The Buddhist practice for developing mindfulness is known as vipassana,
Otherwise translated to insight or seeing clearly.
What follows today is a brief introduction to this Buddhist practice.
We'll begin by finding a seated position that allows you to remain focused and calm,
Spine erect but not necessarily rigid.
You have the option today to either keep your eyes open or keep your eyes closed,
Whatever makes you feel the most safe and present.
Once you have found your chosen seat and gaze,
We will begin.
Start off this practice today by taking a collective breath together to inhale in and exhale out through your mouth.
Let's try that one more time to inhale in through our nose and exhale,
Sigh out through your mouth.
Now breathe normally rather than controlling the breath.
We allow the breath to be easy,
To be natural.
And instead,
Focus our awareness to scan through your body wherever possible.
Using a brief body scan from head to toe,
Softening and releasing any obvious areas of physical tension that you might have.
And in this moment,
You might very consciously relax into your shoulders,
Release the belly,
Soften your gaze,
Relax your hands,
And even relax your tongue.
The Pasana ultimately begins with attention to our breath.
And we can use our breath as the primary anchor of awareness to guide us in this practice.
The breath is used to help quiet and still the mind and to awaken ourselves to any changes that might become present when we become more aware.
As you practice today,
You might find more possibility in a different anchor outside of the breath.
Know that you may choose awareness of the physical body or even awareness of sounds in the room or even outside of the room to help ground you in the present moment.
If the breath feels comfortable,
We'll continue this journey with the anchor of our breath.
What's ultimately important here is that your senses are awakened to the attention of an anchor.
If you're continuing to use your breath as an anchor of awareness,
Take a few very full breaths.
Just noticing deeper awareness into your lungs and the rise and fall of the rib cage with this biological function of your breath.
This may feel more comfortable to draw deeper awareness to the rib cage this entire practice,
Or maybe guide your attention to the very tip of your nose where the breath enters in naturally.
Bring greater awareness to all deep sensations of your breathing into the rib cage,
Into the diaphragm,
Even the tip of the nose.
Know that there's no right way of breathing here.
Simply allowing ourselves to become more present with how we are breathing.
Discovering simply what the breath is really like and how it might even change during the duration of this practice.
As you continue to notice your breath,
You will find that your mind wants to wander.
Know that you're doing meditation completely correct,
As this is a natural part of meditation itself.
The mind will want to drift into other thoughts,
Other interests,
And these thoughts aren't necessarily the enemy.
You do not need to clear your mind of these thoughts that are popping up.
Rather,
Through the practice of the Pasana and using the breath as your anchor of awareness,
You're developing a greater capacity to recognize the thoughts that show up rather than getting lost in the storyline of those particular thoughts.
When you begin to notice thoughts arise,
Which they will,
Maybe simply recognize that this is a thought or make a mental note that you are thinking.
The key part about this is the recognition without judgment of yourself and allowing yourself instead to come back to the present moment of your breath with kindness and compassion.
Continue to let the breath be your home base or whatever chosen anchor that you have today.
If there's any particular sensation or thought that becomes very present during this meditation,
Maybe you begin to recognize whether or not this thought or feeling could be pleasant or unpleasant and noticing the thoughts without attaching to a particular storyline.
As we attend to different thoughts or sensations that arise,
The feeling surrounding them might change.
Continue to attend to them as you need,
But then mindfully return back to the breath,
Back to your moment-to-moment experience today.
If these thoughts or sensations become quite persistent,
Maybe you breathe with them and into them,
Allowing this biological tool that we've been given to help regulate and balance where we are at,
Knowing that you can always exit out of this meditation.
If the sensations become too much,
Using a trauma-informed approach to take care of yourself today.
Continue to breathe,
Still noticing your in-breath and out-breath.
The mind is quite similar to the weather,
Where there is no inherent good or bad to the weather itself,
But weather consistently changes,
Noticing the shift of where you're currently at.
Continue to sit in this present moment awareness for your final few breaths,
Taking it all in,
The sensations of who you are.
When we observe our inner landscape,
We begin to know ourselves in a much deeper level.
Through this observation today,
Maybe notice something that felt pleasant that you'd like to keep with you for the rest of your day,
Maybe even forming an intention around it.
If you notice something unpleasant,
Maybe using that as a guide to set up boundaries for the rest of your day,
Knowing what feels most supportive for you from your practice.
Either way,
We'll conclude this practice today with the same breath that we entered in with,
Taking one more round of a cleansing breath to inhale in through your nose and exhale,
Sigh out through your mouth,
Let it go.
Whatever your chosen seat was,
Feel free to stretch the legs or take any natural movement into your neck,
Unblank your eyes if you had them closed,
Coming back into greater awareness of where you are in your external landscape,
Taking it all in before you move into the rest of your day.
Continuing to be mindful of your breath,
Using as a guide even outside of this vipassana practice.
May you continue to go in non-judgment of yourself and others,
Offering greater compassion to your own experience as well as those around you.
Have a wonderful rest of your day,
Friends.
