Do As we begin this formal practice of mindfulness meditation,
Allowing yourself to be in a posture that embodies dignity.
If it's seated on the chair or the cushion or lying down or even standing,
May the posture be a mirror of our intention,
The intention to be present in this moment.
The intention to carve this moment to be with who we are,
Experiencing ourselves moment by moment by moment.
If seated,
Allowing the back to be straight but not rigid,
If seated on a chair,
Allowing both feet to be on the floor and inviting your eyes to either lie down on the floor unfocused or to gently be closed.
And at this moment,
If you wish,
Establishing the intention to be present and using my words as guidance,
Connecting above all into your own experience moment by moment.
We will have moments of guidance and moments of silence.
Make this your own practice and this one,
Not comparing with what it should be or what it was last time,
But staying here in this present moment with that who you are.
And if you wish,
At the beginning of this practice,
Inviting a sense of gratitude to yourself for being here and noticing in the body how that sense of gratitude feels like.
And gently now,
Allowing your attention to lie on the breath,
Noticing the region in the body where the breath is more vivid and inviting the attention to that place.
It might be the belly area with the raising and falling of the abdominal area.
It might be the chest where the breath is more vivid.
It might also be at the nostrils with the sensations of the in-breath and out-breath.
So choosing now in your body in this moment,
Where is the sensation of this breath more vividly showing up and bringing your attention to that area.
And following the in-breath from the beginning to the end and following the out-breath from the beginning to the end,
Establishing full attention in this breath,
The waves of this in-breath,
The waves of this out-breath,
Following it,
Connecting,
Sensing the sensations and staying present.
Breathing in,
Knowing this is an in-breath,
Breathing out,
Knowing this is an out-breath,
Allowing the attention to fully experience this in-breath,
This out-breath,
And this moment right here,
Right now.
Breathing in and experiencing the sensations of this in-breath.
Breathing out and experiencing the sensations of this out-breath as if your life depends on this breath,
Which actually it does.
Bringing the attention to experience this in-breath,
This out-breath.
And sooner or later,
You'll notice that the mind has a life of its own.
You will go away from the breath,
Either to the future,
Planning,
Making sure,
Or to the past,
Ruminating on advance,
Or even arguing with yourself for doing or not doing something,
Or saying or not saying something else,
Or arguing with someone else for this matter.
And as soon as we notice that the mind went away from the breath,
We notice what is the mind up to.
We give it a name,
A short name,
To-do list,
Regret,
Planning,
And we escort the mind back to the breath with gentleness,
Compassion,
And also with intention.
Bringing the mind back to this breath,
Noticing if this breath is an in-breath or out-breath,
And continuing following it with full attention,
Experiencing the sensations of this in-breath,
Perhaps experiencing the fraction of seconds when the in-breath becomes an out-breath,
Experiencing the sensations of this out-breath.
And again,
And again,
And again,
Aware of this in-breath and its sensations in the body,
Aware of this out-breath and its sensations in the body,
Right here,
Right now.
So,
Look for it.
Following this in-breath.
Following this out-breath.
Noticing sensations in that area of the body where the breath is more accessible.
And allowing the attention to stay right there.
And anytime we notice that the mind is not with the breath anymore.
This is a moment of mindfulness.
Noticing what was it that took the mind away.
In this way we are becoming aware of our own distractors.
Without judgment.
Without making it as a wrong doing.
Because this is just what the mind does.
Inviting the mind back to the breath and its sensations.
Gently.
Compassionately.
And also with intention.
Breathing in.
This is an in-breath.
Breathing out.
Present the dense out-breath.
Present.
And you might also notice that you might experience some feeling.
Feelings,
Sensations.
I'm tired.
When is this going to end?
This is boring.
As much as possible.
Just giving it a name.
Thinking.
And coming back.
With compassion,
Gentleness and firmness.
Bring the mind back to this breath.
This one.
Right here.
Right now.
One more time.
Containing that.
And now,
As we are coming to the closing of this formal awareness of the breath,
Mindfulness meditation,
I'm inviting you,
If you like,
To again bring the sense of gratitude to yourself,
Bathing,
If possible,
Yourself in this sense of gratitude.
Gratitude for being here.
Gratitude for offering this time to yourself,
To your awareness.
Now,
We will invite the bell three times to close this practice.
Chins.
You
