This will be an open awareness meditation.
In previous practices,
Such as the body scan or awareness of breath,
We trained focused attention or concentration on a single object.
In these concentration meditations,
We directed attention like a flashlight on a single object such as a body part or the breath.
In contrast,
During open awareness meditation,
Our focus is like a lantern or turning the lights on in the room.
Everything becomes illuminated.
We're not choosing where to shine a narrow beam.
Instead,
We simply notice what we notice.
Finding a comfortable posture,
One in which you are alert yet relaxed.
Closing your eyes if you feel comfortable lowering your gaze and taking a deeper than normal in-breath with an audible exhale to mark the transition into formal practice.
And allowing the breath to return to its natural rhythm.
Stretching up with the in-breath.
And settling in on the out-breath.
Shifting attention to the body and getting curious about what it feels like to be sitting.
Noticing the pressure from your seat,
Feet on the floor,
Hands resting in your lap or on your knees.
Scanning the body and allowing it to be how it is.
No need to fix anything.
Now resting your attention on the direct experience of the body breathing.
Feeling each breath as it enters and leaves.
No need to control the pace or the depth of the breath.
Simply being aware of the raw sensations of breathing.
Once you have a little bit of stability in the breath,
You can open your awareness more broadly.
Expanding to include the direct experience of sound.
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Opening further now to include sensation.
This doesn't mean that sound disappears.
However,
It does mean that we invite sensation into the foreground of experience.
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Continuing to expand awareness to include thoughts and emotions.
Now experiencing the moment as a whole.
Feeling the qualities of openness and spaciousness.
Experimenting with an attitude of patient curiosity.
Asking,
If I don't try to focus my attention on anything,
What will appear next?
Will it be a sound?
An itch?
A happy thought?
Or a dream?
A happy thought?
A weird thought?
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A moment as a whole with all of its sounds,
Sensations,
Thoughts,
And emotions,
Can be a crowded and overwhelming place to rest.
If you're finding it difficult to rest in the ever-changing experience of this moment,
Or if you're just feeling overwhelmed,
You always have the option to bring your attention back to an anchor.
The sensations of breathing,
The feeling of your feet on the floor,
Or hands resting in your lap.
Focusing on just one thing until your attention has stabilized.
And when you're ready,
Beginning to open again to the moment as a whole.
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Letting go of preference around what comes up,
And instead remaining open and curious to however the moment reveals itself.
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In this last moment of the practice,
Beginning again,
Resting in the ever-present nature of reality,
Open,
Natural awareness.
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Now taking one deeper than normal in-breath.
And on the exhale,
Opening the eyes,
Raising your gaze,
And orienting to the space around you.
Nice work.
We'll see you back here tomorrow.
