Welcome back everyone.
Please take your time to settle into a comfortable seated position,
Whether that be upon the floor or upon a chair.
This will be a guided calm abiding practice or samatha practice,
Focusing on the mindfulness of the breath in three parts of the body,
Cultivating moments of mindfulness or what is referred to as sati in the Buddhist tradition.
Take your time to settle into relative stillness in your seated position.
Then if you haven't done so already,
Take a moment to invite the windows of the eyes to gently close.
And then together we'll intentionally arrive with three conscious cycles of breath.
When you're ready,
Inhaling through the nose,
Intentionally arriving on the exhale out the mouth.
Two more times,
Please,
In through the nose and out through the mouth.
On that final exhale out the mouth,
Releasing as much tension from the muscles of the face,
The shoulders,
Chest and belly as we can.
Relinquishing all conscious breath control as best we can,
Allowing the breath to be normal.
We will be applying a gentle labeling technique to help support these moments of mindfulness,
Beginning to draw our attention gradually to our next inhale as it enters through the nose,
And begins to move next into the thoracic cavity of the chest,
And then into the abdominal cavity near the belly.
As the body releases the exhale,
Noticing the breath move from the abdomen through the chest and finally out the nose.
Once again in through the nose,
Continuing into the chest and towards the belly,
Exhaling from the belly through the chest and up the nostrils.
Once again in through the nose,
Chest,
Belly,
Exhaling belly,
Chest,
Nose.
Applying now this mental label as the inhale rises,
Simply noting just this inhale,
Watching it move through these three parts of the body,
And just this exhale from belly to chest to nostrils.
Just this inhale,
Just this exhale,
Just this inhale,
Just this exhale.
Continuing now on your own,
No matter how many times the mind may wander or drift from the breath or from this labeling technique or both,
As best we can without judgment,
We simply return to the next breath that arises.
Just this inhale,
Just this exhale.
Just this inhale,
Just this exhale.
Just this inhale,
Just this exhale.
Just this inhale,
Just this exhale.
Just this inhale,
Just this exhale.
Just this inhale,
Just this exhale.
Just this exhale.
Just this inhale,
Just this exhale.
Just this exhale.
Just this inhale,
Just this exhale.
Taking a moment,
Finding a full conscious inhale through the nose,
Releasing the exhale and the meditative technique with the out-breath out the mouth.
Take a moment just to observe your experience.
Perhaps the mind was all over the place,
Unable to focus upon the breath or upon the mental labeling.
For others,
Perhaps the mind was quite focused,
One-pointed,
Without getting caught up in the preferences of the mind.
Just noticing this as best we can without judgment for and against.
The mind was busy,
The mind was peaceful,
The mind was focused,
The mind was distracted.
Is it possible just to rest in the refuge of our own awareness without having to take sides?
Thank you for your time,
Your efforts to train and awaken the mind.
