Mindfulness of feelings practice.
Just beginning by settling into a stable posture,
So one that feels comfortable and relaxed.
Just taking a few moments to move the body and just finding the right way of sitting that affords you some ease and allows you to be upright and dignified and stable.
Just beginning by bringing awareness to what is being received by the senses.
So just as we sit here in stillness,
Just noticing any sounds in our environment.
And just letting the sounds fall into the ears,
So without seeking them out or getting caught in whether we like the sounds or getting carried away by the story of where the sounds have come from.
Just paying attention to the frequency and the texture of the sounds.
Noticing how some sounds might come and go,
Might increase in volume and then fade away.
Perhaps noticing the silence in between the sounds.
And without letting go of this experience of sound,
Just expanding the awareness to also rest with our eyes and the quality of light or colour.
Even if the eyes are closed,
The quality of light and pattern behind the eyelids.
Just resting with the breath in the environment of sound and light and colour.
Expanding the awareness again.
Just seeing if we can notice the temperature in the room.
Sense of space.
How does the air feel against the skin?
Letting go now of this external environment and just bringing the attention inwards.
Scanning through the body.
Noticing if there's any tightness or tension.
Sense of relaxation or peacefulness.
Restlessness.
Just allowing whatever sensation is there just to be there.
Knowing where the body makes contact with the chair or the floor,
The cushion.
Checking in with the feet and the legs,
The back,
The shoulders,
The hands,
The arms,
The stomach,
The chest.
Just checking in again with the posture and adjusting the body slightly if we need to be more comfortable.
Just having a sense of ease.
Straight back,
Relaxed,
Not rigid.
Resting awareness on the movement of the breath as it enters and leaves the body.
Being sensitive to the breath as it fills the body and then the body as it deflates on the out breath.
Just noticing how is my breathing.
So it may be relaxed or deep,
Smooth or more clunky and tight.
It might be shaky.
The breath might be shallow,
Fast or slow.
And remembering that we don't have to change how we breathe.
We simply follow the movement of the breath and allow it to settle into its all natural rhythm.
Bringing a curiosity as to where the breath is felt most keenly in the body.
So it might be deep in the belly.
We might sense the belly getting bigger on the in breath and smaller on the out breath.
It might be in the chest area,
Noticing the rise and fall as the lungs fill with air and then let go of the air on the out breath.
We might sense it around the shoulders or the back of the chest or around the nose and mouth area.
So just staying with the breath wherever we feel it the most for the next few in breaths and out breaths.
Expanding the awareness to take in the whole body.
Experiencing the whole body breathing.
And seeing if we can rest in acceptance,
Open to whatever arises in this practice.
So without judgement and with a gentleness and a kindness to ourselves.
And now bringing awareness to the general feeling tone of our experience.
So we'll maybe experiencing calmness or relaxation.
Maybe irritation or judgement.
Boredom.
Maybe a reaction to signs or physical sensations.
Noticing if this feeling tone is pleasant,
Or neutral.
Becoming aware of how the body is.
Is there a sense of rest in the body?
Is there discomfort?
Perhaps noticing pockets of tightness or pain.
And is this mostly pleasant,
Mostly unpleasant or neutral?
Bringing awareness to our mind state in this moment.
There might be thoughts moving through the mind that carry different feeling tones.
Just noticing whatever mind state is present.
We might be focused,
Concentrated,
Sleepy,
Distracted,
Confused.
Just noticing whatever feeling tone comes with this mind state.
Is it pleasant or unpleasant or neutral?
Just okay?
Having a general sense of how this moment is and seeing if it's possible to name the feeling or emotion or mind state that's present right now.
Bringing attention to the breath and the body.
Feeling the breath and the body.
And following the in-breath for the full duration of the in-breath and following the out-breath for the full duration of the out-breath.
Noticing if the mind finds the breath pleasant or unpleasant or neutral.
Expanding awareness to really embrace every sensation of your experience.
The breath,
Body,
Sounds and noticing if there are any feelings.
Noticing also that feelings change and shift,
Sometimes growing in intensity,
Sometimes lingering and then fading.
Just becoming aware of the inner landscape of feeling.
If things are strongly pleasant or unpleasant it's easy to be aware but often mildly pleasant or mildly unpleasant or neutral feelings go unnoticed but they're still there.
So just seeing if we can be sensitive to whatever feeling tone is present.
As we come to the end of the practice just start to very slowly move the body.
Maybe moving the fingertips,
The hands,
The toes,
The feet.
Noticing as we do this the changing sensations and feeling.
Maybe stretching the body.
And then just coming back to follow the in-breath and the out-breath.
