Hi,
My name is Ana Ferreira and I am a meditation teacher from Brazil.
Thank you for meditating with me.
When we think about meditating,
We often think about doing something,
Maybe paying attention to our breath or pushing away unpleasant feelings.
But meditation can be exactly the opposite,
Exploring the whole range of our experience,
Noticing,
Not trying to change anything,
Having the courage to sit with whatever is there,
And not following our thoughts,
But allowing them to arise as it's natural.
Let's experiment with this then.
I will ring the bell three times when the meditation is over.
Just sit down in a comfortable position,
Just make sure you are not hunched,
Try to be energetic,
Still and comfortable,
Some alertness to your posture.
And just close your eyes,
Allowing your body to relax,
Taking a few deeper breaths in through the nose,
Out through the mouth.
And you can make some noise as you breathe out,
Letting your body know that you are safe.
And just returning your breath to normal,
In through the nose,
Out through the nose as well.
Feeling your feet on the floor or your bum on the cushion,
Noticing what is present in your experience right now.
Are there any sounds outside?
Maybe the sound of my voice,
Maybe some thoughts are arising,
Maybe you are still feeling a little bit restless as you just start to meditate,
But not trying to change anything,
Just noticing what's there,
Making no effort at all to change it.
Noticing the sensations on your body right now,
Maybe starting by the places in which your body is in contact with the rest of the world,
Your feet on the floor,
A gentle pull of gravity on your seat,
The back of the chair,
Just feeling the sensations without focusing on them,
Observing the sensations that are there most of the time,
But escape our awareness.
So for example,
The feeling of your clothes against your skin,
The sensations of your hands resting on another part of your body,
Maybe there are some sensations on your scalp,
The temperature of your face,
Any tension you have on your shoulders or the muscles of your face.
Again,
Not trying to change anything,
Just noticing,
Giving permission for things to be exactly as they are,
Noticing how your breath rocks your body,
How it moves your nostrils,
Your chest,
Your belly,
But not focusing on the breath,
Just noticing it and just feeling how it is,
The whole body sitting here in the present moment,
No particular focus on anything.
And if a thought comes into your mind,
It is the nature of mind,
It is completely okay,
But when you notice that you are thinking,
Just making the conscious choice of not following that thought any further,
Just letting it go and coming back to the experience of sitting here,
Allowing the observing mind to relax again into the present moment,
The awareness expanding again from paying attention to one thing to paying attention to the whole of your experience,
Just loosening the grip of attention and coming back to your embodied experience,
The attention softening and expanding again.
So not really trying to do anything or to change anything,
Just being.
And if you notice that you are following a thought,
Wandering off,
Just choose not to pursue that thought anymore,
Return with kindness to the present moment,
Coming back to being here,
Seated with yourself and your experience.
And maybe notice how it feels when you unfocus from a thought and come back to this broad noticing of you just paying attention to the whole experience.
Maybe you can feel some ease when you come back,
Some tranquility,
Just see what is there.
And noticing your present state,
Maybe you are feeling a bit calmer,
More relaxed,
Or maybe you can notice your me-ness,
Your presence,
That sense of just being that is in the background from all our senses,
Just the presence of your spirit,
Your consciousness.
What is it that is in the background of this human experience?
And allowing yourself to rest into that,
Noticing how your mind feels when you allow yourself to rest on it.
And if you find yourself thinking,
Just accept with kindness,
It's normal,
But just choose not to follow that thought any further and come back to this feeling,
Presence,
Letting things be as they are and coming back to the present.
And just continue like this for a couple of minutes or so,
Noticing what are you doing with your mind and just coming back.
And now just coming back to your breath,
To your body sensation.
