Anapanasati,
Mindfulness of breathing.
So just settling into a comfortable position.
There's no rush to dive into meditation.
It's really worth taking a moment or so to establish a posture that supports our practice.
A posture that supports ease and contentment.
We're looking for upright but not uptight.
Sensing where the body makes contact with the support beneath you and from your stable base feeling the spine rising up out of the pelvis up through the center of the body,
The neck,
Supporting the head,
Evenly balanced and it might be helpful to gently sway from side to side,
Front to back,
To ease into that center of gravity.
And as you begin to find some stillness,
Noticing the position of the shoulders.
Can you open the chest allowing the arms to drape from the shoulders and the hands to rest wherever it's comfortable for you.
Making any further adjustments as needed.
Feeling the weight of the body,
Feeling the shape of the body sitting.
Noticing that the body is breathing.
Where do you feel the breath most clearly?
You may feel the air moving in and out of the nostrils or the rise and fall of the chest and shoulders.
Perhaps feeling the expansion and contraction of the belly.
Breathing in knowing that you're breathing in and breathing out knowing that you're breathing out.
There's no right or wrong way to breathe just abiding in this knowing quality of mindfulness.
Becoming intimate with the breath and with an element of inquiry observing the length of each inhale and the length of each exhale.
Is the breath long or short?
How is this known?
Tracking each inhalation,
Tracking each exhalation.
There's no need to squeeze the mind around the breath.
If breathing in long simply know that you're breathing in long and if breathing out long know that you're breathing out long.
If breathing in short know that you're breathing in short and if breathing out short know that you're breathing out short.
Mindful to the extent necessary for bare knowing.
You you you and becoming sensitive now to the whole body.
The breath is still felt,
Still known but the whole body moves to the forefront in our field of awareness and the breath moves to the periphery.
Not thinking about or imagining the body but tuning in to the direct felt sense.
Experiencing the whole body as you breathe in.
Experiencing the whole body as you breathe out.
And if there's any discomfort as best you can letting it be.
Holding it with kindness in the container of the whole body breathing.
Whole body breathing.
You Seeing if you can relax and let go so that the whole body finds as much ease as it can right now.
Relaxing into the moment.
You Calming bodily activity as you breathe in.
Calming bodily activity as you breathe out.
Body calming breath.
Breath calming body.
You Each time the mind naturally drifts into thought with awareness.
Relaxing any tightness in the mind,
The heart.
Relaxing any tightness in the body and then gently coming back to the whole body breathing.
So fusing the whole body with kindness.
You you you you You may choose to stay here calming the body calming the breath and as the body becomes more tranquil and the awareness more refined within this stillness you may become sensitive to a subtle flow of energy.
A pleasant buzz of vitality.
It may feel like a pulsing or tingling in the hands the feet or in the face and it may even bring a soft smile of joy.
Experiencing joy as you breathe in.
Experiencing joy as you breathe out.
You simply resting in the moment relaxed mindful presence you you you you you you like the sound of a gong fading you may begin to invite a greater sense of contentment happiness that's more settled more quiet nowhere to be nothing to do allowing the whole body mind to be suffused by the sweet happiness of contentment you experiencing happiness as you breathe in experiencing happiness as you breathe out you you you and if you notice the mind is still active with thinking emotions with this awareness relaxing any tightness in the mind relaxing any tightness in the face the body and simply resting in this knowing quality in continuity of mindfulness experiencing mental activity as you breathe in experiencing mental activity as you breathe out seeing it's a rising and passing nature you you you you you you and with this mindfulness and the breath in peripheral awareness you may sense a natural calming of the mind a deepening of mental contentment you calming mental activity as you breathe in calming mental activity as you breathe out relaxing any effort you you you you and with a deepening of calm and contentment it becomes possible to experience the mind as it is if there's no craving you can know the absence of craving if there's no anger you can know the absence of anger and if there's no confusion you can know the absence of confusion and with kindly awareness experiencing the mind as you breathe in experiencing the mind as you breathe out you and without stirring up too much mental activity inclining the mind towards gladness reflecting on this rare and precious human life which you're glad to be here feeling a sense of appreciation for being here together you gladdening the mind as you breathe in gladdening the mind as you breathe out you you you you you sensing the steadiness of a mind that is gladdened unified with body and breath composed and at ease studying the mind as you breathe in studying the mind as you breathe out you you you and in this steadiness of heart and mind becoming aware of a sense of spaciousness the mind released temporarily liberated from so many difficult states liberating the mind as you breathe in liberating the mind as you breathe out you you you you and as you rest in the open spaciousness of mind tuning in to the ever-changing flow of experience nothing enduring nothing substantial this impermanence has been here all along you you contemplating impermanence as you breathe in contemplating impermanence as you breathe out internally and externally you this breath fading away you this moment fading away this it never stops you contemplating dispassion as you breathe in contemplating dispassion as you breathe out you you nothing gets to stay you contemplating cessation as you breathe in contemplating cessation as you breathe out you you abiding in the preciousness of every moment not holding on to anything contemplating letting go as you breathe in contemplating letting go as you breathe out you you you you you
