And so just taking a moment to find a comfortable posture,
In which we can be relaxed,
Comfortable,
But also alert And grounding our awareness by dropping our attention down into the body Becoming aware of the tactile sensations arising throughout the space of the body Really setting the body at ease Softening all the points of tension,
Tightness Letting the muscles of the face relax Releasing tension through the neck,
The shoulders All the way down through the back and the abdomen Before we venture into the main practice,
Let us turn our attention to the sensations of the breath Just watching the flow of the in-breath and the out-breath To cultivate some calm,
Clarity,
Focus And then widening the attention away from the breath to,
Once again,
Becoming aware of our entire body Our immediate experience of our body The ever-changing array of tactile sensations And just begin to notice and contemplate the moment-to-moment changes and processes that are happening in your body This body that seems like a static,
Solid,
Permanent thing That really is nothing more than a series of processes,
Comings and goings See that your heart is beating Each beat seems the same,
But each one is new One of only so many The blood moving through the veins,
Circulating through the whole body every moment The breath flowing in and out of the body The energy moving back and forth through the body Through the nerves And if we consider the body at the even more subtle level of its cellular structure The body is made up of trillions of cells,
Each of them alive,
All moving,
Changing,
Dying,
Dividing It is said that a million of your body's cells die every second and are replaced with a million new ones And each of these cells contain many different parts and processes too And on an even subtler level,
All the parts of your body are made up of molecules,
Atoms,
Subatomic particles And these are in constant motion Just try to really get a feeling for the change that is taking place with each moment in your body Nothing here is static,
Unchanging And then turn your attention to your mind,
It too is composed of many parts,
Thoughts,
Perceptions,
Feelings,
Memories,
Images All following one after the other after the other after the other Just take a moment to watch your mind,
To watch the flow of conceptual activity Our thought triggers an image,
Triggers another thought Like looking out of a window at all the passers-by Just watch the movements of your mind,
Try to observe them without judging,
Making comments Just to get a sense of the ever-changing nature of the mind Can you see how your mind,
Which appears to be a thing in itself,
Is actually nothing but processes of becoming It too is more a series of events,
Processes,
Comings and goings,
Rather than anything solid,
Static And then extend your awareness to the outer world,
Away from our inner world of body and mind to firstly our immediate surroundings The cushion,
The mat or the bed that you're sitting on,
Laying on The floor,
Walls,
Windows and ceiling of the room that you're in,
The furniture and the other objects in the room These may seem even more static,
Solid,
Unchanging But each of these,
Although appearing that way,
Is actually a mass of tiny particles moving around And because they're not solid or static,
They are subject to change Consider how all of this will change,
The paint will fade,
The cushions and other furniture will become old and worn The clothes may gain holes and stains Can we see that change is happening all the time,
Not just when things wear out or when they are eventually destroyed,
But with every moment And then let your awareness travel further out,
Beyond the walls of your room Think about other people,
Their bodies and minds are also constantly changing,
Not staying the same for even a moment Think about the people you know,
How their body has changed over the time of you knowing them,
Which you can actually see How their mind is constantly changing,
And then over time we see different interests,
Different types of thoughts,
Different behaviours When you think about all the other objects in our world,
The buildings,
Roads,
Cars,
As well as the natural world,
The trees,
The mountains,
The oceans The changing of the seasons,
So apparent to us All of these things are constantly changing,
Every moment,
Nothing stays the same Think of the river,
Each time you come to visit the river,
It appears to be the same one The river I always go to visit,
But the water is different It appears as one static thing,
The river But all those molecules have changed,
The water has passed by Even in those moments of you being there Even the bank and the riverbed,
Many small changes,
Sometimes bigger changes we can see Nevertheless many small changes,
Moment to moment All is like this,
A stream of processes and changes And being aware of impermanence in this way helps us to realise that our current situation is also subject to change,
It's also fluid So when you encounter an unexpected huge problem or difficulty in life,
You can know for certain that this too shall pass,
As things always have And when you're experiencing good times,
This gift of life,
Knowing it's impermanent,
We might be able to fully appreciate it,
Be present for it To show up for it,
Knowing it will change,
And experience no heartache at that change Contemplating impermanence in this way is to help us recognise reality,
To reduce and eliminate our fear,
To help us be present and engaged for the challenges and the joys equally Just take a few moments to quietly contemplate,
And try to get a clear strong feeling of the ever-changing nature of things
