Today's practice is just about remembering to be in the present.
So begin with wherever you're at right now.
Over and over.
Just come back to the fullness of your experience exactly as it shows up.
Just be open to whatever it is.
Notice any kind of energy,
Movement,
Sensations,
Feelings,
Thoughts.
And just notice it,
Embrace them.
Embrace everything that there is to notice as this infinite flow of change.
And we're not trying to do anything about any of it.
Just allow the senses to be open.
To be absorbed in whatever they're taking in.
When you smell something,
Just smell it.
When you hear something,
Just hear it.
When a thought arises,
Just notice it.
Notice how it arises,
Changes.
Eventually fades away.
We don't have to do anything with any of this.
No judgments,
No actions.
Really bring attention completely into the body.
See if you can make attention one with sensation.
Breath,
Your heartbeat,
Your movements.
Don't think about it.
Just be with it.
The body can only be in the present.
The mind is the only part of us that can be in the past or the future.
Ruminating or projecting.
That in-breath you just took.
It's only in that moment.
Your heart beating in your chest.
Each beat is happening now.
And now.
The only time it happens.
Every time that a thought loop entices you,
Just come back.
The mind always wants to make something of this.
Turns this into some sort of concept,
But there's no concept here.
If we experience the moment exactly as it is,
It's free of concepts,
Free of shapes and labels.
Just allow every time we notice we're not in the present.
To be a way to remember,
To come back to it.
Open,
Embodied awareness.
We keep awareness open.
We keep awareness embodied.
It can be easy to spend so much of our lives disembodied.
Living as if the only part of our lives is above our neck.
Sensation is the doorway to our embodiment.
So feel all of it.
Even discomfort can be a doorway.
Into the present moment.
Rather than using that same habitual stretch you've done a thousand times.
See if you can just feel something else this time.
We have to be willing sometimes to feel things that maybe we don't want to.
And perhaps we've gotten so used to shutting out that pain in our lower back.
That it's just become a habit at this point to ignore it.
But if we're really open to feeling everything,
We'll feel it more.
If you feel boredom or annoyance,
Instead of trying to get rid of it,
Just listen to it.
It's great practice for dealing with other people.
And just notice every time that the mind is trying to remove itself from the moment.
What are you afraid of?
Being bored,
Feeling discomfort,
Being annoyed.
Just come back.
There isn't anything else to do.
You've already made the commitment.
If you need to,
Just start over.
Open your heart.
All the ways that we try to fill up experience.
To make it complicated and entertaining.
Notice how good it feels to just drop all of it.
See how entertainment takes so many shapes.
No matter what the pattern is.
As we're sitting here,
See if there's ways that we're trying to entertain ourselves.
Be it in this moment,
We simply sit,
Breathe.
And feel sensations.
Such a relief to not add anything to it.
For the last few minutes.
Just practice remembering.
Just remember.
Let everything remind you.
Everything.
To be here right now.
As we begin to transition into the next part of the day.
Try not to be too much in a hurry to put on that suit of identity,
Or that armor,
Or whatever your version of that is.
See if we can make this transition the same as our practice.
See if you can notice,
As you stretch or move,
If the same old patterns are wanting to pop back into place.
Just be curious and open about it.
A lot of times it just takes one breath.
One breath to remember.
So let's share that breath before we sign off.
One breath in.
And out.
And thank you for your practice today.
