Just finding a way to sit that's comfortable,
Sustainable,
No matter what the position,
Allowing your back to be straight and upright,
Allowing your eyes to gently close if that feels right,
To be parted slightly and downcast if not.
Taking a few minutes to settle into the posture,
Just take a few deep breaths in and out through the nose,
Breathing in and letting go,
Breathing in and letting go,
Breathing in and letting go,
Allowing your body to begin to become heavy,
Softening the muscles behind the eyes,
Allowing the cheeks and jaw to relax,
Lips to part slightly as your tongue rests against the palate,
Letting your arms be heavy as your shoulders fall down and back away from the ears,
Letting the hands rest wherever they comfortably naturally lie,
Opening the muscles around the rib cage,
Around the lungs,
To just breathe unimpeded,
Letting the muscles of the belly be soft,
Allowing the hips to open,
The legs to be heavy,
The ground,
Chair,
Earth beneath you,
To fully support your weight.
And as you settle into this posture,
Remind yourself there's nowhere else to be,
Nothing else to be doing,
Allowing your attention to settle onto the breath at the tip of the nose,
The rise and fall of the belly,
Just finding your attention there,
Knowing that you're breathing in and knowing that you're breathing out.
Just this breath,
Just this moment,
You find that your attention has wandered.
This is perfectly natural,
Perfectly normal.
Just gently bring your attention back to the breath.
It may help to stay with the breath by gently noting,
Breathing in,
Breathing out,
Or simply a silent,
Quiet whisper of in and out,
Breathing in,
Breathing out,
In,
Out,
Just experiencing this breath,
Just being aware of what is in front of us,
Knowing that you're breathing in,
Knowing that you're breathing out.
If you find yourself lost in thought,
If you find yourself taken away from this moment in a physical sensation,
It may help to gently note,
To gently label this thinking as thinking,
Planning,
Worry,
This sensation as pain,
Itching,
Discomfort,
And then bringing your attention back to this breath as the anchor,
This breath as the anchor,
Noticing if when you find this breath,
You're on the in breath or the out breath,
Knowing that no matter how lost you are,
You can always come back to this breath,
That this moment,
This breath is all that matters.
Doesn't matter how lost you were,
The practice is coming back to this moment over and over again with a slow,
Gentle scan through the body,
Seeing if your jaw has reclenched,
Seeing if your shoulders are still down and back,
Noticing if your chest is still open,
Feeling if the belly is still soft,
Just letting yourself be heavy,
Supported in this moment,
In this breath,
Knowing that you're breathing in,
Knowing that you're breathing out.
It may help you stay with this breath by becoming more and more curious to be with this breath,
To notice what it's like,
To see if this breath is long,
To see if this breath is short,
To see if this breath is deep,
To see if this breath is shallow,
To see if this breath is smooth,
To see if this breath is coarse,
To feel if this breath feels cold,
To feel this breath feels warm,
To just notice what each breath is like without a concern of the one before it,
Just watching what's in front of you,
To not contemplate it,
To not judge it,
But to just watch and observe this breath,
Become more and more curious,
Knowing that you're breathing in,
Knowing that you're breathing out,
Allowing yourself to become curious about this moment,
Allowing yourself to be anchored in this moment,
To be connected to the present,
To be aware,
To know that there's nowhere else to be,
Nothing else to be doing,
Nowhere better,
Nothing better to be doing than to be right here,
Right now,
Just this moment,
Just this breath,
Nothing but this moment,
Nothing but this breath.
For the final few minutes,
Noticing how much effort it will take to stay in this moment,
To stay with this breath,
To stay curious,
To know when you're breathing in,
To know when you're breathing out,
To know if this breath is long or short,
Deep or shallow,
Smooth or coarse,
Warm or cool,
Just this moment,
Just this breath,
How much effort.
Now you can either continue sitting,
Continue with this moment,
This breath,
Or you can begin to slowly move your toes,
Your fingers,
Elongate the spine,
And just allow the room where you're where you're sitting to come back into your awareness,
Perhaps taking deeper and deeper breaths,
And whenever you feel ready,
Just gently opening your eyes.
