Settling into awareness of our sense experience.
Starting by noticing just what's happening in the present moment in your experience.
Perhaps starting with the physical body.
Tactile sensations.
Almost anywhere in the body we can notice some sort of sensation.
We can notice the pressure from the weight of our body on whatever we're sitting on.
Or perhaps what we're leaning back into.
Back of a chair.
Or maybe we're lying down.
And the weight of the body is taken up by the ground or the seat.
Awareness can use whatever the mind notices anywhere in the body or through the different sense experiences.
Awareness grows through our ability to pay attention,
To notice,
To simply be with those experiences as they happen.
And those experiences are often quite ordinary.
Nothing special,
Nothing mystical.
There's sensations of our weight on whatever we're sitting on.
Sensations of the body moving.
Perhaps the movement of the breath.
Through the mouth and throat.
Through the chest.
The ribs and the belly.
Breathing is a strongly physical process.
And the awareness is able to stay with it.
Looking up and letting go of sensations.
And this process of attending to sensations.
Bringing awareness along.
Bringing the mind to bear on what's happening in the physical body.
And we let that quality of attention,
Of awareness,
Be soft.
We're not demanding attention or forcing ourselves to be with what's happening.
But letting that process happen in a soft and natural way.
It's natural for the mind to attend to experience.
And you might notice how the mind,
How the mindfulness moves around.
It moves to different areas of experience.
Different senses become more alive.
When there are sounds,
The hearing sense automatically picks up those sounds.
It takes them in.
And we don't need to make any particular effort here.
But we do need to be present.
And it can be helpful to set an intention in the mind.
Give the mind some sort of direction.
It can be as simple as setting an intention to be present.
Setting an intention to notice what's happening.
We might notice sounds around in the environment.
Or sounds within our own body.
At times we can notice the absence of sounds.
Noticing sounds or noticing silence.
And be aware if your mind is,
If you feel that there's a reaching out towards sounds.
And this can create a little bit of tension in the mind and the body.
We can use a little bit too much effort to try to hear.
Trying to listen.
Or even trying to work out what a particular sound is.
Awareness just needs to know sound.
It doesn't need to know it clearly or exactly.
But just as it is in the moment,
Hearing is happening.
Sound is being known.
Sound is being received.
Being aware of sound and sensation.
And you might notice how the mind goes between the two.
Moving quite effortlessly.
A sound,
A sensation,
Another sensation.
Each moment of awareness.
Noticing something fresh,
Something new.
Perhaps noticing a moment of tension.
And then a moment of relaxation.
A sound changing in each moment.
A breath that's never been breathed before.
Staying with that process moment by moment.
And when it ends,
What's happening now in the mind,
In the body?
What has the mind landed on like a butterfly landing really delicately on a leaf?
Moving from flower to flower.
Highlighting each moment afresh.
If your eyes are open.
Seeing will be happening.
And whether that's an outer seeing or an inner seeing with your eyes closed.
Let the eyes be soft.
Let the gaze be broad.
Not trying to focus on anything in particular.
Seeing where the gaze naturally goes.
Seeing how long it naturally stays before changing.
The eyes too can receive information.
They can receive sense objects without trying to see,
Without straining to look.
Simply settling back,
Taking it all in.
Seeing,
Hearing,
Touch sensations all happening.
And just relaxing into the knowing of them.
Resting in the body.
Resting in hearing and seeing.
Resting in the awareness of them.
Resting in the awareness of them.
Resting in the awareness of them.
Resting in the awareness of them.
