Breath, Body, Sounds, Thoughts, Feelings Meditation

This is sitting with breath,

Body,

Sounds,

Thoughts and feelings.

So come into your posture,

Just getting comfortable in whatever posture you're choosing to do this practice in.

I will lead the practice in a sitting position.

Please adjust your posture however you'd like to,

To get comfy.

So maybe getting your bottom to the back of the chair.

Letting your feet be flat on the floor if that's comfortable for you.

Letting your spine rise up and come away from the back of the chair,

Just so it's self-supporting and follow it's natural curve.

All the way up the neck and to the head.

So a sense of being upright and dignified,

Alert and awake.

Letting your hands relax and be soft in your lap or by the chair.

Letting your arms be heavy,

Letting your shoulders drop.

Letting your chest open and your lungs expand.

So I'm going to invite you to come to the breath if that's comfortable for you.

And knowing that you can choose any other anchor if that is more comfortable.

So maybe the feet on the floor or the body in the chair.

So just noticing the breath as you breathe in and you breathe out.

And just breathing in your natural rhythm,

Whatever that is.

We don't have to breathe a particular way.

And just noticing where the breath is creating movement in your body right now.

I invite you to come to the point where you can sense the breath the most.

And as you go to those different places,

Where can you feel it the most?

So it might be the nostrils,

The mouth,

The chest.

Or the belly,

The ribs or somewhere else.

Wherever it is,

Just rest in that place,

The sensations that are creating.

Just resting in that place where the sensations you can feel the most.

Just resting in that place where you can feel your breath creating movement in your body.

And then when you're ready,

Bring your attention to the whole of the body.

So sensing the whole of the body in this moment.

What sensations can you feel right now?

Or lack of them,

Just whatever is here.

So maybe that's the points of contact with the chair.

The thighs,

The bum,

The hips,

The back.

Maybe it's the feet on the floor.

Maybe it's your hands in your lap.

Maybe it's the air against your skin.

Maybe it's temperature,

Warmth,

Coolness.

And maybe having a sense of being alert and alive and awake in this moment.

Sensing into your body.

And if you'd like to,

You can start to focus your attention.

So practicing zooming in and zooming out of different sensations.

So like a torchlight,

Narrowing the beam and zooming into different sensations in your body.

Exploring them,

Being curious.

Where do they start and stop and change?

Or maybe you're not aware of very many sensations in this moment and that's okay too.

And then broadening out and zooming out.

And holding your whole body and a broad spacious awareness.

So widening that torchlight.

And practicing zooming in,

Coming up close,

Exploring,

Being curious.

For as long as it's comfortable for you.

And then zooming back out again and coming to the whole of the body.

All the way from the head to the toes.

And everything in between.

And as you zoom in,

With that torchlight,

That focus.

You might at times notice intense sensations.

So noticing them if that's comfortable for you.

Where they begin,

Where they end,

Where they move over time.

Are they constant,

Are they fluctuating?

What do they feel like?

We're just feeling what's there to be felt.

And notice if there's any tensing.

Any pushing away of sensations.

Maybe the sensations that aren't as pleasant or that you don't like.

Noticing that.

And not judging that,

It's natural to do that.

But just noticing if that comes up for you.

Noticing our aversion.

Our aversion signature to certain sensations that we might want to get rid of or push away.

These can be habitual reactions to things that are unpleasant.

So noticing if that's happening for you at all.

And if there is any of those sensations or any tightness or tension.

Maybe breathing into that area.

So as you breathe in,

Opening that area.

Get a sense of opening that particular part of your body.

And then on the out breath.

Seeing if you can soften it.

Bring it some ease.

If it's tense or tight or uncomfortable.

So breathing into any areas of your body that might be feeling some discomfort or tightness.

Breathing in and opening.

And breathing out and softening if you can.

And this is part of the practice.

So it might not be something that you find easy to do at first.

So it might be something that you continue to practice to see if you can open and soften.

And find some ease and release in the body.

And then widening your attention to the whole of the body again.

Just noticing the ebb and flow of life and sensations through your body.

In this moment.

And then I'm going to invite you to notice sounds.

So are the sounds in the room that you're in.

Are the sounds that are outside.

And can you just notice them as auditory sensations.

So not getting lost in the sounds or judging them whether we like them or we don't like them.

Just letting them come to our ears as auditory sensations.

Noticing the pitch.

The tone.

The volume.

Sounds that are near.

Sounds that are far.

Sounds that are obvious.

Sounds that are subtle.

And maybe the silence.

The space between the sounds.

And if you notice yourself thinking about the sounds.

Just let go of the thinking and come back to them as auditory sensations.

Just letting them come.

Listening to their pitch and tone and volume.

And letting them come and go.

As they do.

And if you notice yourself thinking about the sounds.

And letting them come and go as they do.

And then letting go of noticing sounds and coming to noticing thoughts.

What thoughts are coming into your mind right now?

You might have lots of thoughts.

Or now that you've come to notice them your mind might have gone a bit more blank.

So noticing the space between the thoughts as well.

And just like we did with sounds.

When we notice the thoughts do we get carried away with them?

Or can we just observe them?

Let them come and go in their own time.

And just observe them.

As thoughts.

Things that are popping up in our minds.

Noticing the thoughts arise.

And noticing them fade away.

Noticing the gaps between the thoughts.

Perhaps like you would see clouds in the sky.

Letting the thoughts come past like clouds.

That appear.

Come across the horizon.

And disappear.

In their various colours and sizes and speeds.

Just letting them come and go on their own.

Letting your thoughts come and go.

And then letting go of thoughts.

And the thoughts might have brought about emotions and feelings.

So noticing them.

If that's okay for you.

They might have an emotional charge or an intensity about them.

And whatever they are just letting them be.

Letting them be here.

And maybe noticing how those thoughts.

Emotions and feelings.

Affect the body.

And maybe noticing how those thoughts.

Emotions and feelings.

Affect the body.

Maybe if it's something you don't like.

A thought or an emotion you don't want.

Maybe there's a sense of contraction or tightness.

In places like the face.

The shoulders.

The torso.

The belly.

Maybe even a sense of pushing away.

That aversion.

If you find yourself lost in thoughts.

And sensing emotions.

Just come back.

To sensing the breath.

If that's okay.

And then letting go.

Of all the areas that we focused on.

And coming back to the breath.

Coming back to the body.

And just letting whatever is here to be here.

So that might be thoughts.

It might be sounds.

It might be emotions.

It might be bodily sensations.

So just sensing what is here to be felt.

What's here to be noticed.

Allowing yourself to sit here.

Fully aware.

Moment by moment.

Observing.

If there's thoughts.

Just observing thoughts.

If there's sounds.

Just observing sounds.

If there's discomfort.

Unpleasant or unpleasant sensations.

Just noticing them.

Just observing them.

Looking for nothing.

But whatever's here.

Just noticing.

Looking for nothing.

But whatever's here.

Noticing that.

And holding that in your awareness.

And being sensitive and present with it all.

Whatever it is.

Just letting it unfold.

Moment by moment.

And sensing your body in the chair.

And letting go of the whole practice.

As we come to an end.

Noticing how you feel.

And then opening your eyes or raising your gaze when you're ready.

And coming back into the room.

And moving and stretching however you'd like to.