So settling into your formal practice,
Sitting meditation practice,
Posture,
That comfortable yet alert posture,
Posture that you can hold with stillness for the 30 to 35 minute meditation period.
So allowing the body to settle into this moment,
Just easing into the present moment.
Perhaps doing a body scan just to check in with various regions of the body to see if there's any areas that are holding any tension,
Allowing them as best you can to just allow them to release and soften.
Bringing awareness to the fact that you're breathing.
Letting attention settle down into the bottom of the belly,
Feeling the breath.
The lower part of the abdomen.
We're not trying to control the breath in any way,
Not trying to breathe deeper or heavier.
Just feeling the breath,
The bottom of the belly,
Just letting it flow naturally.
Bringing an easefulness and lightness to the breath in the belly.
Perhaps noticing how the breath naturally descends into the belly when you relax and soften.
Breathing into the belly is our natural way of breathing.
You might notice that when a baby is breathing,
They tend to breathe into the belly.
And that when we're stressed,
Our breathing descends up into the chest.
Breathing to the breath is a way to gather attention.
Breathing into the belly is a way to gather attention.
Rather than attention being focused on the abstract,
On the superficial,
On the next thought,
Allowing attention to settle on something concrete.
The breath is not abstract.
It's concrete sensation in the body.
Breathing into the belly is our natural way of breathing.
Breathing into the belly is our natural way of breathing.
Allowing the attention to settle just on this breath.
In an easy and natural way.
Not the next breath or the last breath,
But the breath in each moment,
Just attending to that breath now.
Breathing into the belly is our natural way of breathing.
Perhaps noticing that by attending to the breath in this way,
It has the effect of calming down and cooling the entire nervous system.
Breathing into the belly is our natural way of breathing.
Breathing into the belly is our natural way of breathing.
Whatever else is going on in your experience,
Just it doesn't matter.
Not trying to stop anything else from occurring,
Not trying to stop thoughts.
It doesn't matter if there are sounds or the environment or no sounds.
Simply attending to the breath as it is,
Being with everything as it is,
Moment by moment.
Breathing into the belly is our natural way of breathing.
Breathing into the belly is our natural way of breathing.
Remembering if at any point during this meditation or during any of your meditations,
Remembering that the breath is always there to rest attention.
If you get confused or distracted in some way,
The breath can be your home base or anchor.
We can come back to the moment,
To your experience in the moment.
We can come back to the moment.
The breath is always there.
It's not abstract.
We can come back to the moment.
We can come back to the moment.
And remembering that meditation is not a goal-centered activity.
It's more of a process of discovery,
Of resting in the mystery of our being.
To be at ease and simply noticing what happens in the body,
In the being,
The mind,
The heart as we simply attend to the breath.
We can come back to the moment.
Perhaps,
Noticing that the narrative of the mind is winding down.
Perhaps not.
Perhaps noticing the quiet that always exists behind the activity of the mind,
Whether it's active or not.
Sometimes the mind can be so noisy that we don't notice the quiet that always exists in the background.
And sensing into this,
We're discovering the nature of our own being that is underneath the surface of self-image and thought.
And sensing into this whole expanse of being,
Which is what you are,
Having nothing to do with the old narratives that run through the mind.
Perhaps,
Noticing the quiet that always exists behind the activity of the mind.
Perhaps,
Noticing the quiet that always exists behind the activity of the mind.
We experience this quiet spaciousness.
This awareness,
Thousands of times a day without noticing it.
Always looking for the next experience,
Perhaps.
The quiet awareness isn't an experience that you're having.
It is an open space of awareness.
It's actually who we are beyond all experience and surface ideas.
And every time you dip below definitions that you hold of yourself,
There's always this clear open space of being.
Thank you.
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