Begin this meditation by finding your meditation posture.
Comfortable,
Yet upright,
Relaxed,
Present.
You can notice your body seated here,
Noticing the weight and movement and touch,
Letting your attention sink into your body,
Feeling it as though from the inside,
Relaxing,
And then exploring what is here,
What is true for you in this moment.
Let your attention gently come to rest on your breathing.
Your breath is your anchor,
And it's the focus that you can always return to.
It's your home base.
Feel the gentle rising and falling of your breath in your abdomen or chest,
Or the in and out sensations located at your nostrils.
So we feel one breath after the next,
One breath at a time with a curious attention.
What does one breath feel like in this very moment?
Now we can also open our attention to a variety of other experiences when they become predominant or obvious,
When they become more predominant than the breath itself.
So you might notice sounds from the outside,
Inside your room,
Outside your home.
You might notice sounds pulling your attention away.
So you can listen to the sound.
You let go of the breath and listen to the sound.
When it no longer holds your attention,
Then return back to the breath.
If a body sensation gets strong,
Becomes predominant,
Pulls your attention away from the breath.
Again,
Let go of the breathing.
No need to be in tension with the breath or the body sensation.
Just go naturally.
Let your attention go to the body sensation.
Feel it.
Sense it.
Notice it.
What happens?
Does it grow or shrink,
Expand,
Increase,
Decrease?
Does it shift into something else?
When it no longer holds your attention,
Come back to the breathing.
The simplicity of the breath.
It's always available to you.
If while you're sitting,
An emotion becomes strong and obvious,
That can be what you focus on.
You can bring your attention to the emotion.
So again,
Letting go of the breath or whatever else you were focusing on and paying attention to that emotion.
Specifically,
Feel it in your body.
Investigate in your body how you feel this emotion.
You might notice some clenching or tightness in your belly.
Maybe there's some vibration or tension in your chest.
Maybe your throat feels tight.
Maybe your face is warm.
There's all sorts of sensations in our bodies to pay attention to when we're having an emotion.
You can label that emotion fear,
Sadness,
Irritation,
Whatever it is,
Labeling it and feeling in your body what's happening.
When the emotion no longer has a hold on you or something else pulls your attention or it's stopped,
You can go to that new thing that's pulled your attention,
For instance,
A new body sensation or a sound.
Or you can always return to the breathing.
Just come back to home base,
To your anchor.
Now if thoughts become obvious,
Sometimes thoughts are just in the background,
In which case there's nothing to do really.
Just stay with being with your breath.
Sometimes you notice that you're lost in thought and you can use the word thinking or wandering and then return your attention right back to your breath.
But if a thought is repetitive,
You can begin to label the thoughts,
Worrying,
Planning,
Remembering.
Sometimes in the act of labeling them,
They disappear.
Sometimes they continue on.
If the thought keeps going in a repetitive way,
You might check into your body and see if there are body sensations to notice.
Let yourself be curious about the thoughts arising,
Coming and going.
If it feels like too much,
Always return to the breath.
So as you do this practice,
The breath is your anchor.
And no matter what's happening in your awareness,
Whether it's sounds or body sensations or emotions or thoughts,
You can always find that place to return to.
You might also notice if there's an attitude or mood in your mind,
Like a sense of restlessness or sleepiness or just a general feeling like sadness.
Notice if these mental states color your experience,
You can pay attention to them too.
So we'll sit together now in silence,
Remembering to keep your attention mostly focused on your breath and then if a sound or body sensation,
Emotion,
Thought or obvious mental state or mood,
If they become evident,
Predominant,
Let go of the breathing.
Notice whatever it is that's happening,
When it's stopped or no longer holds your attention,
Return to the breath and just relax and have fun.
Be curious.
You're exploring your own mind with curiosity and openness.
So we'll try this for some time now.
Thanks.
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If you find yourself lost in thought,
It's not a problem.
Just relax.
Notice your thinking and really kindly return your attention right back to whatever is happening in this present moment.
You might find that you move from one thing to the next.
There's a sound,
A body sensation,
A thought,
An emotion,
And then a return to your breath.
Trust in this natural flow of your experience as we relax and witness with curiosity our life unfolding in front of us.
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