Welcome to your 20-minute spacious awareness practice.
To begin this meditation,
Find a comfortable seated,
Lying down,
Or standing position that you can hold comfortably for the next 20 minutes or so.
Whatever position you choose,
Bringing a sense of energy,
Maybe lengthening the spine,
Sitting back just slightly,
And also ease to your body and allowing yourself a moment to really settle into this position that you choose and to feel yourself present in the here and now moment.
You can start by placing your awareness on your breath to allow yourself to transition to the right now moment.
You're here.
There's nowhere else you need to be,
Nothing else you need to be doing in this moment except for resting your awareness on what's happening right now.
So bringing the attention to the breath,
Noticing what your breathing is like,
Inhaling and exhaling,
Using the breath as an anchor to the present moment,
Allowing yourself to drop deeper and deeper into this present moment.
This meditation is focused on the expansiveness of your awareness,
The container of your presence which is boundless and limitless.
There is no limit to the amount of things that you can hold at once.
You are a boundless being and the more that you can become aware of the expansiveness of your awareness,
The bigger the capacity for you to hold various things that you're dealing with in life.
Part of this is learning to accept whatever is present in the here and now with as little judgment as possible.
So starting with awareness of what's happening in the body,
Turning the awareness inward for a moment and noticing what sensations you can feel.
Maybe you notice a tingle on the skin,
Maybe you notice temperature,
Whether something feels warm or cool,
Maybe you notice pain or discomfort.
As if there were a shining light encompassing your body,
Allowing your awareness to fall on whatever sensations are coming up for you in your body right now.
And if the mind wanders at any point during the meditation,
Just gently redirecting your mind back to whatever anchor you're choosing in the present moment.
And now expanding your awareness beyond your body to the sounds in the environment,
Noticing if there are any soft and steady sounds or an intermittent sounds like a car driving by or an airplane flying overhead.
Sitting back just a little bit to a more receptive state,
Allowing the sounds to come to you rather than actively searching for sounds.
Just noticing what you can hear and noticing if there's any judgments or labels that come up around the sounds like good or bad and realizing that these labels are just something you're putting on the sound that aren't inherently so.
Also noticing the space between the sounds.
Where is your mind now?
If it's wandered,
Bringing it back to the sounds that are happening in the right now moment.
Now expanding the awareness to include the thoughts that are crossing your mind.
I'm sure they are many,
But rather than attaching to any single thought,
Just noticing each thought coming and going,
Floating in and out of your consciousness.
No effort required.
Just noticing each thought as if it's a leaf falling on a stream and then floating by.
No need to fight with the thoughts or figure out if they are true or not.
Just allowing them to be there,
Whatever they are.
Allowing each one to pass by as easily as it came.
Now opening the awareness to include any emotions that you're feeling in the moment.
Really becoming curious and naming any emotions that are present for you,
Whether they are pleasant,
Unpleasant or neutral.
Maybe you're noticing some emotions that you didn't even know were present.
Maybe there is some frustration in your emotional landscape.
Maybe there is some sadness there.
You don't need to figure out why each emotion is there.
Just simply name it and recognize that it is here and that each emotion has a place.
Maybe there is a feeling of contentment or peace.
Knowing that multiple emotions can be present at the same time and that they all make sense.
Giving yourself permission to drop into the feeling space,
Knowing that it is safe to do so.
Feeling emotions may be difficult but they can't hurt you.
Allowing yourself to feel whatever is present to the extent that you're able.
Seeing if you can bring a sense of warmth and compassion to any and all emotions that are present.
And now allowing your attention to just be choiceless awareness.
Allowing the mind and heart to be boundless,
Spacious,
As vast as the sky itself.
No beginning and no end,
Just pure awareness.
Noticing the observer part of yourself that is aware of everything that is happening in your field.
Thoughts,
Emotions,
Sounds,
Breath and body sensations.
There is enough space for all of it.
Just allowing yourself to rest in this awareness,
The boundless container that holds it all.
Resting in that quality of awareness and presence.
If sound is what's present for you,
Allowing your awareness to rest on sound.
Maybe there is a sensation in the body that is front and center in your field of awareness.
Without making an effortful choice,
Just allowing your attention to flow naturally wherever it goes.
Allowing yourself the freedom to simply notice and observe and be.
Being in this space exactly as you are,
Without any need to change what's happening in the right now moment.
It's unfolding exactly as it is and you are here to simply observe it.
The fullness of the right now moment.
What is it like for you to rest in pure awareness?
Staying open to whatever is coming up.
Recognizing and acknowledging whatever comes into your field of awareness without any need to cling to it or push it away.
Allowing it to be there as long as it needs to be and letting it leave when it's ready.
Dissolving into the background and creating space for something new to take its place.
Where is your mind now?
Allowing yourself to become one with the observer self.
The one who is pure awareness.
And in this place of receptivity,
Seeing if you can become aware of what cannot be perceived through the senses.
Noticing if there's any wisdom or intuition that can come from a place of stillness and connection.
How in tune with yourself and your environment can you be right now?
Without judgment of whatever is happening for you.
Whether it's easy or difficult to drop into this space right now.
Just noticing,
Noticing.
And each time your mind wanders,
Bringing it back with a sense of gentleness.
Ending this meditation with a couple deep and intentional inhales and exhales through the nose.
Gently bringing movement back into the body and opening the eyes if they were closed.
