In this mindfulness sitting,
We introduce mindful movement at the beginning of the sitting,
Alongside an awareness of the breath and of the body,
So that we might notice the sensations in the body and practice paying attention to them.
Throughout the day,
Sensations continuously arise and change and flow through the body,
And an awareness of these sensations offer us insight,
Intuition,
Clarity.
But with our minds so busy and our days so busy,
We can miss so much as we pay attention to what's taking place out there,
When there is much to be gained by paying attention to what's taking place in here.
And so this sitting offers us the opportunity to cultivate a deeper knowing of who we are,
Moment by moment.
And so bringing yourself into a seated posture that is upright and stable,
Lower or close your eyes,
Whichever is more comfortable,
And bring awareness to the breath.
Notice the rising of the body,
The expanding of the body on the in-breath,
And the softening,
The falling of the body on the out-breath,
Allowing the belly to move with the breath,
With a soft inner gaze,
A soft jaw,
Soft shoulders,
Soft belly,
As you breathe.
And when you notice your mind wandering,
Which it will,
To gently bring your attention back to the breath,
To the body breathing.
And then on the next in-breath,
To bring your attention to your arms,
And on the out-breath,
To allow your arms to dangle by your sides,
Allowing the fingers to fall away from the palms of your hands as you breathe,
Aware of your arms and your hands and your fingers.
And with the next in-breath,
To slowly lift your arms up,
Forming an arc as you bring them above your head and allow them to point,
Allowing the fingers to point upward to the sky or the ceiling as you breathe.
And over the next few moments,
Where we introduce an exertion in the out-stretching of the arms to take care of yourself,
So that if at any point in time you feel it helpful to do so,
To lower your arms or hands,
And with the arms out-stretched and the fingers pointing to the sky,
As you breathe,
To notice the sensations arising in the upper part of your body,
The sensations in the fingertips of your left and your right arms and hands,
Aware of the sensations in the palms of your hands,
Running along the arms and where your arms meet your shoulders and your shoulders meet your neck,
As you breathe,
Aware of the thoughts arising in your mind as you hold your arms up.
And then,
In the next moment,
To begin to gently lower your arms but to the point where you're now forming a Y,
Your arms out-stretched,
Aware of the sensations and of the thoughts,
The desire to lower your arms,
The feeling tone of this moment,
And of the vibrations,
The tingling,
The sensations in your arms,
And then on the next out-breath,
Lowering your arms a little bit more so that you're forming a T,
Arms out-stretched by your sides,
And then with the next out-breath,
Slowly lowering your arms all the way back to your sides and resting your attention on the sensations that flow through the arms,
The hands,
The shoulders as you breathe,
Aware of the sense of relief,
Still aware of the changing quality of experience.
And as your mind wanders from time to time,
Gently bringing your attention back to the sensations you notice in the body,
Not just the arms and the hands but the breath,
The beating of your heart.
Following the in-breath,
Following the out-breath,
Allowing this moment to be as it is,
Noticing this moment as it is,
The body,
The breath,
The mind.
And when you're ready,
In the next moment or two,
With an awareness of doing so,
To lift the gaze,
Open the eyes,
And see if you might bring a little bit more attention,
A little bit more of a direct knowing to the sensations in the body throughout the day.
