So as the sound of the bell starts to fade,
Just settling into your meditation posture.
If you're seated,
Starting to feel the feeling of your body sinking into the cushion beneath you,
Touching the floor through your legs.
And if you're lying down,
Noticing where you feel the earth beneath you,
Maybe through your shoulders or your hips,
I'm just going to start by bringing our attention to those physical sensations.
The sensation of our chest slowly rising and falling,
Sensation of the cushion or the mat supporting our hips,
Noticing all the places where you feel pressure pushing against your body,
Noticing other sensations that are showing up in our body.
Maybe you notice warmth or coolness,
Tingling or soreness,
Just noticing all the little messages that our body is sending us.
Not trying to change the way we feel in the moment,
Just really deeply listening.
And as you start to settle and relax into your posture,
Just noticing if there's any resistance,
Any resistance to meditating tonight,
Any resistance to this practice,
Any resistance to the plans that you have later tonight or this weekend,
Seeing if as your body relaxes,
You can also relax any aversion you have to practicing,
To whatever is coming next.
Noticing if you're thinking,
Noticing if the mind is wandering,
And if it is,
Just thanking yourself for noticing that it's wandering and bringing your attention back to your body,
Back to the feeling of your feet and your legs on the floor,
The feeling of your ribs gently expanding and contracting as you breathe.
As you notice your body sensations,
Just seeing if you can put a word or two to whatever you're experiencing silently to yourself,
Noting coolness when you notice that your hands are cold,
Or noting pressure when you feel your back lying against the ground.
Using these simple labels to describe our experience can have really profound results.
Noticing and labeling breathing when we're breathing,
Labeling hearing when we're hearing,
Acknowledging what we're experiencing,
And then coming back to a subtle listening,
Just listening to our bodies,
Noticing if our mind is wandering,
And if so,
Just gently bringing it back to your body.
If you find that you're lost in thought,
Planning your weekend,
Rehashing what happened today,
You can thank your mind for doing what minds do,
Which is thinking,
And just gently bring your awareness back to your body,
Noticing all the signals and information that your body is sending you right now.
And as we start to come to the end of this practice,
Just taking an opportunity to introduce some gentle movement or some motion back into your body.
You could make circles with your wrists or your ankles,
Windshield wiper your knees,
Or rock gently side to side.
Just a little bit of movement as we transition.
And when you're ready,
You can open your eyes.
