For this sitting meditation we assume a sitting position that can be on a cushion or on a sturdy chair.
If you sit on a chair make sure you sit with your back straight up.
If you sit on a cushion on the floor see whether you can get your knees as close to the floor as possible or even touch it.
If you have a disability or injury adjust the position and choose the position that is safe and comfortable for you and which supports you in order to be present from moment to moment.
Not only the physical position you adopt when sitting is important but also the inner attitude.
Your back should be straight,
Not stiff and also not tense.
Your head relaxed and straight,
Your shoulders hanging loose.
A position that exudes dignity just as a queen would sit on her throne.
You can lay your hands in your lap,
Folded,
Or lay them on your upper legs,
Palms open towards the ceiling,
If that feels pleasant for you.
The inner attitude is one of curiosity and a light but not tense alertness.
Open for what is going to come.
Then direct the attention to your breathing.
Most people find it easiest to follow the in and out movement of breathing by watching how the belly goes up and down.
When breathing in through the nose or mouth the breast goes through the windpipe to the chest and the belly rises.
When breathing out the movement goes in the opposite direction.
You can also follow the breath by mentioning softly rising and falling in your thoughts.
Just noticing,
Breathing in and breathing out.
Breathing in and breathing out.
Sometimes the breathing will be a bit quicker,
Another time a bit slower.
You don't have to change that.
It's just natural.
And our attention is just on the rising and the falling of the belly.
The advantage of breathing movement is that it's always present.
It's a natural movement of the body.
And it's not necessary to get it under control.
You simply can follow it.
The breathing is there and is allowed to be as it is.
The belly is rising and falling.
Rising and falling.
It's quite usual you notice your attention wandering.
Suddenly your thoughts are on something else and no longer on your breath.
A plan suddenly flashes through your mind.
Or you think of your task list.
You drift off or think back to yesterday with pleasure.
Don't think that this is wrong.
It simply happens and is an attribute of the mind.
Exactly the moment you notice that your attention has wandered is actually very beautiful.
For it means that you realize it.
You are aware of what you experience at that moment.
And that is the attentiveness you are training.
What you do at that moment is to bring your attention back in a friendly but firm way to observing how your belly rises and falls.
And then you simply go on following your breathing movement.
Breathing in.
Breathing out.
Breathing in.
Breathing out.
And then you might notice your mind has wandered off again.
Don't consider this as a failure,
Even though it might be frustrating to notice that you don't have your mind under control.
The advantage is that you learn to look at it as something that happens.
That can help you practice patience and that helps you anchor yourself in the here and now.
Time and again.
And every time we bring our attention back to the process of breathing in and breathing out.
The belly rising and falling.
Next we bring our attention to the physical sensations in the body.
Maybe start with the contact of the buttocks on the cushion or the chair.
And then allowing the attention to rest on the body as a whole.
From feet to crown.
Noticing an itch.
A feeling of warmth or cold.
Tingling or prickling.
Stiffness and tension or suppleness.
Hardness or softness of a spot in the body.
Whatever it is,
You notice the physical sensation with curiosity.
Then let it go until the next sensation arises in the open awareness of your attention.
A physical sensation here.
A physical sensation there.
A feeling of stiffness.
Or a feeling of warmth.
You notice the physical sensation with curiosity.
Let it go and open yourself and your attention to the next physical sensation.
And if the mind wanders,
Bring it back to the body,
Firmly but friendly.
Noticing physical sensations.
With many physical sensations there comes a feeling tone.
One sensation might feel pleasant.
Another unpleasant.
And yet another is neutral in character.
The invitation is to notice the physical sensations and the feeling tone that comes with it.
Pleasant,
Unpleasant or neutral.
For some physical sensations the feeling tone might be clearly discernable.
For others you hardly can see a feeling tone.
And that's okay.
One feeling tone is not better than the other.
But you might notice that you have the inclination to think so in your thoughts.
To make a judgement.
See if you can look with a fresh view at each physical sensation and observe it,
Including the associated feeling tone,
But without passing any judgement.
Observing feeling tones.
Pleasant,
Unpleasant or neutral.
It is sad for a while.
It is possible that a certain physical sensation continues longer and moves much stronger to the foreground of your attention.
An itch that endures.
A stiffness or a small pain.
A tingling that doesn't stop.
You can respond to such a dominant sensation in two different ways.
One way is to do something about it.
You can stretch an itch for example.
And if you do so,
You can do it with full attention.
Noticing the intention in yourself to do something.
And carry out the action attentively.
And then observe the effects of the action.
The other method is to do nothing.
And only stay with your attention on the physical sensation.
You take your attention to it and follow the development of the sensation.
It might become stronger or weaker.
Its character might change.
Or it might,
Perhaps,
Disappear.
And in this way you follow the physical sensations in the body.
And here again your attention may wander.
If it does,
Bring it back in a friendly but firm way.
Back to observing the physical sensations and the associated feelings of pleasant,
Unpleasant or neutral.
Again and again.
From physical sensations we move our attention to sounds.
Observing sounds that can come from inside the body or from outside.
A sound might be loud or soft.
It might be a sharp or a dull sound with a high or a low tone.
It can be a rolling sound or just a sudden noise.
Whatever you hear,
There is no need to interpret or analyze it.
There is no need to trace where it came from or what caused it.
You can simply notice it as sound.
Nothing more.
And so we pay attention to sound.
This sound.
That sound.
The next sound.
You don't have actively to search for sound.
Just let them come to you.
This sound.
And the next sound.
And if the mind wanders,
Just notice that and bring it back friendly but firmly to noticing sound.
Sometimes you might also notice that you form a judgement about a sound.
Then let go of that sound.
And notice the following one.
And the following one.
Now shift your attention from observing sounds to following area of attentiveness.
Observing thoughts.
Thoughts constantly pass through our mind.
Sometimes it's a long train of words and associations.
Sometimes it's just a flash or an image.
Now they last long.
Now short.
Sometimes very vague.
Then suddenly razor sharp.
There are all sorts of thoughts.
Just observe the thoughts and then let go of them without bothering about the content.
And then an exhort comes.
And you let go of that thought again.
And if you notice you have gone along in thinking.
Let go of that thought and wait for the next thought to come.
You could see thoughts as clouds that move across the sky and you are lying on your back looking at them.
Some clouds drift past slowly.
Others rush.
Some are large and complex.
Others are small.
Sometimes they cover the sky.
Sometimes there's just one small cloud.
You don't need to do anything with your thoughts.
You don't need to make them pass faster or to stop them altogether.
You look at your thoughts without identifying yourself with them.
They are just individual events that arise in the mind and then pass away.
This thought and that thought.
Thoughts often induce emotions.
They have an emotional charge.
Your mood changes and you can also observe that.
You head on an emotion.
Happiness,
Sorrow,
Fatigue,
Boredom.
Look at which emotion catches your attention.
Just observe them and then let them go again.
Thoughts and emotions.
And each time the attention wanders,
Whether it's while observing thoughts or emotions,
You observe that in a friendly way without judging yourself or seeing it as a failure or mistake.
It is what it is.
And friendly but firmly,
Bring the attention back to observing thoughts and emotions.
Moment by moment by moment.
We've now seen all the areas our attention can rest upon.
Breathing,
Physical sensations and the feeling tone,
Sounds,
Thoughts and emotions.
And instead of focusing on one of the areas,
We can direct our attention to observing what is in the foreground here and now,
Without focusing on a certain area.
It can be a sound,
A physical sensation,
A thought,
A sentiment,
A feeling tone,
An emotion.
Whatever presents itself at the moment.
We call that choiceless awareness and allow our attention to rest on whatever it notices.
And then you let go of that experience until the next experience presents itself.
And so on.
Now a sound,
Then a thought.
Now a sensation,
Then a sentiment.
Now an emotion,
Then whatever is present.
Moment by moment by moment.
And if your attention has wandered during the period of choiceless awareness,
You always can redirect it to the breathing.
The breath is always the ever-present anchor for attentiveness and for stabilizing your attention.
And once you have brought back your attention to the breathing process,
You can let go of that and shift your attention again to choiceless awareness.
Now a thought,
Then a sound.
Now a physical sensation,
Then an emotion.
And for the final period of the sitting meditation,
Direct your attention again to the breath.
Following the rising and falling of the belly.
And noting the in-breath and the out-breath in your mind.
Breathing in,
Breathing out.
The belly rising and falling.
