The following practice has been brought to you by the School of Kamma,
Empowering students through mindfulness meditation.
Before you begin,
Find a safe and comfortable space where you won't be disturbed.
For safety,
Do not listen to this recording whilst driving or operating machinery.
Hi,
I'm Matt and I'll be your guide for this following period of meditation.
Take a moment to make yourself comfortable.
You may want to sit upright with the back straight or if you are new to the practice,
You may want to lie down.
Whenever you're ready,
Bring the eyes to a gentle close.
As we begin this brief period of meditation,
I invite you to start by just noticing the flow of the breath.
You may want to concentrate on the area surrounding the nostrils,
Noticing the breath cool as you breathe in,
And slightly warmer on the exhale.
As we just gently breathe in and out through the nose,
Not trying to control or restrain the breath in any way,
But just allowing it to be.
When we first arrive at our meditation practice,
We may sense or notice some agitation or movement in the mind.
We may notice thoughts about the past or thoughts about the future arising.
We may be wondering whether or not we are doing it right,
Whether we are actually meditating.
We may notice some slight itching or tingling sensations in the body which demand our attention.
All of which is perfectly normal and perfectly fine.
Just do your best to be here,
Grounded in the moment.
And you may want to shift your attention to the abdomen.
You may be feeling the breath diving deep into this area and expanding the abdomen ever so gently.
Sometimes when the mind is occupied with things other than this moment,
The breath can get a little caught higher in the chest.
So we can just invite a full flow of the breath simply by becoming aware of this particular area of the body.
Oxygen filling the system,
Bringing life and vitality to the body.
And it can be useful also in settling the mind,
To establish a firm mindfulness in the body.
And so we might want to bring our attention to the soles of the feet.
And just recognising any sensations or contact that we may be experiencing here.
And just very briefly guiding our awareness over the tops of the feet.
Noticing the shins and the calves.
Feeling very briefly into the knees.
Before moving up toward the thighs and the backs of the thighs.
And just taking a moment as we feel the weight of the body on the glutes.
To check in with the comfort of the legs.
And we can make any slight adjustments if we need to.
As meditation is a practice of kindness,
Of self-care.
And not a form of punishment or austerity.
And so if we need to move we can just give ourselves permission to do so.
As we extend our inner gaze into the lower back.
Into the middle of the back.
And the upper back.
Maybe even zooming out and surveying the back as a whole.
We may even feel some slight tension running parallel to the spine.
And this is perfectly normal.
We can just observe it and allow it to be.
Feeling into the abdomen.
And just sweeping our inner gaze up into the chest.
Allowing the awareness to melt through the heart center and into the cavity of the torso.
As we give a brief moment of attention to the organs in the body.
We don't need to know what they're called or where they are.
But we can just express a gentle inner gratitude for their ceaseless functioning.
Allowing us to navigate every day with a relative ease.
And we can check in at the shoulders.
We might want to drop down the arms.
Into the elbows,
Forearms,
Wrists and into the hands.
Sometimes we can feel that the hands are slightly heavier,
Perhaps.
Or we may feel some perspiration emerging in the palms.
And a very subtle tingling in the fingers.
Whatever is true for your own experience,
We can just watch it.
And as we reach into the neck and throat.
Crawling with the inner gaze up through the back of the head.
And wrapping around the jaw,
Feeling the lips,
Nose,
Eyes and forehead.
We can arrive at the top of the head and just feel how we feel in this moment.
Acknowledging the mind and any thoughts that may be there.
Meditation is not about turning the mind off.
Rather we're just watching.
And just noticing.
Just allowing.
And simply being.
Just being.
And so I invite you to take a few moments here.
Just to be and observe.
And if you feel the mind wander a little too much.
Just return to the area of the abdomen.
And see if you can follow the dipping and diving of the breath.
And when you hear my voice again.
We'll bring the meditation period to a close.
Coming close to the end of the meditation period now.
Take a moment to check in with how you feel.
And notice how your state may have changed.
We don't need to quantify or label.
We can just know within.
You will now hear the bell ring three times.
And on the third ringing of the bell.
Gently open the eyes.
And return to the room.
