As we settle in for this practice today,
Noticing what your body needs to feel comfortable,
Supported and alert.
You might have your feet on the ground in front of you if you're sitting in a chair.
Back is upright.
Maybe supported if you need it,
Or maybe you've scooted forward on your chair a little bit to allow the space for your hips to just hold you.
You might imagine a string just behind the crown of your head that's gently pulling up,
Lengthening your spine.
Your chin drops just gently to elongate your neck.
If you haven't closed your eyes already and you'd like to do so,
You're welcome to do that now.
Otherwise,
Just taking a soft gaze at a surface or sort of just in front of your nose.
Really gentle,
Not focused on anything.
You might notice where your hands are resting.
Maybe they're resting in your lap or on your knees or somewhere else entirely.
Noticing too if anything changes as the meditation continues.
Maybe you've released some tension somewhere that you didn't realize was there.
Maybe you started sitting way too forcefully upright and you needed to find just a little bit of softness.
Can you notice the air on your skin?
What temperature do you notice at the tip of your nose?
How about the temperature on your fingertips?
What about the temperature on your feet?
You might notice a sensation of fabric on your skin,
Clothing or a blanket,
Slippers or shoes.
Maybe choosing one point where you notice the fabric on your skin and as you rest your attention there,
Can you notice if the sensation feels kind of constant or if it's ever changing?
Giving you slightly different feedback from one moment to the next.
Noticing the quality of your breath.
Maybe just the gentle rising and falling of your belly and your chest.
Maybe it's the sensation of cool air coming in your nostrils and warm air coming out.
Maybe it's just the sound of the air coming in,
Going out.
As you've been paying attention to your body and your breath,
You might have also noticed the quality of your brain today.
Do your thoughts feel clear,
Slow,
Rushing,
Jumbled,
Judgmental,
Soft?
See if you can find a few labels that feel supportive,
That sort of describe the quality of your brain activity today.
Notice how that process of labeling itself sometimes shifts the brain activity to just watching that dance.
Letting your attention drop away from your mind in particular.
Notice where your attention lands.
It might be on sounds outside of your body,
Something in the room with you or beyond the walls of the room that you're in.
Choosing either one place to rest your attention or exploring what it feels like to use open awareness in your practice.
That entails just being open to what is catching your attention in kind of a gentle way.
It might be like a sensation,
Sound,
Thinking,
Sound.
Allowing your attention to move where it does without trying to change that experience.
Not letting it be so frantic that it feels vigilant,
That it's more just an opening to a receiving of a number of different experiences.
So choosing either one anchor or open awareness here,
Let's practice in silence together.
Noticing here where your attention is,
Not worrying about where it is,
Just noticing where it is.
And that's the beauty of mindfulness practice is we don't have to be doing anything other than exactly what we're doing.
The invitation is just to notice and be conscious of what we're doing,
When we're doing it.
You might bring a hand over your heart and just notice that gentle pressure.
Or thinking yourself or taking the time to practice,
Closing our practice together with a little bit of metta.
May all beings be happy and healthy.
May all beings be free from worry and anxiety.
May all beings live with ease.
Thank you for practicing with me today.
You can gently let your hand rest back in your lap on your thigh.
And when it feels right,
You can gently blink your eyes open,
Coming back into the space.
