So take a position that's upright and pleasant,
Maybe rock back and forth or side to side to just find your center of gravity,
Center of balance.
We're trying to be comfortable without slouching or lazy and then let's just settle in for a moment.
Allow the mind to sense the body breathing.
We're not trying to control the breath,
But just simply to be aware of it,
Noticing the inhale,
Noticing the exhale,
Not needing to name it or control it in any way.
If you can,
See what focusing the mind on the breath does to the bodily sensations.
See if you can notice something in there.
Now we'll change our focus from the breath and bring it to our feet.
See if you can just bring the sensation of feet into your awareness.
We're not trying to think about what our feet are or what they look like,
But whatever sense,
Whatever sensations,
When you turn your awareness towards the feet,
Do you notice and is that awareness palpable?
And as you're being aware of this thing we call feet and whatever sensations are present,
If you've only been paying attention to one,
Let's make it both.
And again,
Notice what together our feet,
What sensations are present.
Then we're going to add to this awareness our lower legs.
So the sensations of feet and lower legs and just whatever arises,
There isn't right and wrong.
There's whatever you,
Your mind,
Your awareness,
Whatever is present.
Now we'll add the hands to our attention,
The same as we did with our feet.
We'll start adding to this collection the sensation of the hands.
See if you can have your feet,
Your lower legs,
And your hands in your awareness at once.
You might find yourself moving from one body part to the next and back again,
But as you become more clear about the awareness of each part,
See if you can hold them together to widen the perception,
Widen the awareness to capture all three of these.
And next we add the arms.
We have the feet,
The lower legs,
And the arms.
Try to keep your awareness with these body parts and just notice what comes up,
What sensations,
Energies,
Just really whatever you notice.
Then we're going to add another sense door to the practice.
Sound.
As you're holding the feet and hands and arms and legs and noticing what you feel in those bodily parts,
Pay attention to the sounds that are present.
Just experiencing the sound.
No need to name the sound or investigate the sound.
We're just trying to be aware of the sound.
And the last sense door we'll add to the body and the hearing is sight.
Whether you have your eyes closed or you're sitting with your eyes open,
Trying to hold physical sensations,
Sight and sound together.
While it takes some energy to keep this awareness,
We're also not trying to force it.
There needs to be a gentleness to it.
And I think the practice works best when we're not trying to name anything,
Not trying to figure anything out.
Just simple awareness.
That's all.
This is called presence.
Being present in the body,
In the sense doors.
Just being aware.
You can sit as long as you'd like in this state and then whenever you're ready you can open your eyes and bring your attention back to your surroundings.
