Let's begin with a meditation.
Just this will be an arriving meditation.
It's an opportunity to check in,
Let yourself arrive and settle,
And check in with what's present for you right now as we begin our day together.
So you might begin by just finding a posture that's comfortable to you.
So it can be helpful to have your back straight.
You notice if we're leaning over,
We have to tense ourselves up.
That doesn't tend to be so helpful.
If we're leaning back,
Similarly,
We're kind of clenching our muscles.
So just finding a balanced posture where you're comfortable on your chair.
So let your shoulders relax if they can.
Just invite a softening of the shoulders.
Maybe just feeling the pull of gravity pulling you down towards the earth.
Let your chest be open so you can breathe easily.
Just feel the breath.
Just bring your awareness to your breathing right now.
Notice how it is.
The breath can be a really good barometer of how we're doing if we're stressed or busy or in a hurry.
We tend to be,
The breath tends to be tight,
Short.
And when we're more relaxed,
The breath tends to be deeper,
Fuller.
So just being aware,
Just bringing awareness to the in-breath and the out-breath.
Closing your eyes if that's comfortable for you or keeping them open with a soft,
Unfocused gaze.
You might take a few longer,
Deeper breaths.
This can be a way of helping us just settle into being here.
You might take a nice full,
Deep in-breath,
Filling the chest,
Filling the lungs.
You might have a slight pause between the in-breath and the out-breath and then releasing,
Releasing the breath,
Breathing out the long,
Slow out-breath.
You might notice a pause between the out-breath and the in-breath and then breathing in deeply again.
So you're inflating a balloon and then relaxing,
Releasing,
Letting go on the out-breath.
And as you breathe in,
You might invite a quality of calm.
You could say the word calm to yourself silently as you breathe in.
Calm as you breathe in,
Calm as you breathe out.
Breathing in,
Calming the body.
Breathing out,
Calming the mind.
Just being aware of the sensations as you breathe in and out.
And whenever you're ready,
You might take a few more breaths.
Just letting the breath settle into its natural rhythm,
Just however it is,
Breathing in,
Breathing out.
Just resting in the sensations of being here.
You might consciously let your attention drop out of thinking,
Out of the brain thinking area.
And just down into the body,
Feeling your body,
Feeling the contact with your chair,
Your feet with the floor,
Your hands with your lap or your knees or one hand touching the other.
Feel the sensations.
Feel the sensations in your hands from the inside.
You might just briefly scan your body,
Move your attention down beginning at the face and the head,
The eyes,
The mouth.
Just noticing what's present,
Any sensations you're aware of.
And just inviting the forehead,
The eyes,
The jaw and the chin to relax.
Just letting go,
If you can,
Of any unconscious holding and tension in the face.
And dropping down to the shoulders.
We tend to carry a lot of tension in our shoulders,
The back of the neck.
Just invite the shoulders to relax,
As though you're putting down a bag or a burden you're carrying.
Just relaxing the shoulders,
Letting the chest be open.
Imagine any tension just draining down through the body,
Down through the legs into the floor.
Letting your awareness come into the torso,
The chest and the belly.
Notice if there's any tension,
Any clenching of the muscles in the belly or tightness in the chest.
And just inviting that area of the chest and the belly to relax.
Let the breath come into a relaxed,
Open belly.
Let your awareness come into your arms and your hands.
See if you can feel the sensations from the inside.
The hands tingling,
Pulsing,
Warmth,
Pressure,
Whatever's present.
And then moving down to the lower body,
The abdomen and the groin,
The buttocks,
Thighs,
Calves,
Down to the feet.
Just inviting a relaxing of the body as a whole.
See if you can invite a kind attention to whatever is present for you right now.
Can you make space for whatever is here?
Maybe there's a difficult bodily sensation.
See if you can just allow yourself to feel what's here.
Let it come,
Let the feelings come and go.
When you notice thoughts come up,
Maybe you get caught up in a thought.
See if you can invite that to just come and go rather than following it where you might habitually want to follow it.
Notice whatever mood or emotions are present right now.
And see if you can make space for what's here.
You might find it helpful to bring awareness to your breathing as a way of grounding your attention in this moment here and now.
See how it would be to just let your awareness come to the sensations of breathing at the nostrils,
Breathing in and breathing out.
Just aware of the in-breath and the out-breath.
I'll share a favorite poem of mine which helps me to come into the present moment with more ease.
It's a poem clearing by Martha Possethwaite.
Do not try to save the whole world or do anything grandiose.
Instead,
Create a clearing in the dense forest of your life and wait there patiently until the song that is yours alone to sing falls into your open,
Cupped hands and you recognize and greet it.
Only then will you know how to give yourself to this world so worthy of rescue.
So this invitation of meditation to just make a space in our lives where we put aside other obligations and responsibilities,
To-do lists,
Whether it's for a 10 or 15 minute period or half an hour or an hour,
Sit in meditation or walk in meditation or we take a day or a weekend or a week to just intentionally bring awareness to our experience and invite whatever wants to be seen or heard to come into awareness in the silence,
In the stillness,
Can come insight,
Can come clarity about ourselves,
About our habits,
About our lives.
And the invitation is to do this with great kindness,
With compassion towards ourselves and others.
Opening to whatever is present without judgment and without resistance.
So I'll just leave some silence here now before we finish this meditation.
Taking you to open with acceptance and kindness as much as you can to whatever is arising,
Whatever you're experiencing.
And if it's helpful you can use the breath as an anchor or as a home base.
Just breathing in,
Breathing out,
Coming back when the mind wanders.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Whenever you notice that your attention has left the body,
The breath and gone into thought,
You can just gently incline the mind back,
Just let the attention come back to the body,
Come back to the breath,
Come back to this moment.
Just stepping out of the stories and the plans and the memories.
Just coming back here,
Here now.
And in this last minute or so you might reflect on a couple of things.
One,
Is there a particular habit that you like to give attention to today,
To develop or to let go of?
And is there a particular intention you have for the day,
A particular quality that you might like to work on or cultivate today?
Like just being kind to yourself or being accepting of whatever comes up,
Or cultivating loving kindness or peace to see what comes up for you.
This is from David White,
This poem,
Enough.
He says,
Enough,
These few words are enough.
If not these words,
This breath,
If not this breath,
This sitting here,
This opening to the life we have refused again and again until now,
Until now.
Thank you.
