MBCT Mindful Sitting Practice

GONG GONG GONG This practice is a 40 minute guided sitting meditation.

This is a time to switch from doing mode to being mode.

Bringing your awareness,

Your posture.

Sitting on a chair or stool in a comfortable position that is both alert and relaxed.

Seeing if it's possible to allow the back to be straight.

The gentle curves of the spine.

The chin tucked in a little.

And you may wish to close your eyes or gaze focusing downwards.

A clear focus on posture at the beginning of our guided sitting practice can help us establish our intention.

Our intention of the practice is to move to this transition of deliberately paying attention.

And now directing the attention to gently notice the breath.

The sensations and movements of breathing.

Not changing the breath but becoming aware of the movement of the in breath and the out breath.

Anchoring in the present moment to the breath.

The breath in the here and now.

And perhaps you notice the breath at the nostrils.

The cool air entering.

The warmer air coming out with each out breath.

Perhaps you notice the movement of the breath with the body.

Could be the rising and falling of the chest,

The abdomen.

See if it's possible to be mindful of feeling and sensing the breath moving in and out of the body.

And you may notice the mind wanders.

This is normal.

This is what minds do.

And all we need to do when the mind wanders is to acknowledge where the mind wandered off to and then choose to return the attention back to the breath.

Back to breathing.

The breath as the anchor to present moment experience.

Breathing a sense of gentleness for this guided sitting practice.

Encouraging curiosity whenever the mind does wander off.

Gentle focus on the breath.

Noticing where you feel comfortable.

Tending to the breath.

It might be the journey of the breath moving in and out.

Or it could be the sensations of the breath in the nostrils,

The chest or the abdomen.

Breathing a sense of gentleness for this guided sitting practice.

Breathing a sense of gentleness for this guided sitting practice.

Gently directing the attention to the sensations,

Movements,

Breathing.

Bringing a sense of gentleness to any mind wandering.

Curiosity to where the mind wandered off to.

Accepting this is just what minds do.

And then choosing to bring the attention back to the breath and breathing.

Breathing a sense of gentleness for this guided sitting practice.

As you practice you may notice certain urges or desires to engage in behaviours.

Perhaps of shifting the body's position or scratching an itch.

You can observe these urges to move or shift.

Just observe carefully without necessarily acting on any urges or desires to move.

And doing this with an attitude,

A friendly curiosity and interest.

Sitting and noticing all that is observed.

And I invite you now to transition from being aware of the breath and expand your awareness.

To take in not only the sensations of breathing but an awareness of sensations in the body as a whole.

You may notice a contact with the chair or the stool.

Perhaps the contact with the floor.

Aware of how these sensations feel.

Bringing an attitude of interest and curiosity to sensations.

And you may notice as you pay attention to sensations that there is some tensing or bracing in the body.

See if it's possible to soften and release.

And you may notice that your attention is pulled away by discomfort or pain.

You have a choice with these intense sensations whereby you may wish to explore them in a kindly way.

Examining the edges of any intense sensation.

Perhaps using the breath and breath awareness to breathe into any sensations on the in-breath.

And breathe out from these sensations with the out-breath.

Observe any discomfort or pain with a gentle acceptance and acknowledgement for what's already here.

And it may be that you notice a desire or urge to move.

Pay attention to this.

But if you do choose to move or shift position,

Do this with mindful awareness.

Paying attention to any intention to move or shift.

And then close attention to the act of moving and any changes to sensations as a result of moving.

And again,

Whilst doing this practice,

You may notice the mind wanders away from body sensations.

Can you notice this happening?

Be aware of where the mind has gone off to.

And then make a choice to bring the awareness back.

Back to the body.

Back to sensations.

Sometimes when paying attention to sensations,

There can be a strong emotional effect.

If you notice this,

At any point you can bring the awareness back to the breath.

Or you can choose to direct attention into the fingers or toes.

Doing what feels right for you as you sit,

Noticing sensations in the body.

The ebb and flow of changing sensations,

Moment by moment.

And in following this guided meditation,

We are cultivating being fully with moment to moment experience.

And developing the ability to observe.

Observe and notice.

And see if it's possible now to expand attention to the whole body.

And now we're going to shift focus from the body and body sensations to sounds.

Listening to notice what you can hear.

But seeing if it's possible to notice the tone,

The quality,

The volume and duration of the different sounds.

Rather than judging and analysing or labelling the sounds.

Receiving the sounds as they come and go.

Listening to sounds.

Noticing loudness or tone.

It might be helpful when listening to sounds.

Be aware that sounds are waves.

Aware of the changing waves and changing tides of sounds as you sit.

Perhaps it's possible to observe the silence between sounds.

Allowing the sounds like waves to wash over you.

And you may notice how attention wanders perhaps into thoughts or memories,

Fantasies or associations with sounds.

Briefly note where the mind has wandered off and then gently return the attention to the sounds,

The waves of sounds coming and going.

You may notice attachment and liking to some sounds,

Aversion and disliking to others.

This judging quality that we engage in so often and again see if it's possible to bring a sense of gentleness,

Interest and curiosity to any thinking that you notice.

Thank you.

Receiving the sounds as they come and go.

Listening to sounds.

Noticing the loudness,

The tone.

Changes the ebb and flow of the soundscape.

And in the same way we observed sounds,

My invitation to you is to now observe any thoughts.

Observing thoughts as events in the mind that come and go in our field of awareness.

Relating to thoughts in a similar way to how we related to sounds,

Seeing their arising and passing away.

And it might be that in observing thoughts they all disappear and the mind might quieten.

But then there's the thought,

Look no thoughts.

Or it might be that as you attend to thoughts they come fast and furious.

See where possible.

You can observe and notice but at any point you can bring your attention back to the breath or the body as an anchor to return to in the present moment.

Observing thoughts as events in the mind that come and go.

Noting the content of the thought briefly without becoming absorbed in it.

Of course you'll find that the mind wonders,

This is what minds do.

You may find you become entangled in certain thoughts,

Pulled into planning.

See if it's possible to develop these skills of observing thoughts,

Sitting and noticing the flow of thoughts moment by moment.

Perhaps like a train passing through a station,

Allowing the thoughts to pass through the mind.

And paying attention to thoughts and thinking can be challenging.

So bringing a sense of gentleness,

An attitude of kindness to this practice.

Aware of thoughts with an interest and curiosity,

Even to the unpleasant ones.

In doing this practice sometimes the mind wonders so much that we can be self-critical.

And all we need to do in the practice is notice when we're being judgemental.

Notice and allow that to just be another thought to pay attention to.

And you may notice as you observe thoughts that there are emotions that come alongside the thoughts.

See if it's possible to explore the sensations in the body associated with these emotions,

Whether the emotion is pleasant or unpleasant.

You have a choice to bring interest and curiosity to these sensations that accompany the emotions.

You may wish to move to the breath,

The anchor,

Or you may wish to explore these sensations,

The friendly curiosity and interests.

And as you pay attention to thoughts with any emotions or sensations attached to them,

You may become aware of recurring patterns and how these develop and play out in the mind.

When you begin to notice these recurring patterns,

You may choose to just label them.

Worries about the future,

Dwelling on past events,

Criticism.

Allowing whatever's there to be acknowledged,

Allowed.

But learning this observer stance of noticing and then letting go.

Observing,

Allowing and letting go.

And letting go of the focus on thoughts.

And allowing yourself to be mindful of the full range of experience.

Bringing an open attention to whatever is arising in each moment.

This might be the breath,

Sensations,

Thoughts,

Sounds,

Emotions.

Sitting and observing.

Noticing those recurring patterns within the body and the mind.

Coming back to the anchor of the breath as often as is needed.

So this choiceless awareness whereby we're now noticing anything that enters the field of awareness as it naturally arises.

Here we're letting go of all objects of attention and being open to all possible experiences.

Developing the skills of being an observer.

Mindful of all things,

Even pleasant,

Unpleasant or neutral.

Mindful of the natural flux of moment to moment experience.

Cultivating mindful awareness.

Being an observer to present moment experience.

Here we're learning to receive the experience as it is.

Learning to see recurring patterns in the mind.

Seeing more deeply into the nature of our experience in the moment.

And now as we come to the end of our 40 minute guided sitting meditation.

Bring the attention back to the breath once more.

Directing the focus of the attention to breathing.

Being with the in breath and the out breath as fully as possible.

Paying attention to the anchor of the present moment breath.

And as we finish this practice recognising the time you've given yourself to know it.

Recognising the time you've given yourself to nourish yourself.

Perhaps congratulating yourself for allowing the regular practice and the benefits it has for you,

Your life.

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