Let's begin by getting into the body,
Inhabiting the body in the way that feels right to you.
At this point,
You probably have a pretty firm understanding of how you like to sit when you meditate.
So taking the time to really get into that posture at your own pace,
With a particular emphasis on rooting down through the lower half of your body,
Sinking in,
Feeling the earth beneath you,
And balancing that with a sense of upliftedness.
When you're ready,
You can connect to the natural sensation of the breath.
No need to do anything or change the breath at all,
Just relax with however it's flowing.
And at this point,
We won't count the breath,
We won't add any words on top,
We're just going to feel the natural flow of the breath.
So breathing in,
Breathing out,
And just bringing our full attention to that simple act.
When you get distracted,
Totally normal,
Thoughts pull you into the past or the future,
You're no longer present,
Just gently acknowledge it and then come back to the breath.
So you can silently and gently say to yourself,
Sinking.
Not a good thought or bad thought,
Just sinking.
And then come back to feeling the body breathing.
At this point,
We can add in the gatha offered by Thich Nhat Hanh.
Breathing in,
I calm my body.
Breathing out,
I smile.
So the way this works is that on the in-breath,
We would silently say to ourself,
Breathing in,
I calm my body.
And on the out-breath,
We would silently say to ourselves,
Breathing out,
I smile.
Letting these two phrases just ride the breath.
Breathing in,
I calm my body.
Breathing out,
I smile.
If this is hard to remember or you prefer something shorter,
You could simply use the words calming on the in-breath,
Smiling on the out-breath.
Calming,
Smiling.
Either is fine.
Similar to earlier,
We get distracted,
We acknowledge it,
Sinking,
We come back.
Letting the breath ground us in the present moment once more,
Returning to our gatha.
Breathing in,
I calm my body.
Breathing out,
I smile.
Calming,
Smiling.
We can close with three deep breaths in through the nose,
Out through the mouth to transition us out of the practice.
Breathing in,
In.
One more time,
In.
When you're ready,
You can open your eyes,
Raise your gaze if they're already open,
And begin to move out of the meditation.
