So having your feet flat on the floor so that you're supporting your upper body,
Sitting upright so that you're both alert and relaxed,
Not going to fall asleep,
Having your arms and your hands relaxed,
Taking some deeper breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth,
In through the nose and out through the mouth,
Feeling the body inflate as you breathe in and soften as you breathe out.
On your next out breath,
Closing the eyes,
Allowing the breath to return to its natural rhythm,
Feeling the weight of the body sinking down,
Feeling the feet on the floor,
Having a sense of being grounded,
Connected to the floor,
To the earth,
Feeling gravity pulling you down,
Asking yourself,
Why am I meditating right now?
How might it benefit me?
And how might it benefit the people around me?
Softening the forehead,
Softening the eyes,
Feeling the air traveling in and out through the nostrils,
Softening the jaw,
Allowing a slight smile and seeing if that changes anything in the mind or the body.
As you breathe in,
Imagining that you're breathing into your shoulders.
As you breathe out,
Imagining that you're breathing out from your shoulders and releasing any tension that you're holding there.
Feeling the hands,
Noticing the temperature of them,
If there's any movement,
Or they're still,
Feeling the arms and letting them hang dead weight either side of the body,
Feeling the chest area,
The belly area,
Scanning down the back,
Feeling the buttocks,
The hips,
The groin,
Feeling the legs and the feet,
Scanning up the legs again.
So your attention is including feet,
The legs,
Including the upper body,
The torso,
The arms,
The hands,
The neck,
The head,
Holding the whole body in your attention.
And now calling to mind a teacher,
Mentor,
Someone who's helped you,
Supported you in your life.
And as you bring them to mind,
Imagine them sitting or standing in front of you.
And notice,
Does it evoke any feeling in you just imagining them?
It's okay if nothing happens,
Just experimenting,
Being curious and open.
What happens when I picture this person?
Connecting to your breath and imagining that on each in-breath as you breathe in,
You're saying their name.
And as you breathe out,
You're saying,
Thank you.
So saying their name as you breathe in,
And saying thank you as you breathe out.
And as you say thank you,
Connecting to what it is you're thanking them for.
How is it that they have supported you in your life?
What kindness have they shown you?
Noticing if this is evoking any feeling in the body.
And now letting go of your focus on this person.
Calling to mind a good friend,
Someone you appreciate in your life.
Imagine them standing or sitting in front of you,
Contemplating what it is that you really appreciate about this person.
Seeing what it's like to say their name as you breathe in.
And say thank you silently to them as you breathe out.
Staying connected to the breath.
And now letting go of your focus on this person.
And focusing on yourself.
Focusing on what other qualities in yourself that you really appreciate.
And seeing what it's like to say your own name as you breathe in.
And to say thank you to yourself as you breathe out.
Noticing how this feels in your body.
Noticing if there's any resistance or if it feels natural or easy.
And now letting go of any particular focus for your attention.
Letting go of any effort.
Not trying to do anything.
This is a poem called Love After Love by Derek Walcott.
The time will come when,
With elation,
You will greet yourself arriving,
At your own door,
In your own mirror.
And each will smile at the other's welcome and say sit here,
Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was yourself.
Give wine,
Give bread,
Give back your heart to itself.
To the stranger who has loved you all your life,
Whom you ignored for another,
Who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,
The photographs,
The desperate notes.
Peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit.
Feast on your life.
Bringing the attention back to the contact with the chair,
The feet on the floor.
Noticing sounds when you're ready,
Slowly opening the eyes.
