30 minute mindfulness of breath,
Body sensations and the whole body practicing being with the difficult so the intention of this practice is practicing working with whatever we find difficult or unpleasant be it painful physical sensations or emotional pain and discomfort as best we can gently turning towards and practicing being with uncomfortable sensations as the object of awareness noticing the quality,
Duration and ever-changing ebb and flow,
Body sensations,
Thoughts and emotions and as we do this we'll be developing our concentration,
Our ability to sit in the very centre of our experience,
Learning how to receive experience just as it is without getting entangled in emotions or carried away by thoughts and as we practice bringing a kindly nurturing gentle curiosity to the ever-changing patterns of experience as best we can allowing and accepting whatever is here with us in this moment knowing it's okay to turn away and shift our attention to the sensation of the breath sensations are overwhelming thoughts or emotions carries away knowing that this in itself is an act of kindness and self-compassion taking time now to settle into our comfortable meditation position,
Finding our feet on the floor bottom on the chair allowing space for the breath as we come to stillness choosing to have the eyes open or gently close whatever feels comfortable for us right now letting go of whatever we have planned for later whatever we've been doing before this meditation dropping down out of the thinking undoing mind down into a sense of being with the senses,
Being fully here now to awareness to awareness of the whole body sitting breathing and tuning into our sense of hearing noticing the sounds around us maybe sounds that we find pleasant or unpleasant or even neutral allowing sounds to come and go noticing the ever-changing pattern as they arrive stay for a while and then leave and when it feels right tuning into the movement of the breath where can we feel it most vividly in this moment?
Can we be curious about the whole of the in-breath the whole of the out-breath maybe even placing our hands on our tummies noticing breath rolling in and rolling out and as we practice this meditation if at any time body sensations thoughts or emotions become too undifficult we get carried away by thoughts or entangled in emotions knowing that we can always come back and anchor ourselves the feet on the floor or the rhythm of the breath so perhaps asking ourselves how do I feel what is my experience in this moment not getting caught up in the past or the future but dropping into this present moment recognizing allowing and opening up to anything that's here now we may like to say if it feels right for us it's okay let me feel it so becoming intimate with our experience what is actually happening right now gently scanning the body as we practice with the body scan as best we can softening any unnecessary tension softening any sense of resistance not actively striving to soften but having the intention of maybe letting go or letting be with each out breath investigating this experience of a very alive body how is this aliveness known through our senses maybe a sense of pressure or touch maybe no sensation at all and that's okay that's just our experience in this moment to investigate and exploring our experience with a gentle curiosity a beginner's mind noticing finer details of sensation dropping below the level of thought or emotion using any sense of resisting or bracing as best we can stepping back to an open space in awareness simply breathing into the body softening letting go as we breathe out noticing maybe that sensations like sounds come and go sensations change sometimes harder sometimes softer very nature of life is that all things change as best we can gently turning towards anything unpleasant or difficult calling for our attention noticing what happens as we begin to be present with anything unpleasant or difficult any pain perhaps noticing if there's any attempt however subtle to push the pain the unpleasant the difficult away maybe there's fear or anxiety or worry maybe the body and mind clench like a fist in an attempt to resist anything holding the intention to be here now allowing anything unpleasant or difficult to be as they are practicing softening any reaction allowing the fist of resistance to unclench and open with the out-breath as best we can practicing holding uncomfortable sensations of objects of awareness bringing a curious open beginner's mind into investigating the quality,
Duration and nature of sensation knowing that it's okay to turn away and come back to the rhythm of the breath back to the anchor until and if we feel ready to explore again practicing softening resistance to the difficult allowing our experience to unfold breath by breath there's nothing here can we be open and curious to the changing movement of our experience simply riding the waves of breath letting us sing any tendency to move away or towards any sensation thoughts or emotions perhaps we find ourselves drifting away with a thought simply noticing and choosing to come back to the rhythm of the breath,
The feet on the floor allowing whatever is here to unfold naturally experiencing this embodiment of mindfulness,
This awareness as a soft space that surrounds the pain,
The difficult the unpleasant allowing these sensations to simply float in awareness maybe saying to ourselves ouch this hurts breathing into it,
Breathing out of it knowing it's okay to turn away come back to the anchor of the breath,
The feet of the floor whenever we need to resting in this openness,
This curious awareness what's experience actually like?
What would it be like to explore detailed sensations how do they change as we observe them maybe sending a message to our heart to let be practicing not judging,
Not pushing away,
Not trying to control anything so noticing when resistance arises and having the intention of softening and letting go again and again and again just being with what's here now if we're noticing thoughts or emotional pain as best we can recognizing what's here in this moment can we allow it in?
Does it have an echo in the body?
Practicing holding it in our kind awareness as we would with a friend in pain,
Holding them soothing them,
Maybe saying sadness was here fear is here,
Holding ourselves gently,
Kindly being spacious with whatever arises exploring the possibility of letting go of any particular object of awareness,
Like the breath sensations,
Thoughts or emotions,
Even sounds as best we can opening to a wider field of awareness to whatever arises in the landscape of the mind and the body as we sit here in the center of our practice when the intention wanders,
Which it will,
It's what minds do noticing and practicing,
Making a choice to come back turn towards with care and kindness the awareness of the body,
The breath the present moment if we're feeling overwhelmed by whatever is here with us now we may like to place our hand or two hands on our heart space feeling the warmth of our hands,
Being here for ourselves holding ourselves kindly and gently,
Like a friend in need practicing letting go or letting be,
Holding ourselves so at one moment the breath may be at the center of our awareness and then we might notice a sound a bit carried away by a thought entangled in an emotion but at the heart of a mindfulness practice is noticing and choosing to come back and turn towards the experience of this present moment,
Gently and kindly holding ourselves in our awareness as best we can just sitting completely awake to the present moment practicing not holding on to anything not looking for anything not having any to-do list or way of practicing no agenda at all other than embodied mindfulness this sitting holding ourselves in our awareness with whatever comes and goes as best we can being present with it all,
Being here now so noticing that sensations change sometimes simply by observing they may become harder sometimes softer the very nature of life is that all things change to practicing being with it breathing into it breathing out of it as best we can softening any resistance any wish for things to be different knowing that we can shift our awareness to the anchor of the breath or the feet on the floor until and if we feel better and wish to explore this present moment once again and the breath rolling in and rolling out noticing how it's been our constant companion through our practice to becoming aware of the whole of the body as we sit perhaps feeling the breath moving the body sensing ourselves sitting here practicing noticing thoughts and emotions exploring the experience of our very alive bodies practicing allowing ourselves to be exactly as we are and if it feels right taking a moment to reflect on what we found during our practice not judging it but perhaps bringing into our awareness how we can best take care of ourselves in the minutes and the hours the rest of our day and if it feels right setting an intention for how we can be kind and take care of ourselves sowing it like a seed and in this way expanding our mindfulness practice from our cushion out into the rest of our lives and as we start to draw the threads of this practice together maybe taking a moment to bring our intention of being present in our lives back into awareness knowing that by practicing being mindfully present with a whole of our experience including the unpleasant and difficult even for a few seconds in time allows our capacity to hold steady and ride the waves and weather patterns of our life with more ease allowing us to just be in the centre of our lives in open awareness building resilience to life's ups and downs so as we draw this practice to a close expanding outwards from the breath from body sensations and the body as a whole back out into the room into the sounds around us starting to move and stretch in any way that feels right for us this practice is now complete
