing with them letting the breath help you find some balance and openness in the midst.
It can also be helpful to name the sensations seeing if there's a word that describes your experience.
Tightness,
Ache,
Heat,
Pressure.
There's no need to strain or to run through a mental thesaurus to find the right word.
Notice what word arises in awareness and mentally repeat it to yourself in a soft tone letting that naming be soft in the background.
You might ask yourself what is happening inside me right now noticing any sensations that are predominant and then ask can I be with this?
Directly feeling the flow of sensation subtle or strong letting life be just as it is.
Now returning to your home base whether that's the breath or another sensation in the body offering a calm steady attention and if during this last minute or so strong sensations call your attention you can let your primary anchor recede and bring a full attention again to what's arising naming what you notice offering your presence and if nothing strong is calling your attention continuing to rest with your home base relaxed and alert.
Sensing the breath in the foreground still aware of the field of sensations in the background you are learning to be centered balanced and present for the breath and the living world of sensation wisely aware of this changing life
