Hello and welcome to session two of Morning Brew,
Your mindful cup of coffee.
So I invite you to take a seat with your cup of coffee and just settle into the session.
You can hold the cup of coffee in front of you and just look,
Look at the shapes,
Notice the steam rising,
Notice the color of the froth or the crema or the chocolate sprinkles.
Take a deep,
Slow breath in through the nose and just smell the coffee,
Notice the anticipation,
Notice your desire,
Notice any feelings of impatience or wanting to rush through it to get it over with.
All of those feelings are fine,
In fact no matter what arises,
Just gently acknowledge it and bring your focus back to your attention on the coffee.
Feel your cup of coffee,
Feel the warmth of the coffee radiating out into your hands,
Feel that heat and draw your attention once more to what you can see.
Notice the ever so subtle changes,
The little bubbles popping,
The water moving in your hands and just bring it closer and closer to your mouth and when you're ready,
Gently,
Calmly,
Slowly and lovingly take that first sip,
Don't rush the process,
Feel the warmth radiating throughout your mouth and the taste as it hits your tongue and notice the impulse to swallow and to drink again and when you're ready,
Do so,
Feel the coffee entering your body and notice the impact it is having on your mind.
And once again,
Look at your coffee,
Notice the changes that taking a sip has made,
Perhaps the pattern of the froth has changed or some of the crema has gone,
Notice your desire to take another sip,
Bigger this time,
Draw your attention to the smell and when you're ready,
Slowly,
Calmly,
Lovingly,
Take another sip,
Bigger this time and once again,
Feel the process,
Feel the warmth of the coffee as it enters your mouth,
As it hits your tongue and as you swallow,
Just take a moment to give thanks for the fact that you are able to sit with this cup of coffee,
Just mindfully appreciate with some gratitude the process it took for you to be able to have this cup of coffee with me today,
The growing and the cultivation and the harvesting,
The transporting,
The manufacturing,
The entire process that it took to get the coffee and the cup and the kettle and the water,
All of these little things we take for granted when we drink our cup of coffee,
But it's actually quite amazing,
It's quite amazing to think that you and I can have a digital cup of coffee together,
Take another sip and appreciate the fact that we're meditating together,
The technology,
The connection,
The state of existence that you,
I and everyone else that is taking this course can share a mindful cup of coffee together,
I find it miraculous and beautiful and it brings me hope and that's not just the caffeine talking,
So once again,
Draw your attention back to the sensations of the cup in your hand,
Notice its weight,
Its shape,
The feel,
Notice the warmth ever so slightly dropping away and notice the liquid in your cup moving and swaying and dancing,
Can you see your reflection in the liquid,
Can you notice any steam rising,
When you're ready take another deep long sip of your coffee,
Slowly,
Intentionally,
Purposefully and lovingly,
Notice the feelings as the coffee hits your tongue and your mouth and how it feels going into your body,
Just appreciate the fact that you're giving yourself this time,
Not as something you need,
Not as something to rush through,
But as a practice but as a practice in and of itself,
This is an act of self-care and something that you can do with every cup of coffee or indeed with most every aspect of your life,
With the processes through our day,
With our travel or driving and with most of our work experiences,
With a small bit of mindful intention we can turn the mundane into meditation and extend our practice well beyond the meditation mat and into our lives,
Take another slow calm breath in through your nose and out through your mouth,
Just appreciate the smells and the sights and the feeling that is arising and take another deep purposeful mindful sip of your coffee,
If you find yourself lost in thought,
In planning for the rest of the day or thinking about things in the past,
Just acknowledge them,
Just accept them and gently and lovingly return your focus back to the sensations,
Back to the coffee,
There's plenty of time for all of that later,
But right now,
Right now we're just going to enjoy the rest of our coffee,
As you find yourself coming to the end of your cup,
Just acknowledge any feelings of desire,
Of wanting,
Of craving to have more,
Of course you can choose to play this again and have another coffee if you like,
Or you can choose to continue on with your day,
But either way,
Just acknowledge whatever feelings are arising,
As you take that last sip,
Notice the bittersweet feeling that comes with completion,
You now get to move on,
You now get to enjoy,
You now get to live you now get to live and be,
But there's also that twinge of sadness,
The acknowledgement that something is finishing,
That's okay,
Whatever is arising is fine and accepted,
The act of creating and drinking a cup of coffee mindfully is analogous to epochs of our life,
We work towards something,
We build it up,
We enjoy it and then we move on,
Perhaps we can repeat it,
Perhaps not,
But either way,
If we can take a moment in that process,
To mindfully be present,
Then we can say we've at least experienced it fully,
In its totality,
We can embrace the changing nature of the moment and of our lives,
And of our lives,
Perhaps that's a little bit esoteric for a humble cup of coffee,
But really you can find these deep truths and practices wherever you look.
Today we've had a mindful cup of coffee together and I invite you to return to this course anytime you want to join me for a mindful cup of coffee,
Have an amazing day.
