Hello and welcome.
The meditation we'll be doing is called Abiding in Spacious Awareness.
And I'll be guiding you through step by step,
Where we focus firstly on the breath,
On the body,
And then bring our awareness to the mind and thoughts,
And moving from our thoughts,
Quality of our thoughts,
Into spacious awareness,
Where we can reside and abide for the duration of the meditation.
And this meditation will be for 30 minutes,
And I will guide you at the end of the meditation to gently reorientate yourself back and ring a gentle bell.
You might like to position yourself sitting as you would for your meditation practice.
And as you align your body,
Aware of your sit bones and your back,
Holding your head comfortably,
Your neck,
Your shoulders,
Aware of your breathing,
And bring your attention to your breathing.
And as you breathe in,
You're breathing in and noticing the gentle rhythm,
The natural ebb and flow of the breath.
Experience the fullness of the complete inhale and the complete exhale.
And as you breathe in,
You're expanding your awareness of the whole body.
And as you exhale,
Noticing the gentle contraction of the whole body as you exhale.
Then you're breathing in calmness and inspiration,
And breathing away any stresses or tensions.
If the mind wanders and gets lost in thought,
Gently bring it back to the breath,
Back to the present moment.
Relax now into the present unfolding sensations,
The expansion and contraction of the breath.
And now expanding your attention to the whole body,
To the sensations in your body.
Expand your attention from the chest and the diaphragm,
And widen your focus from the breath,
Again to encompass the whole body.
Feel the whole body from head all the way down to your toes.
Be mindful of the energy and the vibrations flowing through your body.
Relaxing into the flow,
Gentle rise and fall,
Aware of the sensations in your body.
Now let go of the breath,
Let go of the focus on the breath and the bodily sensations,
Shifting the focus to the awareness of the mind.
And that is the thoughts,
The ruminations,
Images,
Words and ideas.
Be aware of thoughts arising and ceasing,
Appearing and disappearing.
Notice the thoughts as they arise and dissolve,
Making way for the next thought.
Notice the stream of thinking.
Maybe notice the pause between one thought passing and then the next thought arising.
Notice whether your thoughts are loud or quiet.
Are they fast or slow?
Are there many thoughts frequent?
And maintaining awareness of thought,
Notice if you get caught up in the story,
Or engage in problem solving,
Or analyzing the busyness of the thinking functioning mind.
Notice what thoughts grab your attention and take you away with them.
What thoughts are kind of sticky and hang around,
Make you aware that you may be distracted.
And so simply come back to the breath to anchor yourself in the present moment.
Awareness of your thoughts,
Notice the flavor,
The general state of your mind.
A little like the weather,
Noticing the sky.
Clouds passing by,
Are the clouds sunny or rainy?
Are they dark or are there rainbows?
The sky remains unchanged,
But the clouds,
The weather can vary and change.
So notice whether the mind is calm or is it agitated?
What's the flavor or the color of your mind?
Just notice and gently label this mind state if that helps you to observe it.
Now let go of focusing on the stream of thoughts and the general condition of the mind,
And just maintain awareness.
Shift now to noticing awareness itself.
Being present and rest in the witnessing,
The observing capacity of the mind.
Just being aware.
Thoughts are just like those clouds passing through the vast spacious sky.
Just sit in this awareness that notices without aversion or clinging to the flow of experience.
Moment by moment,
Thoughts,
Breath,
Sensations,
Sounds never stop flowing.
They freely come and go.
Abiding in spacious awareness,
Rest into awareness.
Be with things as they are,
Without picking and choosing,
Just being present.
Deepen into stillness and calmness.
Be with things as they are,
Without picking and choosing.
Be with things as they are,
Without picking and choosing.
Be with things as they are,
Without picking and choosing.
Be with things as they are,
Without picking and choosing.
Be with things as they are,
Without picking and choosing.
Be with things as they are,
Without picking and choosing.
Be with things as they are,
Without picking and choosing.
Be with things as they are,
Without picking and choosing.
The mind is like a clear mirror,
Reflecting all things as they are.
The mind is like a clear mirror,
Reflecting all things as they are.
The mind is like a clear mirror,
Reflecting all things as they are.
The mind is like a clear mirror,
Reflecting all things as they are.
The mind is like a clear mirror,
Reflecting all things as they are.
The mind is like a clear mirror,
Reflecting all things as they are.
The mind is like a clear mirror,
Reflecting all things as they are.
The mind is like a clear mirror,
Reflecting all things as they are.
It welcomes each moment and does not reject anything.
Maintain awareness.
Rest in the spaciousness of mind that is open.
The mind is like a clear mirror,
Reflecting all things as they are.
The mind is like a clear mirror,
Reflecting all things as they are.
The mind is like a clear mirror,
Reflecting all things as they are.
The mind is like a clear mirror,
It can reflect whatever arises in the moment.
It welcomes each moment and does not reject anything.
Maintain awareness.
Rest in the spaciousness of mind that is open,
Free,
Responsive,
Clear and serene.
The mind is like a clear mirror,
Reflecting all things as they are.
The mind is like a clear mirror,
Reflecting all things as they are.
The mind is like a clear mirror,
Reflecting all things as they are.
The mind is like a clear mirror,
Reflecting all things as they are.
The mind is like a clear mirror,
Reflecting all things as they are.
Broaden awareness to the whole body.
Aware now of the whole body breathing,
Feeling the weight of the body,
Hearing the sounds around you,
Moving your arms and your legs as you gently reorientate yourself,
Opening your eyes and maintaining awareness and presence.
In the here and now.
Thank you so much for joining in this beautiful meditation.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
