Okay,
Settle into your comfortable,
Stable posture.
Start by using the mindful focus on the breath to shift into a more centered place.
Be aware of your breath as it's filling and emptying your body,
Almost like a balloon.
Gradually let yourself relax into that rhythm.
Use that breath to bring you back to this moment and draw back the energies you invest in your daily life.
Breathe in any distractions,
Worries,
Busyness.
Breathe it back into a breath that's centered on your heart.
Also breathe in the time dimension.
Be aware of the past as your memory in this moment and as the future as your expectations or plans.
Breathe them all in as well into your heart.
So you gradually breathe in the sense there's nowhere else to go,
No other time but now.
Everything that's real touches you,
Touches you here and now.
And scan your body for any areas of tension or numbness.
Where there's tension,
Breathe into that relaxing and releasing it.
Where there's dullness or numbness,
Breathe into that and refresh it.
Gradually center your whole body sense when you're breathing like tuning the whole body to the frequency of your mindfulness.
And as you shed any shell of armor or defensiveness or insensitivity like an old skin,
Feel that you're waking up in your breath body,
Sensitive,
Alive,
Centered,
Balanced.
Let that breath pervade every cell and every atom,
Each and every part of your body,
Giving it a living,
Growing edge,
Phasing out any other things,
Any things that look or seem solid.
Let it all just dissolve into the balloon or bubble of mindful breathing like water filling and emptying a cove.
And you're not cut off from the world around,
But you've got an awareness that's fully supported by the larger sea of life energy.
You're in resonance and in sync with that.
Now imagine that there's a force field or a protective shield,
Sort of a dome around you and that the space that you're in,
Even though it's a part of that whole sea of life,
It's especially safe,
Especially calm and clear.
Because that dome is filtering out any negative energy or thought patterns,
Any noise from the normal world,
Only letting in what you need to stay in tune,
To stay in balance.
Imagine you can see the world outside,
But it's as if it's in suspended animation.
It's clear,
But harmless.
You can safely observe without being heard or triggered.
You can feel connected without feeling reactive.
Just breathe into that space,
That envelope of mindful alertness.
Just breathing into that breath body.
Feel it floating like a person-shaped bubble.
Now open up that mindful focus within the safe environment that you've created for yourself.
And tune into your comfort level,
Be aware of whatever pushes you to meditate,
Whatever might be uncomfortable,
And just try to be with it.
Don't try to fight it,
Fix it,
Judge it,
Change it,
Just be there with it.
Embrace it to whatever extent you can,
As if it weren't so solid.
Be aware it's something you can move through,
Like Eddie's in a pool.
At the same time,
Embrace whatever comfort you feel in this moment.
Try to share that comfort with whatever might hurt inside you.
And gradually try to imagine rising above the seesaw of pleasure and pain,
Just tasting the moment with all its texture,
Seizing it as an opportunity,
As a gem in the rough,
Blowing off the dust,
And seeing clearly the light within the preciousness of your life.
Seize the jewel of the moment from breath to breath,
So that you can see your life turning into a strand or a lifeline of precious moments.
Some dear,
Some hurtful,
Some somewhere in between,
But all real,
All present,
All precious in their own way.
Now reconnect with the breath,
And dedicate whatever insight or energy you've generated in this meditation to your ongoing study,
Reflection,
And practice for your own benefit and the benefit of the world around you.
