This is a 30 minute sitting practice.
So settling into a comfortable sitting position on a straight back chair,
A meditation stool or cushion.
And if you're sitting on a chair,
Coming away from the back of the chair if that's comfortable.
The spine can be upright but not stiff.
Shoulders can be relaxed.
The chest opening.
The head balanced.
The chin tucked slightly in.
Coming with a sense of wakefulness.
Allowing the body to be steady.
To become still.
And if you'd like to consciously setting an intention for this practice,
Perhaps an intention to be present to experience and to be kind to yourself.
So when you're ready,
Bringing awareness to physical sensations.
Perhaps focusing attention on sensations in the feet and the legs and the hands.
Exploring the details of these sensations.
Tuning into them.
Being with them.
Connecting with these parts of the body in order to feel supported,
Steady,
Grounded.
And at a certain point,
Bringing awareness to the breath.
Wherever you experience it most vividly,
Most clearly.
Perhaps at the nostrils,
In the throat,
The chest,
Or right down in the belly.
There's no need to control the breath in any way.
Letting the body breathe naturally.
Tuning into the full duration of the in-breath and the full duration of the out-breath.
The sensations may be very subtle,
So moving in close and bringing interest to the details.
Savoring the breath.
Enjoying the breath.
And whenever you notice that your mind has wandered away from the breath,
Just becoming aware of this.
Noticing where the mind has gone to and then very gently bringing it back.
However many times the mind wanders,
The breath is always here to return to.
An anchor to bring us back to the present moment.
Appreciating the breath.
Honouring the breath.
As you hold it in awareness,
Just this moment,
Just this breath.
Each in-breath a new beginning.
Each out-breath a letting go and letting be.
In touch with this breath coming in.
In touch with this breath going out.
And then at a certain point,
Expanding the field of awareness to include your seat.
Contacts between skin and clothing.
And opening to sensations from the body as a whole.
Realising points of contact between the body and the feel of air on the skin.
And perhaps having a sense of the space the body takes up and the movements of the body as it breathes.
Perhaps with a sense of appreciation,
Realising that you can have a body that can breathe and feel just as it sits here.
And checking in with your posture.
Making any small adjustments that may be necessary.
Coming to,
Receiving ordinary everyday sensations.
Sensations that are obvious and those that are more subtle.
Sensations that are pleasant and those that are unpleasant.
Working with the body,
Inhabiting the body.
Real sensations can tell us about how the body is.
Perhaps letting us know that the body feels comfortable or cold or relaxed.
So opening to the sensations,
Being with how the body feels right here,
Right now.
Sensations can also tell us about states of mind.
Perhaps letting us know the boredom,
Irritability are here or contentment and calm.
So opening to these sensations as well as being with whatever is here as best you can.
Knowing that there's no need to chase away unpleasant sensations or to hold on to pleasant ones.
Realising how sensations arise,
Stay around for a while and then change or fade.
And when you notice that thinking is here,
Just recognising that and gently coming back to direct experience as best you can.
Being with the body as it sits here,
Breathing.
You may notice feelings of intensity or discomfort.
And if you do,
There are two options to choose between.
The first is to adjust your posture to try and relieve the intensity.
If you choose to do this,
Bringing awareness to the movement so that it's part of the practice,
Not to break from it.
The second option,
Always to be done with kindness and gentleness,
Is to experiment with being with the sensations,
Turning towards them.
And if you choose to,
Moving in close and feeling them more fully,
Perhaps breathing into and breathing out from regions of intensity,
Seeing if it's possible to bring a sense of allowing an opening to what is here.
If you're working with intensity in this way,
When it feels right,
Bringing awareness back to a sense of the body as a whole.
Breathing here,
Breathing,
Experiencing.
Tuning into whatever is arising in the body,
This body,
This anchor for our attention,
This anchor to the present moment.
Mind wanders,
Notice where it went and gently bring it back.
Letting things to be just as they are.
When you're ready,
Maintaining a connection with the body,
Letting it be in the background,
Bringing awareness to hearing,
To sounds.
There's no need to go out hunting for sounds,
Just receiving them as they arise.
Sounds from outside the room,
Sounds from in the room,
From inside the ears.
Quiet sounds and loud sounds.
Feel them come,
Opening to them.
As best you can,
Bringing awareness to the physical characteristics of the sounds.
Loudness,
Pitch,
Intensity,
Duration.
Prepare of the gaps between the sounds of silence.
Noticing how the mind has a tendency to label sounds,
To decide if it likes them or not.
And seeing if it's sometimes possible to just hear the sounds without thinking about them or reacting to them,
Allowing them to be just as they are.
Sitting in stillness,
Being with hearing,
Being with sounds,
Moment by moment by moment.
Now letting sounds fade,
While maintaining an awareness of the body and turning attention to thinking itself.
Seeing if it's possible to bring a gentle awareness to thinking,
To memories,
Worries,
Plans,
Images,
Fantasies.
As they arise,
Stay around for a while and then fade.
It might be helpful to imagine you're sitting by a stream and your thoughts are like leaves on the surface of the water,
Floating past in front of you.
Or you might imagine that your thoughts are like clouds moving across the sky.
As best you can,
Sitting and observing thoughts as thoughts.
And when you notice that you've been caught up in the thinking,
Lost in thought,
Just acknowledging that and coming back to this moment.
Perhaps using the breath or the body as an anchor.
Coming back to sitting here observing,
Seeing thoughts as mental events and holding them in awareness as best you can.
Some thoughts may come with an emotional charge,
Sadness,
Contentment.
When this happens,
Seeing if it's possible to hold the thoughts and feelings in a gentle and kind awareness.
Perhaps using the breath or the body as an anchor to steady the mind.
And as best you can,
Watching the thoughts and feelings as they stay around,
Change and dissolve.
There's no need to judge the thoughts,
To interfere with them or to add to them.
Allowing them to be just as they are,
To arise and to pass.
And now when you're ready,
Letting go of focusing on any particular aspect of experience.
And as best you can,
Bringing awareness to whatever is arising in this moment.
Sensations from the body,
The breath,
Thoughts,
Feelings,
Sounds,
Seeing if it's possible to let go of trying to control what you experience.
As best you can,
Just letting things unfold from moment to moment.
And opening to whatever arises,
Holding your experience in a kind and gentle awareness.
And when you notice that you're lost in thinking,
Just acknowledging this and coming back to the breath or the body.
Before returning to simply sitting with whatever arises moment by moment.
Nowhere to go,
Nothing to achieve.
Just sitting.
Being.
And for the last few moments of the practice,
Bringing awareness back to the breath.
Moving in close,
Aware of the full duration of the in-breath and the full duration of the out-breath.
And remembering that the breath is always here,
Always available as an anchor to bring us back to the present moment.
Always available to steady us when we feel off balance and under pressure.
You.
Come back to a sense of ourselves as whole and complete just as we are.
Thank you.
