This meditation is intended to help you to practice awareness wherever you go and to use your reality to center yourself.
During this meditation,
I'm going to invite you to use your environment,
Your physical sensations,
Your emotions,
And your thoughts as tools of awareness.
Primarily I'd like to encourage you to be with whatever surfaces for you.
Be aware of what is surfacing and in the gaps simply be.
As we go along,
I will encourage you to let things be,
To not resist,
To not try to change what you're feeling or thinking.
And last but not least,
I will encourage you to not follow your thoughts.
Let them come and let them go.
In the book by Peter Breitman,
Leading with Emotional Courage,
He says if you're willing to feel everything,
You can do anything.
Nothing can stop you.
Sometimes it can be quite uncomfortable to feel.
And if it gets too much for you during this meditation,
By all means stop.
But if you are willing to feel and to just let those feelings be,
This meditation will be a good training ground for life and dealing with your feelings that may be holding you back from really living.
With the sound of the bell,
Let's begin this meditation.
And I will sound a bell at the conclusion of this meditation as well.
Let's begin by getting comfortable.
The first step is to recognize and notice your environment.
So don't close your eyes just yet.
Be aware of the environment that surrounds you,
No matter where you are right now.
Notice some of the things that are in your environment.
You could even focus on one particular item,
And then just be with that item.
Don't judge it.
Don't even think about it.
Just be with it.
To be with means to just be aware,
To notice,
To be present to.
Next,
Let's switch to physical sensations.
How does your body feel?
What sensations do you feel on the surface of your body?
If you'd like,
Notice your clothing against your skin.
If you are sitting or laying down,
Notice your body against the surface of your chair,
Your feet on the floor,
Or notice the parts of your body that are in contact with your bed or whatever surface you might be laying on.
Now notice the sensations on the inside of your body.
Is there any tingling?
Are your veins or circulation popping?
I invite you to do a quick body scan and notice any physical sensations.
As you do your scan,
You might feel or become aware of a slight pain or tension in a certain area in your body.
Simply be aware of these internal bodily sensations and just be with them.
Now notice your breath.
Be aware of your in-breath.
Be aware of your out-breath.
Be aware of your breathing.
If you'd like,
Feel the rise and fall of your chest and your body as you breathe in and as you breathe out.
I invite you to take several conscious breaths now.
Be aware of sound.
What is the primary thing that you hear right now?
Be with that sound.
Don't resist it.
Don't try to wish it away or judge it.
Simply be aware of sound.
If another sound captures your attention,
Feel free to shift your awareness to that sound and again,
Simply be with that sound.
Thinking again,
We're going to switch to our emotions.
What are you feeling right now?
What are you feeling emotionally right now?
Can you name it?
Whatever emotion comes into your awareness,
Let it be.
Even if it is negative,
Be with it.
Don't resist your feelings.
Don't try to push them away.
Feelings aren't wrong.
They just are.
If you're feeling centered and joyful or positive,
Just be with those positive emotions.
If you are scared,
Anxious,
Worried or angry,
Be with those emotions.
Often,
We want to resist or push away negative emotions,
But it's okay to be with those emotions too.
Feel everything fully.
As you feel your emotions,
Again,
Just be with them as they rise and fall.
Let them come and go like waves on the seashore.
Be with whatever emotion you're feeling right now.
I invite you now to move to your thoughts.
What is the current content of your mind?
Focus on that.
Notice your thoughts,
But be the observer of your thoughts.
Don't engage in your thoughts right now.
Only be aware of your thoughts.
If you think of something that feels like it commands your attention or action right now,
I encourage you to just be with that thought.
For this time period,
The time that remains,
Commit yourself to just be,
To just being with whatever surfaces.
If it's really important,
It will surface again later,
And you can act on it then.
If this awareness practice has created some empty space in your thoughts,
Be with that space.
And when thoughts return,
Just be with those thoughts.
Don't try to stop thinking.
Just be aware of whatever it is that you are thinking.
Let thoughts come and go like gentle waves on a seashore.
Finally,
What is your current experience?
What is the predominant sensation,
Thought,
Feeling,
Or emotion that you're having right now?
If something surfaces for you,
Again,
Just be aware of it.
Be aware.
And finally,
As we conclude this meditation,
Allow everything to just drift away.
And just be.
