Mindfulness Meditations guided by Una Keeley Professional MBSO Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Instructor MBSO Full Meditation Practice Awareness of posture,
Breath,
The body,
Sensations,
Sounds,
Thoughts,
Emotions and choiceless awareness.
Choosing a time and a place where you will be warm and comfortable.
And making sure to arrange things so that you won't be disturbed as you practice this meditation.
Acknowledging now that you are choosing to give yourself this time to support your health and your well-being.
Taking this opportunity now to settle into the posture in which you will be practicing this guided meditation.
You may like to throw a fleece or something light around your shoulders if this feels comfortable for you.
Setting aside now the usual mode in which we operate.
That of more or less constant doing.
And choosing now to switch to a mode of non-doing.
Of simply being.
Adjusting the body now so it allows you to be upright and dignified.
And embodying a quality of alert wakefulness,
Whatever that might mean for you in your body in this moment.
Making the subtle adjustments now that are needed.
And finding a position that allows for you the greatest degree of stability and stillness.
Finding a posture that allows breathing to happen with the least amount of effort or difficulty.
Allowing the body now to sit upright but not stiff.
Embodying a sense of kindness for ourselves within the posture.
And having a sense of perhaps that the shoulders are balanced above the hips comfortably.
And that the head is comfortably balanced above the shoulders.
Gently resting the palms facing either up or down on the lap.
Or perhaps you might like to cup them together one inside the other,
Palms facing upwards.
Allowing the shoulders now to relax and to drop slightly.
Inhabiting this posture and allowing a growing sense of stillness and stability.
And embodying a quality of alert attention.
Letting go of any sense of tightness or tension that you may be noticing in the body.
And allowing the body to soften and to just breathe.
Noticing that breathing is happening now in this moment and feeling the natural flow of the breath from the inside.
Letting go of any need to alter or to change the breath in any way.
Becoming aware of where you feel the breath,
Where you sense the breath in the body moment by moment.
It might be in the abdomen or it may be in the chest or throat.
Or for you,
You may be noticing it in the nostrils.
See if you can feel the sensations of breath one breath at a time.
Noticing the continuous flow of when one breath ends and the next breath begins.
Not trying to do anything or to get any place,
Simply being with breathing,
Giving your full care and attention to each breath.
Each in-breath and each out-breath.
As they follow one after each other.
Now as you do this,
You might notice your mind starting to wander.
Wandering off into thoughts,
Fantasies,
Anticipations of the future,
Worrying.
Perhaps thoughts of the past or maybe for you memories.
And when we notice this has happened,
Practicing acknowledging where the mind has gone.
And then gently returning the attention to the breath as an anchor.
When you notice your attention has wandered and is no longer focused on your breathing.
Just being kind with yourself and acknowledging to yourself.
This is not a problem.
This is very natural.
You can perhaps say thinking,
Thinking or wandering,
Wandering softly to yourself.
As you gently redirect the attention back to the breathing.
The wandering away of the mind and the refocusing on the breath is the practice.
Allowing the attention to follow the breath.
From time to time getting lost in thought and returning to our breath when we notice this has happened.
Seeing if you can be really kind with yourself as you practice this.
So we'll stay with this for a short time in silence.
Allowing the breath to bring you back to the present.
Whenever you notice the mind is moving out of the present,
Becoming absorbed,
Preoccupied or perhaps reactive.
Allowing the breath to keep you tuned to a state of relaxed awareness and stillness.
Allowing the breath now to expand,
Filling your whole body and feeling it now from the head to the toe.
As you become aware of all the sensations in your body.
Becoming aware now of the body sitting on the chair.
Allowing the chair now to take your weight and to support you in this practice.
Becoming aware of where the body and the chair meet.
Noticing the sensation of the chair underneath you.
Holding you.
Supporting you.
Bringing awareness now to the contact points between the chair and the body and becoming aware of the sensations around these contact points.
Maybe noticing for you a sense of heat,
Perhaps slight pressure,
Perhaps tingling.
Just seeing what's here for you now.
And now bringing the awareness to the feet and noticing where the feet come in contact with the floor.
Allowing the floor to support you and to offer stability to this posture and to you as you practice.
Noticing now how your awareness is holding within it not only the flow of breathing but also the body as a whole.
So being aware now of your whole body sitting,
Breathing,
Here,
Now.
Inviting now whatever sensations are here to be here without judging them.
Just allowing them to be and embodying a sense of kindness towards them moment by moment.
At times you may notice some sensations of discomfort or perhaps agitation.
And as you maintain the awareness of your breathing,
Practicing being with these sensations.
Noticing any impulse to react to sensations and taking this opportunity to stay present with whatever is here.
Allowing the sensations just to be.
Being totally present with your breath,
Your sensations and the body as a complete dignified whole.
If you notice a sensation becoming overwhelming and dominating your field of awareness to the point where it becomes too difficult to stay focused and concentrated.
Then choosing one of two options but before doing so just taking a moment to notice the internal impulse to shift,
To change what is here.
And then moving the body slightly to relieve any sensation of tension.
Alternatively we can choose to move right in on the part of the body that is experiencing intensity of sensation.
Zeroing in on it.
Putting the mind right there with it.
Going right into the sensation and breathing with it.
Breathing in with it.
And breathing out with it.
Responding to it by opening and softening.
Letting go as best you can of any sense of tensing,
Bracing and resisting.
Bringing a sense of acceptance to it.
And perhaps finding a sense of stillness within it.
Expanding our awareness now to sense the whole body.
Sensing the whole body sitting here breathing.
And beginning now to expand our attention to include hearing.
So turning the attention now towards the soundscape around you.
Opening to sounds as they arise from near and from far.
Allowing the ears to receive the sensation of sound.
Sounds from in front to the sides,
Behind,
Above and below.
Inviting in all sounds into your awareness.
Noticing sounds that are close to the body.
Perhaps even coming from inside the body.
Noticing the sound of the air travelling through the nose.
Maybe the tummy rumbling.
Perhaps the subtle sound of clothes moving on the body as the breath enters the body and leaves the body.
Allowing curiosity to arise.
Noticing the qualities of sounds.
Loud sounds and quiet sounds.
The layering of sounds,
How they weave in and out of each other.
The silence between the sounds.
Allowing the ears to receive sounds without judgement.
So letting go of the tendency to judge,
To label,
To attach a storyline.
Witnessing sounds as they arise,
Stay a while and disappear.
Noticing and witnessing.
Witnessing each sound as if for the first time.
Cultivating a sense of wonder for this ability to hear so much.
Perhaps noticing sounds within sounds.
The quieter space between sounds.
And the space out of which all sounds arise.
Letting sounds now fade into the background and bringing your awareness to thinking,
To your thoughts.
Maybe thoughts about what you're doing now or what you're going to be doing.
Just noticing thoughts about the past,
Worries,
Anxieties,
Sad thoughts,
Happy thoughts.
Or perhaps thoughts are just neutral for you at the moment.
See if it is possible to observe them all as they come,
Stay a while and then go.
Letting go of any need to control them in any way.
Letting them come and go on their own.
Just as we did with sounds.
Seeing them coming and going,
Perhaps like clouds passing in the sky.
Your mind like the sky and your thoughts like the clouds.
Sometimes large,
Sometimes small.
Sometimes dark,
Sometimes light.
But as the clouds pass,
The sky remains.
Seeing thoughts as events that are arising,
Staying a while and then disappearing.
When you notice the mind getting caught up in your thinking,
No longer observing thoughts,
Getting lost inside them.
Taking a moment to notice what your mind is getting caught in.
And then beginning again.
Renewing your intention to observe these as mental events as they arise,
Stay a while and dissolve.
Now turning your awareness towards any feelings or emotions that may be present.
Checking in on your internal atmosphere.
Seeing if you can pick up on any internal moods or feelings that may be here now.
Seeing what internal weather patterns we can become aware of.
What feeling tones are here now.
Seeing if you can bring curiosity to these.
Noticing whether they are pleasant or unpleasant or maybe neutral.
Seeing if we can notice any sensations that accompany our internal mood.
Perhaps a sense of heat or maybe coolness.
Perhaps vibration,
Tingling.
Maybe for you a sense of tightening or bracing.
Becoming aware of how our internal atmosphere is constantly changing.
Sometimes becoming intense.
Sometimes strong and sometimes mild.
Becoming aware of any changes.
Noticing how waves of sensation move on and dissolve while under the spotlight of our attention.
And now for the remaining time,
Letting go of all objects of attention.
So your breathing,
Your body,
Hearing and observing thinking.
And instead of focusing on any one,
Simply allowing yourself to just sit here and be fully aware in each moment.
And aware of whatever there is within the sphere of your awareness.
If thoughts come,
Observing thoughts.
If sounds,
Then sounds.
If sensations arise in your awareness,
Then being with sensations.
And if it is the breath that is most prominent,
Then just practicing being with your breathing from moment to moment.
Letting go of choosing what to become aware of and seeing what naturally is arising in the awareness.
Just sitting in stillness,
Witnessing and observing.
Looking for nothing and being sensitive and present with all that is arising.
Just as it is and just as it unfolds.
Experiencing the ground of your awareness,
The ground of your being.
Out of which all perceptions arise.
And now becoming aware of breathing once again and allowing the attention to gently settle on the breath as an anchor.
Just being with breathing for a few more moments.
So allowing the eyes to stay closed and as this practice finishes,
Recognizing that you have given yourself this time intentionally.
Nourishing yourself by allowing yourself to dwell in this state of non-doing.
In this state of being and congratulating yourself now for dedicating this space and this time to your well-being.
And now allowing the body to begin moving.
So perhaps beginning with the hands and allowing the fingers to move,
Then the feet and allowing the toes to move.
And then allowing bigger movement.
So the hands,
The feet and whatever other part of the body wants to begin moving.
Trusting movement as it arrives back into the body.
And when you're ready,
Beginning to open the eyes and going about your day.
