As you begin this formal practice of mindfulness,
Invite yourself to settle in to this present moment.
Taking a couple of nice big deep breaths and allowing your breath to go throughout your entire body.
And settling in to this body,
To this moment.
Bringing awareness to all the touch points of your body on the chair or the cushion or the mat.
And with each breath,
Perhaps allowing yourself to settle in and let go just a bit more.
And as you allow your breath to settle in to a normal rhythmic pattern of breathing.
Bring your awareness to the fact that you are breathing.
Bringing awareness to where you feel your breath most prominent in your body.
Whether it's in your nostrils,
In your throat,
In your chest,
In your belly.
Just noticing where you experience your breath.
And as you bring your awareness to your breath,
Don't think about your breath,
But experience your breath.
Taste your breath.
Dive so deeply into your breath that you experience it fully and completely.
Following the inhalation all the way in.
And the exhalation all the way out.
Bringing awareness to the beginning,
The middle,
And the end of your breath.
Knowing that all you have to do right now is be here,
Right now,
With your breath.
Just one breath.
Just this breath.
Opening yourself to the sensations of just this breath as it comes and as it goes.
And when you're ready,
And if you so choose,
Expanding your awareness to sound.
And when you are ready,
And if you so choose,
Expanding your awareness to body sensations.
Taking your awareness to what is going on in your body.
Is there tension or tightness?
In your shoulders,
In your chest,
In your legs,
In your feet.
Taking some time to explore all parts of your body to see what is trying to get your attention.
Our body has so many messages for us,
And we often ignore them.
Just taking a few moments.
Is our neck tight?
Are our eyebrows furrowed?
With kindness and with compassion,
Gently explore your body right now.
And when you find an area that is perhaps tense or needing some attention,
You may choose to just pause and breathe into that area,
Into that space.
Perhaps allowing some softening,
Or perhaps just bringing awareness.
Gathering some information about your body that you were unaware of.
Noticing and honoring all parts of our body.
Without trying to add a story to anything you find.
Without beginning a dialogue.
And instead just experiencing this incredible body,
This one and only body that we will ever have.
Perhaps taking a moment to appreciate all that our bodies do for us.
Just opening ourselves up to any sensation we find that is in our body right here and right now.
And when you are ready,
And if you so choose,
Expanding your awareness to include sound.
Not seeking out sound,
Not searching for sound,
But instead allowing the experience of sound to come to you.
Closely examining the essence of the sound.
Noticing sound as it comes,
And then it goes.
With no ability by us to control it.
Noticing the quality of sound,
The volume.
Perhaps the rhythm of the sound.
Perhaps the sound is so loud that you are tempted to turn away from it.
And if so,
Just breathing into this experience.
Or perhaps the sound is so quiet,
So very small that you are tempted to lean into it.
And if so,
Just breathe into this experience.
Allowing yourself to receive the sound as it is.
Purely as it is.
And when you are ready,
And if you so choose,
Bringing your awareness to focus on our mind states,
Your thoughts,
What is going on in your mind right now.
Much like sound,
Thoughts come and they go.
We often have many,
Many thoughts in our mind.
A very busy mind.
And sometimes we have just a few thoughts.
And just like sound,
We can't control the thoughts that come and go.
And instead,
Just bringing awareness to those thoughts without trying to make a story about them,
Or understand them,
Or describe them.
Instead,
Just experiencing the thoughts.
You may wish to label them,
Oh planning,
Oh busyness,
Oh lists.
And just like sounds that come and go,
Our thoughts come and go.
And bringing your awareness to any feelings that are generated by these thoughts.
Any emotions that arise.
Observing those emotions without judgment,
Without trying to make them different.
Just as we cannot make sound any different.
Just observing the emotions as they are.
Neither good nor bad.
Just emotions.
And perhaps you may find yourself judging these thoughts and these emotions.
Invite yourself to bring some kindness into this moment.
To be kind to yourself.
To be gentle.
To allow yourself the awareness of all these thoughts and emotions without judgment.
Knowing that they will come and they will go.
And all you have to do is just be here.
Bringing yourself back to the present moment.
And anytime you find yourself lost in a story or an emotion,
You can always bring yourself back to the present moment by bringing your awareness and your focus back to your breath.
Back to this breath in this moment.
And if you wish,
You can expand your awareness to include anything that is trying to get your attention.
Whether it's a body sensation or your breath,
A thought or emotion.
And bringing a curiosity to what is coming to your awareness.
Perhaps holding it very lightly as you would hold a bubble.
And bringing some curiosity to this moment.
To what is right here so present for you.
And recognizing that it is always changing.
Your attention will be on one thing and then another.
The ever changing dynamic of our life,
Of our thoughts,
Our body sensations.
And as you practice bringing awareness to whatever is most prominent right now,
Not grasping onto it,
Not holding it tightly,
You may recognize that that allows you to let it go and then receive something else.
Just as a stream is always changing and never ever the same,
So is each moment.
Always changing,
Never the same.
No matter how hard we try to hold onto it or keep it the same.
And as you're practicing holding this moment lightly and then this moment lightly.
Bringing awareness to this ever changing life.
And just as with body sensations and sound and thoughts and emotions,
Some are pleasant,
Some are not,
And some are neutral.
And that is what we can expect.
And when you're ready,
Bringing your awareness back to your breath,
Wherever you feel it most prominent in your body.
Breathing in and breathing out.
Knowing that as you go throughout the rest of your day,
You can always come back to the present moment.
Bring yourself to the present moment by focusing on the breath that is always present,
That is always right here and right now.
