Attentional Focus

Finding yourself in a comfortable seated posture,

You can be lying down too.

Just really finding a posture that's supportive to you.

That will support a posture of wakefulness,

Attentiveness,

Alertness.

So if you're sitting down in your chair,

You're noticing the way in which your spine is being held,

The tilt of your pelvis,

Your torso.

Sensing into the way in which the ground is coming up to meet your feet,

The way in which the chair is holding your seat.

If you're lying down,

Sensing into the way in which whatever it is that you're laying on,

Whether it's the floor,

A bed,

The way in which it is holding you.

This sense that there is gravity between you and the thing that is supporting you.

A selfless gravity.

And then beginning to bring your awareness outwards to your entire body and just sensing into what's here for you now as you zoom out,

Taking in the entire body,

The weight,

The balance,

The temperature.

Remembering that this practice is about awareness.

It's about bringing kind attention to what is here,

What is now.

And so noticing the tendency to judge,

To evaluate something as good or bad,

As right or wrong,

Desired.

Something is aversive.

And bringing a quality attention to that tendency,

A kindness to that tendency.

And remembering that this is about anchoring,

Anchoring that awareness in a particular way.

And so what we're gonna do during this practice is experiment with different anchors of attention.

This is meant to support you in recognizing what anchors are accessible,

Available to you,

Neutral to you,

That can support your own individual practice.

And so beginning by taking this outward zoom of the body and locating it more specifically and narrowly into the feet.

And sensing the feet beneath you.

Again,

The way in which the ground is coming up to meet the feet or the way in which the feet are making contact with the bed or whatever it is that you're sitting,

Laying on.

Just sensing into that contact.

You may notice as you sense into this contact,

This sensation,

Whatever the sensation is,

Whether it's weight or balance,

Temperature,

That there's some holding that's happening in the body,

Holding maybe in the feet and the toes that you weren't aware of before.

And just curiously noticing the way in which the feet are held.

The subtle sensations that are there or maybe the strong sensations that are there.

And throughout the practice,

Recognizing that pull,

That pull to thinking,

To feeling,

To storytelling.

And always noting what it is that pulled you away,

But not telling stories about it.

Just noting it,

Touching it,

Nodding to it,

And guiding yourself back to the anchor of your focus,

The anchor of your awareness,

Which in this case is the feet and the sensations in the feet.

Temperature,

Coldness,

Heat,

Moisture,

Dryness,

Tingling sensations,

Contact.

And beginning now to shift from the feet and moving your awareness upwards across your legs,

Through your knees,

Your thighs and into your seat.

Attending to what is there for you in your seat.

Inviting you to notice those sensations there.

The weight.

The way the seat is held by the chair,

By the couch,

By the bed.

What is it to just be with what is there for you now?

Without stories,

Without wants,

Desires,

Needs.

Just an acceptance of what is.

At any point during this practice,

You can bring your attention back to an anchor that may be more accessible or more neutral,

But I'm going to continue shifting through a number of different anchors so as to give you exposure or as to at least provide guidance through this exposure.

And so shifting your awareness upwards from your seat into your hands.

You may notice moisture,

Sensations,

Subtle,

Strong.

The felt sense of clothing that you're touching,

That you're resting your hands upon.

Skin,

Bones.

Skin,

Bones.

Paying attention to limits,

Your limits.

Recalling the zones of experience.

Remembering that there are options to you,

Available to you should you ever need them.

The option to shift an anchor to a different anchor.

The option to just shift a position.

Stand up,

Sit down,

Lay down.

Just move slightly even.

And then of course the option to exit practice.

Guiding awareness now to the breath.

And we'll begin with the breath in the belly.

The rising and the falling of the belly.

The expanding of it,

The contraction of it.

And the way that the body breathes effortlessly.

Attending to the way that the mind pulls attention away,

Pulls awareness away into a story.

And coming back again and again and again.

You may want to now shift your awareness of the breath up into your chest.

Notice its quality there.

Or you may rather instead notice it in the nostrils and the way that it moves through the nostrils and down the throat and across your lips.

Remembering that this is your practice.

That while I may be guiding,

You decide how it is and what it is that you will attend to.

Inviting you now to guide that awareness upwards into the ears,

Into sound.

Noticing sound,

The quality of sound.

Careful not to tell stories about the sounds that you hear.

Identify sounds as good or bad.

But just noticing sounds as it enters into the ear,

As the ear receives sound.

You can play by noticing sounds that are far away.

And then those that are closer.

You may notice how sound is felt in the body.

It's attending to sound.

Moment by moment.

Inviting you in this last stage of the meditation to locate your awareness in one anchor that was most accessible to you.

That was perhaps most neutral.

This could be the feet,

The seat,

The hands,

The breath,

Sound.

And just being with this anchor for the next short while.

Noticing the qualities of awareness,

The quality of the way in which this anchor is showing up for you with respect to its temperature,

Its weight,

Its contact,

The space.

The time will drift away.

You may have or be drifting away right now.

If so,

That is okay.

That is what the mind does.

It thinks and we get pulled into its thinking.

The feeling,

The sensations.

Gently guide yourself back to this anchor,

This anchor of your choosing.

And begin now to bring some movement back into the body.

This could be in the toes,

The hands.

And when you feel it's supportive,

You can begin to open your eyes.

If they were closed,

Lift up your head.

If it was gazing downwards,

If they were closed,

Lift up your head.

If it was gazing downwards.

And begin to take in the room that you're in.

And into what it is that you're noting now in the body.

Sending gratitude to yourself for this practice.

And perhaps now also noting an intention.

Going forward for your day.

Something that emerges for you as resonant,

As important.