Find a comfortable seated posture or laying down posture.
If you're seated with your back upright and not stiff,
Feeling yourself grounded through your spine,
Placing your hands wherever they feel more comfortable,
Either on your lap or by your side,
And gently closing your eyes.
Bring your attention to your body in this posture,
Noticing the feelings and sensations that arise in and around the body.
Perhaps softening the muscles in your face or other areas of the body.
Placing any tension or tightness that might be in your shoulders or back.
Placing your hands as they rest comfortably on your lap or by your side,
And your body as it makes contact with the cushion or the chair.
And bringing full awareness to your breath,
Without manipulating your breath in any way or trying to control it.
Just breathing like you normally do,
And allowing the breath to flow naturally through your body,
While noticing the sensations that arise with each breath,
And beginning to notice where you feel the breath the most.
You might feel it more on your nostrils in the inhale,
Or on your chest as it expands,
With the gentle movement of your belly.
Notice where you feel your breath the most.
And you may begin to notice that the mind tries to pull us away,
With thoughts in different directions.
Might take you to the past or to the future,
Where judgments about this particular moment may arise.
Just become aware that that has happened,
And gently,
With intention,
Come back to your breath.
Feeling your breath.
This breath.
Returning to your breath as many times as you need to during this practice.
Noticing the sensations that arise with each breath,
In the in breath,
In the out breath.
Sobriety.
And if you find yourself distracted,
Caught in a story,
Things that need to be done,
Things that weren't done,
See if you can gently let go of the thought and come back to your breath.
And just as we allow the breath to flow naturally through our body,
Without changing it or controlling it or feeding it,
Just as we allow the breath to be,
See if you can allow your thoughts to be,
Without being completely pulled away by your thoughts,
Just noticing them as they come and go,
And observing them for what they are,
Thoughts.
Coming back to this moment,
To this breath,
To this inhale,
And this exhale.
As it happens without any effort,
With ease,
In harmony with our body.
And just as we allow the breath to flow naturally through our body,
Just as we allow the breath to flow,
Allowing yourself to sit patiently here with yourself,
Without trying to go anywhere or change anything.
Just being here with this moment as it is.
There's no need to give yourself a hard time for being distracted.
That is the nature and the beauty of the mind.
Just become aware and come back to your breath.
No need to resist or feed the thoughts.
Just gently letting them go and anchoring yourself firmly into this moment.
Inhaling and exhaling.
And observing all the sensations that arise.
And very gently bringing your attention to your body.
Exhaling your toes or fingers,
Gently.
Or any other area that might need movement.
And whenever you feel ready in the next inhales or exhales,
You may gently open your eyes.
