Mindfulness Of Sound, Breath, Sensation & Thought

Sitting Meditation Mindful awareness of sound,

Breath,

Sensation and thought.

So we begin by finding a comfortable upright sitting position.

If you're on a chair,

Placing your feet flat on the floor.

And either choosing to close your eyes or leave them open.

If so,

Resting your gaze on a spot a few feet in front of you on the floor with a soft focus.

Arranging your body with a sense of dignity and uprightness.

With relaxed shoulders.

So that you're alert and awake without holding excess tension.

And feeling the weight of your body in this posture.

Feeling the pressure where your body contacts the chair or cushion.

Noticing all the parts of the body that make contact with the support beneath you.

And even taking a moment to remember your intention in being here.

The commitment you've engaged in in undertaking this practice.

And committing to be present as well as you can.

For the duration of this practice and onwards.

Finding that gentle determination to stay with the practice.

Appreciating that what we're doing here is always beginning again moment by moment.

As the mind wonders,

We return to the breath again and again.

You can always come back to this practice.

Refreshing and renewing your intention and intention.

And feeling the pressure where your body contacts the chair or cushion.

You can always come back to this practice.

Refreshing and renewing your intention and commitment as often as you need.

So now,

Releasing whatever your mind might have been contemplating during the day.

Letting go of the past,

Of planning.

Of the future,

Worrying or any kind of imagining.

And just being present now.

Your job is just to be present in this moment.

And letting go of everything else.

Letting go of the past.

Releasing thoughts as many times as they arise.

And beginning again.

With a kindly and non-judgmental spirit.

Just bringing your attention to this moment.

To this experience.

And we'll begin by bringing our awareness to the sense of hearing.

Noticing the sounds that are coming into our ears.

From outside the body.

From inside.

Sounds far off outside the room.

From inside.

From outside.

Sounds far off outside the room.

And from inside.

From outside.

From inside.

From outside.

From inside.

We're not trying to hear anything in particular.

Just noticing what's here in this moment.

Giving up thoughts about sounds.

Just being present to their texture,

Their pitch or volume.

To the patterns of the sounds,

Without elaboration.

Aware of the most distant and quiet sounds.

Letting go of any images that come to mind in relation to the sounds.

And just coming back to hearing.

Maybe the local and louder sounds.

Noticing if you're carried away by any particular sound.

Just coming back to the sound itself.

Notice how we're attracted to certain sounds.

And maybe dislike others.

Seeing if we can give up these evaluations.

And just hear the sounds without any judgements.

And when the mind wonders,

Just noticing where it went,

And gently,

Compassionately returning to the sounds that arise in this present moment.

No matter how many times the mind is in the mind,

No matter how many times the mind wanders off in some imaginary journey,

We can just come back again and again.

Giving up all judgement or thought about our ability to do this exercise.

And returning to the present sensations of sound.

No matter how many times the mind wanders off,

We can just return.

And then letting the sounds that come into our awareness,

Fade into the background of our attention.

Now bringing our breath to the centre stage.

Noticing the sensations of breathing.

To the nostrils or upper lip.

Feeling the air flowing in and out.

Or sensing into the throat or chest.

Feeling the cool air come in and the warm air leave.

Feeling the belly.

Noticing how it stretches as we breathe in.

And contracts a little as we breathe out.

Noticing the unique sensations of the in-breath.

Every moment by moment sensation in the out-breath.

Following the felt sense as we inhale and exhale.

The slight pauses between breathing in and breathing out.

And between out-breath and in-breath.

No matter how familiar you feel with the breath.

Moment by moment a constant change as the breath ebbs and flows.

Not trying to control the breath in any way.

Just observing natural,

Normal breathing.

Whenever we notice that the attention has wandered off.

Just appreciating what's occurred and gently guiding it back.

Leaving aside our judgements.

Letting go and beginning again.

Returning the attention to the breath.

Noticing the mind's patterns and letting them go as well as we can.

Returning to the immediate sensations of the breath in this moment.

The breath's always there during any of our mindfulness practices to come back to.

Now when you're ready.

Allowing the breath to fade into the background of our experience.

And bring the sensations of the body centre stage in our awareness.

Noticing all the different sensations that are present in this moment.

Sensations of touch,

Pressure.

Sensing energy in the body.

Tingling,

Pulsing,

Itching sensations.

Not looking for any particular thing.

Just being present to what's there.

Sensing temperature.

Dryness or moisture.

Air moving over the skin.

Just being present to whatever you're experiencing in this moment.

Spend a few moments exploring these sensations.

You might even scan the body from the toes right up to the top of the head.

Each part in turn.

Or open your awareness to the body as a whole.

Noticing whatever arises and letting your attention go to that.

If during this exercise you experience any sensations that are particularly intense.

Having an option to bring your awareness to these areas.

To bring a gentle curiosity to the detail of these sensations.

What does the intensity feel like?

Is it changing?

How are you experiencing it right now?

Either moving right into the middle of the intensity or just exploring the edges of it.

Or if you choose to,

Pulling right back and bringing your awareness to the body as a whole once more.

Or back to the breath.

But if you notice that your awareness is no longer with the physical sensations on the body.

Noticing what is on your mind.

And appreciating that you've experienced a moment of mindfulness.

Noticing where the attention has gone.

And you're already back in the present.

Simply beginning again.

Speaking And now when you're ready,

Allowing the sensations in your body to move into the background of your awareness.

And this time,

Bringing thoughts to the centre stage of our awareness,

Noticing if you can detect the next thought that arises in your mind.

And watching thoughts as they arise and pass away.

Noticing thoughts as they arise and gently letting them go.

Not trying to generate thoughts,

Not trying to get rid of them.

Just bringing a kindly,

Attentive presence to thoughts as they arise and pass.

And being present to the absence of thoughts if nothing comes.

Watching the mind.

You might even find it helpful to explore labelling the process of thinking.

Simply saying in a very quiet way in the back of the mind,

Thought as each thought comes.

Or maybe labelling with a little more detail.

Imagining,

Planning,

Fantasising.

Whatever labels are meaningful to you.

And returning to watching the ground from which thoughts arise.

If you notice yourself pulled into a particular thought or story,

Just observing that as well.

Gently letting go and returning your attention again to the awareness of thinking.

If you notice the mind repeatedly getting lost in thought,

In some confused story or imagining.

Just observing that as well.

Gently letting go and returning your attention again and again to the awareness of thinking.

Always having the option to return to the breath if this helps.

And in the closing moments of this practice,

Reflecting back on how this practice was for you.

Were there judgements about how you did?

How well you engaged with the practice?

Comparisons?

Expectations?

And were these experienced as passing present moment phenomena and let go of?

Did some thoughts get a hold on you and the evaluations held as true?

Just recognising that whatever comes is just a thought.

That too can be let go of.

And trusting that at any time we can bring mindful attention to our experience.

At any time we can stop and have the intention of coming back to the present.

Were nourishing and taking care of ourselves in this very fundamental way.

No matter what comes up during the practice or what our minds or bodies are doing.

We can always trust that so long as were breathing,

There's more right with us than wrong with us.

And when you're ready,

Gently allowing your awareness to include the room and slowly expanding it to whatever's going on around you.

Taking a moment to appreciate yourself and the efforts that you've taken to take care of this being that you are.

And staying with this sense of awareness,

Knowing you can return to this moment in any moment.

It's just as close as your breath.

And when you're ready,

If your eyes are closed,

Allowing them to open and allowing the bell to bring you back to clock time.

A time that you can still be mindful.