Let's begin by sitting comfortably.
Relax the shoulders.
Relax the neck.
Close the eyes.
And deepen the breath.
Bringing greater awareness to each inhale.
.
.
With each exhale.
.
.
With each exhale,
Feel yourself relaxing a little more into your seat,
Releasing a little more.
Find a steady rhythm to your breath that feels natural,
That feels comfortable,
That you can sustain for this practice.
And as you breathe,
Begin to open your ears outwards,
Starting to become aware of all the sounds in the space around you.
So as you listen,
Really listen,
Start with the most gross sounds.
So if you're outside,
Maybe birds,
Maybe vehicles.
If you're inside,
Maybe it's the hum of electronic equipment or the sound of the air from a fan,
From an air conditioning,
From a heater.
Maybe it's the sound of other people moving around in your home.
And then once you notice the more gross sounds,
Start to notice the subtler sounds in the space.
Maybe your breath,
The air,
It's a quiet rhythm as the air moves in and out through the nose.
Maybe you even notice the sound of the silence,
Which has its own quality,
Its own tone.
One more breath here,
And then release that focused attention on the sounds around you,
So that it's just a gentle awareness now.
Gentle noticing,
And return back to your breath with full attention.
And then with your breath,
Start to become aware of your feet and of your sit bones,
To your feet and whatever they're connecting with.
So if you're in a chair,
The soles of the feet and the floor beneath them.
If you're cross-legged,
Maybe the sit bones and where they're rooted down in a cushion on the floor.
So first being aware of the solid support of whatever is beneath your feet,
Beneath your sit bones.
And then also awareness of where the two are meeting,
That connection.
Maybe there's a warmth,
Or maybe there's no sensation,
But just observe with your breath any gross or subtle sensations in the sit bones,
In the feet.
One more breath,
And then once again releasing that focused attention,
This time on the sit bones,
On the feet.
And settle back into a gentle awareness of the sounds around you,
And of that connection with the earth,
With the chair,
The ground,
Beneath the feet and the sit bones.
And return to your breath.
And from here,
With the breath,
We're going to turn our attention,
Our focus,
To our skin,
Cultivating skin awareness.
This is awareness of any sensations on the skin.
So starting with the grossest sensations,
The feeling of the clothing,
Any jewelry on the skin,
Maybe hair on the neck,
On the forehead.
And then move to more subtle sensations,
The feeling of the air on your skin,
Whether it's a breeze from outside,
A fan,
Or an ambient temperature air on your skin.
Observe all sensations,
Gross or subtle.
One more breath,
And then once again we'll release that focused attention.
Release the focused attention from the skin,
That skin awareness,
And move into gentle awareness.
Awareness of the skin,
The soles of the feet,
The sit bones,
And awareness of the sounds around us.
No specific focus in any one area,
Just sitting in awareness.
We'll hold this for eight to ten breaths.
Settle in.
Continue to breathe,
Staying in this practice as long as you need to.
But when you're ready,
Deepen the breath once again,
Making the inhales longer and more full,
And making the exhales longer and more full.
And then begin to add small movements back.
Roll the ankles,
Roll the wrists,
Wiggle the fingers,
Wiggle the toes,
And move the neck gently side to side.
Making circles with the neck.
Doing any other movements,
Adjustments,
To ground yourself and draw your attention back.
When you feel ready,
Open your eyes.
Thank you.
