Turning Toward The Present – 25-Min MBSR Sitting Meditation

Finding a stable posture that embodies dignity and wakefulness,

Whatever that means for you at this moment.

If you are sitting in a chair,

Perhaps moving your buttocks to the front third of the seat,

Not leaning against the backrest,

And placing the soles of your feet on the floor in front of you.

However you are sitting,

Keeping the back,

Head and neck aligned,

And placing your hands either on your thighs or resting on one another in your lap,

Feeling the uplift of your body as your attention moves from the tailbone all the way up the spine and through the crown of the head,

Tucking your chin ever so slightly to lengthen the neck without any strain or over-efforting,

Closing your eyes or lowering your gaze and feeling the support of the earth beneath you,

Bringing attention to the sensations created at the points of contact between your body and the floor,

Chair or mat,

Pressure and weight moving down,

Hardness or softness,

Warmth or coolness,

Expanding your awareness now to fill the entire body sitting here,

And now resting your attention on the sensations of breath entering or leaving the body,

Wherever those sensations are strongest for you,

Simply allowing the breath to breathe itself while your intention rides along.

If the breath is not a place of comfort or safety for you at this moment,

You can try resting attention on the points of contact,

On a specific region of the body,

Like the hands or feet,

Or perhaps a sense of the body as a whole.

So for the next few moments,

Simply being with the sensations of breath,

Following the in-breath all the way in,

Noticing that transition and following the out-breath all the way out.

At some point you will notice your attention is no longer on the breath as the mind has wandered to other things,

Perhaps to memories,

Projects,

Fantasies,

Worries or planning.

That is okay,

That is what the mind does,

No need to judge or criticize yourself for it.

Instead,

Simply note where the mind has gone,

And gently,

Kindly,

But firmly,

Escort your attention back to the sensations of breath,

Wherever they are most prominent for you.

And now,

Expanding your attention around the breath,

To be with a sense of the body as a whole.

Awareness filling the body,

From the crown of the head through to the finger and thumb tips,

The soles and toes of your feet.

Noticing the mind's tendency to judge sensations as good or bad,

And being aware of any impulses to react to these sensations in some way.

If at any time you notice discomfort in the body that carries you away from your intended focus,

Intense sensations in some region of the body,

Restlessness,

Or perhaps in the form of an emotion showing up in the body in this moment,

Then you have some options.

You may shift position,

Which is sometimes the most compassionate thing you can do.

If you do decide to move,

You can roll the movements into the practice by bringing awareness to the impulse to change position,

And then right into the movements as you make them.

As you settle into stillness again,

Returning your attention first to the breath,

And then back to the body as a whole.

You might open your eyes to gain some clarity and reorient yourself.

And you can always keep the eyes open for the remainder of the practice if that is more comfortable for you.

You can also try experimenting with turning toward the discomfort for a time,

Exploring the sensations in greater detail with a sense of kindness,

Compassion and curiosity,

And without any attempt to try and fix or change anything.

Noticing the quality of the sensations.

Is there a pulling,

A tightness,

A tingling or numbness?

Noticing how the discomfort changes in each passing moment without you having to do anything.

If the discomfort subsides,

And if it feels right,

Returning your attention to the breath and to a sense of the body as a whole.

If the discomfort doesn't subside,

You can either continue to remain present with it,

Or decide to leave it in the background and return to the sensations of breath until you feel your attention has stabilized enough to hold the entire body in awareness once again.

And now,

If you choose to,

Letting go of sensations in the body,

Moving them into the background of your awareness and resting your attention on sounds.

Noticing any leaning in,

Searching,

Looking for sounds,

And simply sitting back in the seat of awareness and allowing sounds to come to you.

Being aware of the mind's tendency to want to name sounds,

Label them as pleasant or unpleasant,

And any stories it starts to tell related to the sounds in your field of experience.

Observing any judgment or criticism,

And gently but firmly returning your attention to the direct experience of sound itself.

Being curious about pitch,

Tone,

Volume,

Regularity,

Distance,

Investigating the spaces between sounds,

Silence.

And now,

Letting sounds fade into the background and foregrounding thoughts and emotions,

Activities of heart and mind.

It might be helpful to consider your mind as a frame of clear,

Blue,

Spacious sky,

And thoughts as clouds that appear,

Disappear,

And pass through the frame.

Sometimes white,

Wispy,

Light clouds that come and go in an instant.

Other times,

Thick,

Grey,

Heavy clouds that can fill the entire frame,

Blocking out the spacious blue of the sky for a time.

Regardless of their nature,

Thoughts,

Like clouds,

Eventually pass in their own time,

And we can be present with them,

Observing,

Without getting sucked into their content or carried away into a different place and time.

So,

Just being with the process of thinking,

Moment to moment,

And seeing thoughts as thoughts,

Not identifying with them,

Recognizing them as mental events,

As clouds forming,

Moving,

And dispersing in the spacious blue sky that is your mind.

Whenever you notice that you have been caught up in thinking,

Rather than being aware of thoughts as thoughts,

Noting where the mind has gone,

Before gently returning to the sensations of breath entering and leaving the body,

Stabilizing your attention.

And then,

As best you can,

Coming back to simply observing the thoughts as mental events that arise,

Linger,

And fall away again.

As with sounds and sensations,

You may notice the quality of thinking is sometimes pleasant,

Sometimes unpleasant,

And sometimes neither pleasant nor unpleasant.

Certain thoughts may have an accompanying emotional charge,

A sense of happiness,

Contentment,

Or calm,

Or maybe a sense of fear,

Anger,

Sadness,

Or anxiety.

Emotions can also be held in awareness by turning toward them with kindness and acceptance,

Perhaps seeing where in the body you feel the emotion,

And investigating the quality of those sensations.

Noticing how emotions,

Like thoughts,

Sounds,

And sensations,

Arise,

Stay a while,

And eventually fall away again in their own time,

If we hold them in awareness and allow them to be as they are.

If at any time you feel overwhelmed by emotion,

Or notice that you've been carried off in a stream of thinking and feeling,

Remembering that the breath and body are always here waiting,

And you can return your attention to these anchors in order to reconnect with the present moment,

Until you feel ready to observe thoughts and emotions arising and passing away once again.

And now,

Letting go of focusing attention on any particular aspect of your experience,

Broadening your awareness,

And simply noticing anything that arises moment to moment.

And if you get lost in this open awareness,

Which is very easy to do,

Then focusing on your anchor,

On the sensations of breath,

A particular region of the body,

Points of contact,

Until you feel ready once more to widen your attention to include thoughts,

Emotions,

Sounds,

And anything else that comes and goes in the field.

As we approach the end of the practice,

Narrowing your attention again and resting it on your chosen anchor,

On the sensations of breath entering and leaving the body,

Or in some other part of the body sitting here.

Sensations that transport and anchor us back to the present moment,

Helping us steady ourselves,

Bringing focus,

Clarity.

And as you wait for the sound of the bells that signify the end of the practice,

Recognizing that you have just spent precious time supporting your well-being,

Cultivating awareness,

Mindfulness,

And the ability to be present with whatever arises in your moment to moment experience.

Setting an intention to carry forward the attitudes of non-judging,

Kindness,

And curiosity into the next part of your day or evening,

And into every activity of life.