Just bringing yourself into a comfortable seat.
Exhausted or lying down position.
Maybe closing your eyes.
Reducing the external distractions.
Bringing your awareness to the body.
To the breath.
Just feeling the breath.
Breathing the body.
And maybe taking a couple of nice slow deep breaths in.
And releasing out through the mouth.
And doing this again a few times at your own pace.
Just allowing the ebb and flow of the breath to breathe the body.
Noticing in this moment how the mind and the body are.
Noticing if the mind is busy.
Lots of thinking maybe distractions,
To do lists.
And just noticing and observing this part of your mind and body being busy.
That's okay,
This is normal.
Not trying to force it away or push it away or stop it happening.
This is just perfectly normal.
So when we come into seated or lying down practice in mindfulness we are not trying to change anything.
It really sounds a bit bizarre I suppose because what often brings people to mindfulness or to meditation or any of these contemplative practices is to try and achieve something like calmness,
Relaxation,
Shifting our state.
So this will happen eventually but it isn't our primary objective.
So we really just have to sit with ourselves in this moment and the next moment and the next moment and just observe what's going on.
And we're really trying to bring that beginner's mind every time we sit down no matter how experienced we become.
I mean that attitude of beginner's mind because every practice will be different,
Every experience will be different.
We're not trying to become experts or gain something that we haven't already got.
So we're just trying to be aware of that in the first instance.
Just bringing your attention to whatever's going on in this moment without judgement if possible.
So in the beginning of course we will tend to judge and that's okay.
Just noticing this is what we do.
This is how our mind works.
This is the conditioning that we have learned over many,
Many years.
Our mind is an amazing thing.
It has its own intelligence.
So in our practice in mindfulness we will try to strengthen our connection between mind and body and our connection to the world around us whilst remaining okay.
Using the breath as an anchor whilst we begin our practice today.
So let's focus on the breathing of the body.
Just first of all finding your breath.
Noticing where you tend to breathe most in your body.
For some people that's in the upper throat,
The chest,
The upper chest.
Maybe down in the lower ribs,
The diaphragm,
Maybe right down in the belly.
Noticing where that natural breath sits.
Just allow that breath to be.
Bringing your awareness to the in and the out breath.
Each time the mind wanders off into thinking,
Going to your to do list,
Just notice this.
Gently bring your attention back to the breath,
To the in and the out breath.
Letting go of frustration,
Annoyance,
Expectations,
Whatever might be going on.
And imagining this gentle guiding of the breath.
Bringing the thoughts back,
Helping them to settle.
Like a mischievous active puppy,
We're trying to train to go where we want it to go.
So we can train the mind to go where we want it to go as well.
So that we are in charge here,
We are the ones watching,
Observing the show,
Not joining in.
Just in and out,
Following that breath in and out.
Maybe observing that as you start to allow this practice to settle in,
The out breath is slightly longer than the in breath.
So sometimes we call the in breath the energetic cleansing breath.
And the out breath,
The releasing,
Relaxing breath.
So breathing in the energy,
Breathing out,
Letting go,
Relaxing down.
Just do this in your own time,
At your own pace.
In silence for a moment or two.
Terry.
Now just letting go of any words,
Any rhythm.
The in and the out.
Opening to the presence of this moment.
Receiving.
Noticing what's there.
So as anything shifted,
Maybe it feels just the same.
With no change and this is okay.
Maybe there's a sense of relaxation,
A sense of calm,
Of ease.
Maybe a sense of frustration,
Agitation,
Expectations.
Just noticing what's there,
What comes up for you.
So in mindfulness,
Although we're not trying to change anything,
Naturally over time with practice things will start to shift.
It's often thought that mindfulness is a very calming,
Relaxing practice,
Which it can be of course,
But it's not all soft and fluffy.
It's all so sitting in the fire type of practice with mindfulness.
So especially when you're new to mindfulness,
Emotions may come up.
Really it's about sitting with and leaning into whatever's there.
And this is where guidance can help to support you.
So if you have a class or a teacher that you can access,
It's really helpful sometimes.
Or even just practicing with another person.
And get ready.
Get ready for things that will come up.
And again bringing this attitude of beginner's mind and just allowing what comes to come.
Sometimes people describe their release as quite an emotional experience.
Letting go of things we've been holding onto for a long,
Long time.
Unblocking.
Really coming back to yourself.
Coming back to your very being.
Knowing that you're okay in this moment.
Letting go of the past.
Letting go of a pull into the future.
Just allowing yourself to be here in this moment.
Maybe even bringing an attitude of gratitude,
Appreciation.
For the things that are here with you now.
And if your mind gets dragged into other things,
This is okay.
Just let go of this expectation that you can stop things.
Instead bring this awareness of the things that are going on in the background.
Just bring your awareness to the foreground.
To the here and now.
This moment.
This wonderful moment that we have.
Now just letting go of the practice and noticing the sounds in the room,
The temperature on your skin.
Your body sitting or lying down.
Bringing some awareness to your body and starting to bring some movement,
Maybe stretching,
Yawning.
Just grounding yourself here and now.
I wish you the very best with your practice and hope that you will continue.
Thank you for practicing with me today.
Namaste.
.
