The purpose of this meditation is to start to become more aware of awareness itself,
As opposed to moving with each and every thought that shows up.
And the benefit is that often we have stressful thoughts.
And so instead being able to notice the raw data of sounds,
Of sensations,
And sometimes even noticing thoughts,
But from an objective,
Aware point of view.
Okay.
It's really following that sound.
And becoming aware of any other sounds.
Sounds not only coming from your computer,
But also sounds in the space that you're in.
It's really falling into the awareness of listening and looking for sounds that you didn't notice moments ago.
And they can be very subtle sounds,
Or more obvious ones.
And now also feeling into the body.
And first just noticing that you have a body.
Becoming aware of how often we spend our time in the realm of thoughts.
And consciously moving awareness to the body.
Feeling the life of the body.
Also feeling the space that the body takes up.
Its volume.
Also its weight.
You might even scan and notice differences in temperature.
Of different parts of the body.
And you might also notice if there are any obvious places that you might soften.
Just an intentional letting go of tension,
Of stress in the muscles and the tissues.
Just bringing awareness to any tight spots.
And first allowing them to be exactly as they are,
No matter how challenging or uncomfortable some of these spots might be.
And then slowly breathing into,
Just choosing a spot,
One spot right now.
And breathing out,
Letting go of tension in that space.
And another breath,
Breathing in.
And breathing out,
Letting go of more tension.
And so now finding one more spot,
One more place where you can put your attention.
And breathe into this space.
Allowing the release and relax.
Letting go of holding,
However subtle.
And now imagining a wave of awareness that starts at your face.
Just moving down,
Just scanning and feeling what sensations you can feel from the forehead,
Through the eyes,
The nose,
Cheeks,
Lips,
Jaw.
Around the ears,
Down the back of the head.
All the way around the neck as though you have a ring of attention.
Allowing awareness,
Move 365 degrees around the neck,
Going down toward the shoulders.
Simply feeling.
And maybe taking that ring and letting it circle around the left shoulder,
Feeling as you move slowly down,
Down the upper arm toward the elbow,
Slowly feeling.
And from the elbow down the forearm,
Around the wrist,
Across the back of the hand,
Left hand,
Left palm,
Through the fingers.
Bringing that ring back up,
That ring of awareness,
Simply following the sensations through the shoulder,
The right shoulder,
Down the upper arm,
Around the elbow,
Around the forearm,
Down through the wrist,
Across the back of the right hand,
Right palm,
Feeling through the fingers.
And now again coming up,
This time below the neck,
The top of the chest,
And simply feeling sensations,
Scanning down through the upper chest,
Middle chest,
Lower chest,
Upper abdomen,
Down the abdomen,
Over the navel,
Lower belly,
Out to the sides,
And gently taking your attention up to the top of the back,
Just below the neck.
Again,
Simply feeling for whatever sensations show up as you move the spotlight of your consciousness.
Now scanning down from the top of the back,
Becoming wide,
Feeling everything inside of the shoulders,
Down the top of the back,
Slowly moving toward the middle of the back,
Also out to the sides,
Down to the lower back,
And really noticing whatever is alive in this place,
Honoring it,
Letting it be there,
Whether it feels perfectly at ease or tight,
Just allowing what is,
Moving down through the waist,
Down through the buttocks,
And just feeling as you move down the thighs,
Noticing the weight of the thighs,
Noticing where they meet the seat beneath you,
Noticing any tightness or ease,
Bringing your attention into your knees,
Letting your attention glide down the fronts of the lower legs,
Down the shins,
Feeling as you move,
Feeling down to the ankles,
And then through the calves,
Feeling down through the calves,
Feeling down through the ankles,
And now switching over to the left foot,
Painting just the top of the left foot from the ankle,
Moving down,
Feeling as you move,
Feeling as you move across the tops of the toes,
And then painting from the ankle across and under the heel,
Feeling that space,
Painting the underside of the foot toward the toes,
And then under the toes,
And feeling where your foot is making contact with what's beneath it,
Feeling the points of contact of your left foot,
Also noticing the space it takes up,
And whatever subtle sensations might be felt inside of the foot,
And now moving your attention to your right foot,
Taking your attention from your right ankle,
Slowly painting the top of the right foot,
Moving down,
Feeling as you move,
Feeling the tops of the toes,
Moving back to the right ankle,
Going down around the heel,
Under the foot,
Moving from the heel across the sole toward the front of the underside of the foot,
Feeling,
And then feeling under the toes,
Where the toes are touching whatever they're touching underneath them,
Noticing those points of contact,
As well as what points of contact you feel across the rest of the foot,
Your right foot.
And now,
Coming to the breath,
Noticing that you're breathing,
And noticing the sensations of your breathing,
Where it's most easily noticed,
Feeling the rise and fall of the foot,
And noticing any ways you might soften the breath more than it already is.
See if you can put twice as much attention into the sensation of the breath,
Doubling up your attention from before.
See if you can feel the expansion of your ribs,
Of your belly,
And simply noticing if your breathing is moving freely or if it's constricted in some way,
Maybe by posture,
Taking an opportunity to correct the posture,
If you like,
Really feeling the raw data of the breath,
The actual sensations plugging you in to the here and now through the breath,
And using the breath to intentionally soften the entire body now even more,
Just really as you feel the sensations of breathing in,
Imagine breathing in,
Nourishing every cell in your body,
And as you breathe out,
Imagine letting go of anything heavy or tight in your body.
Any weight you might be carrying,
Metaphorically,
Any places where the energy gets kinked and is blocked,
Just imagine breathing in and dissolving tightness and blocks,
Breathing out,
Letting go of what's dissolved.
Knowing that at any moment you can move your attention from your mind and from thoughts that create stress to what's felt in the body,
To one breath,
To the sensations that are happening in this moment that are beyond the imagination of the mind that often create stress.
So just using these opportunities when you find yourself lost in looping thoughts that are challenging emotionally and even physically,
Just coming back to what's here in this moment right now.
What can I hear in this moment?
What can I physically feel in this moment?
Can I take one or more breaths and feel them in this moment and create peace?
