I invite you to situate yourself into a comfortable position,
Whether sitting or lying down.
Bring your posture that will support your attention and has you feeling relaxed throughout this practice.
You may gently close your eyes if that feels comfortable for you,
And if not,
Hold a soft gaze at a non-distracting spot in front of you.
Let's take this opportunity to settle into stillness.
Bring awareness to any subtle or obvious experiences that are here right now.
Take a few slow,
Deep breaths.
Full breaths in,
And long,
Slow breaths out.
Follow the air as it flows through the nostrils,
Down into the lungs,
And expands the abdomen,
Binding our awareness to the breath to allow the mind to slow down just a little.
And then allow your breath to settle into a natural rhythm so that you're not altering it in any way.
Just be with the breath as it naturally flows.
In this practice we will cultivate an open awareness as we monitor our experience moment by moment,
And remain present and receptive to any experience that arises.
Here we will rest in awareness without restrictions to a specific focus or any boundaries,
So that rather than fixating on one particular object of attention,
We will hold a spacious awareness,
Inviting whatever experience unfolds into your awareness.
What is there to be experienced right now in this moment?
At any time you can always return to the breath.
The breath can be the anchor if you've been swept away by wandering or distractions.
And after gathering your attention and settling the mind,
Re-initiating spacious awareness when you're ready to do so.
What's here right now?
Cultivating a curious,
Impartial awareness to the experience that emanates on a moment by moment basis,
Whether the experience is pleasant,
Unpleasant,
Or neutral.
Not elevating or eliminating any aspects of our experience.
Encountering whatever arises,
Yet not attaching.
Just observing at a distance,
What arises in this moment.
In open awareness practice,
We're not actively searching for anything in particular.
We're simply being here in stillness and expanding awareness to whatever emerges.
Noticing any urges to cling on to any experiences that arrive.
And maybe bringing a sense of letting go.
For some it can be helpful to briefly label what arises in a non-evaluative way.
Can you invite sounds into your awareness?
Can you open up to feelings of touch?
Perhaps where your body makes contact with clothing or the air on your skin?
Can you welcome other body sensations?
Can you watch the flow of thoughts?
Witnessing whatever unfolds in the stream of awareness.
Experiences will drift into our awareness and simply allow them to flow with the current out of our awareness.
Here we are familiarizing ourselves with the natural tendencies of the mind.
Every experience that arrives in our awareness will also leave our awareness and fade into the background before the next one arises.
What's at the forefront of your awareness right now?
And what about now?
And how about right now?
As this practice comes to a close,
Rest your attention on the breath,
Taking a few slow deep breaths.
