Returning To The Present

Allow yourself to be present in the body.

To sense the places that your body is in contact with the floor or cushion.

Allow your breath to move naturally,

Bringing the sensations of the in-breath to full awareness.

Perhaps noticing the expansion of the chest and belly as the breath enters,

Filling up.

And then the falling of the chest and belly as the breath empties out.

Noticing the feeling of the body,

The sensations of the breath,

Not as repetitions,

But as new experiences that arise in this moment.

See if you can stay with those.

Stay with the feeling of the breath,

The sensations that arise in the in-breath and out-breath.

Allowing your attention to rest in the breath,

Setting aside any need to plan,

Busy yourself,

Evaluate the experience,

Achieve a particular result.

See if it's possible to be here in the body,

Feeling the breath without expectation.

And if you find that the mind becomes busy,

Rushing forward,

Or seeking distraction,

See if you can take a forgiving,

Friendly attitude toward yourself.

Not seeing the wandering mind as a failure or even a problem,

But noticing that experience,

That moment of waking up from the story into now,

From the thinking mind into the observing mind,

From the small space of a particular thought into the vast space of awareness itself and return to the sensations of the breath,

The rise and fall,

The grounding contact of the body with the floor or cushion.

Noticing where the mind is,

Accepting this movement.

As you would a change in weather,

Not blaming.

And notice that feeling of waking up out of the story into the moment.

Back to the simple felt sense of the body,

The movement of breath.

Let's complete four contemplate the body in the beginning.