So this meditation will help you learn to simply be and look within yourself with mindfulness and equanimity.
So allow yourself to switch from the usual mode of doing to a mode of non-doing,
Of simply being.
And allow your body to become still.
Bringing your attention to the fact that you're breathing.
And becoming aware of the movement of your breath as it comes into your body and as it leaves your body.
Not manipulating the breath in any way or trying to change it.
Simply being aware of it and the feelings and sensations associated with breathing.
You might rest a hand on your abdomen.
And as you inhale,
Feel the belly expand on your in-breath.
And notice as you exhale,
The abdomen falls back towards your spine on the out-breath.
Being totally here in each moment with each breath.
Not trying to do anything,
Not trying to get anyplace.
Just simply being with your breath.
You might find from time to time that your mind will wander off into thoughts or fantasies,
Anticipations of the future,
Rehashing the past,
Worries,
Memories,
Whatever.
And you notice that your attention is no longer here and no longer with your breathing.
Without judging yourself,
Simply bring your attention back to the breathing and ride the waves of your breath.
Fully conscious of the duration of each breath from moment to moment.
Every time you find your mind wandering off the breath,
Just simply and gently bringing it back to the breath.
Just simply and gently bringing it back to the present.
Back to this moment to moment observing of the flow of your breathing.
We're using the breath to help us tune into a state of relaxed awareness and stillness.
Now,
As you observe your breathing,
You might find from time to time that you are becoming aware of sensations in your body.
As you maintain your breathing,
See if it's possible to expand the field of your awareness so that includes a sense of your body as a whole as you sit here.
Feeling your body from head to toe,
Becoming aware of all the sensations in and around your body on the surface deep inside.
And now as you observe your breathing and your body sensations,
See if you can maintain in that relaxed state of natural awareness.
Being here with whatever feelings and sensations come up in any moment without judging them,
Without reacting to them.
Just being fully here,
Fully aware of whatever you're experiencing.
And again,
Whenever you notice that your mind wanders off,
Just bringing it back to your breathing and your body as you sit here not going anywhere,
Not doing anything.
Just simply being,
Simply sitting.
Moment to moment being fully present with yourself.
Now,
As you sit here once again allowing the field of your awareness to expand,
This time expanding to your awareness to include thoughts as they move through your mind.
Letting your breathing and your sense of the body be a little bit in the background as you allow the thinking process itself to be the focus of your awareness.
And rather than following the thoughts,
Simply seeing each thought as it comes up in your mind as a thought.
Letting the thoughts just come and go as if you sit and dwell in stillness,
Witnessing them and observing them,
Whatever they are.
Just observing them as events in the field of your awareness.
As they come into your awareness and they linger,
Just let them dissolve.
If you find yourself at any point drawn into this stream of thinking and you notice that you're no longer observing them,
Just coming back to observing thoughts,
Body sensations as events.
And using your breathing and the sense of your body to anchor you and stabilize you in the present.
You know,
Thoughts can take any form.
They can have any content.
They can be either neutral or highly charged.
If thoughts come up that have fear in them,
Then just be aware of fear being here and letting these thoughts come and go.
The same for worries,
Preoccupations and so on,
Regardless of the feeling that a thought might evoke.
Just observing it as simply a thought,
Letting it be here without pursuing it or without rejecting it.
Noticing that from moment to moment,
New thoughts will come and go.
And as the meditation ends,
You might give yourself credit for having spent this time nourishing yourself in a deep way.
By dwelling in the state of non-doing,
In the state of being.
For having intentionally carved out this time for yourself to simply be who you are.
And as you move back in the world,
Allowing the benefits,
The insight,
The instructions from this meditation to come back into your life and expand any aspect of your life.
Thank you.
