The following meditation,
By Lulas Pregado,
Is designed to practice being here now.
That is,
To consciously be,
As you are,
With all you are,
From one moment to the next.
Rather than attempting to focus on one particular part of your experience,
The objective is to flexibly and fluidly attend to whatever enters your awareness in the here and now.
To this end,
I invite you to bring forth an intention of openness or receptivity.
That is,
To openly allow your experience to come and go freely,
Without any struggle or wish for things to be different.
Doing so can help us to forge a more flexible relationship with ourselves and the world at large.
I'll be providing some guidance to start things off,
And then occasionally offering support in the form of brief,
Mindful reminders to reorient to the here and now.
Find a relatively comfortable position,
Either sitting or lying down,
Where you can be undisturbed for the duration of this meditation.
You can keep your eyes softly opened or closed,
Whichever you prefer.
As a means of transitioning and settling into the exercise,
Gently bring your attention to your breathing by simply noticing the in and out sensations as you inhale and exhale through your nose or mouth.
Such sensations may include the rise and fall of your shoulders,
The expanding and contracting of your ribcage or belly,
Or the passage of air through your nostrils or lips.
We're not trying to breathe in a particular way,
But rather to just notice and be with breathing as it occurs.
If it naturally changes on its own,
Just follow that with your awareness.
You may also notice other aspects of your experience,
Including the felt sense of your body and its interaction with your surroundings.
This can include the contact it's making with the surface beneath you,
As well as any sounds you might hear,
And if your eyes are opened,
What you may see in front and around you.
Once again,
We're not trying to experience anything in particular,
But rather to curiously observe and be with whatever captures your attention from one moment to the next.
If they haven't already,
Thoughts and feelings will inevitably show up throughout the meditation,
Sometimes quite persistently.
Whether pleasant or unpleasant,
See if you can approach them with that same openness and passive curiosity,
Not trying to figure anything out,
But rather a kind of,
Ah,
That's interesting,
There's another thought,
Or here's that familiar feeling.
It may likely be after the fact,
When you become aware that you were thinking or feeling,
And that's okay,
As it's an opportunity to practice non-judgmentally accepting that this has occurred,
Just as it does for everyone.
The mind will wander,
As it's designed to do,
And each time we bring it back to the present moment,
We're strengthening our mindfulness muscle.
I'll check in with you again soon,
But for now,
I'll leave you to it.
How are you doing?
If your attention has wandered into the past or future,
See if you can gently and non-judgmentally bring it back to the here and now to openly observe what you're experiencing.
What are you aware of right now?
Can you detect your breath going in and out,
The felt sense of your body,
Sounds occurring around you,
Or a thought or feeling that you can step back to curiously observe?
What has your attention at the moment?
Whatever it is,
See if you can become aware of your interaction with it.
There's your experience,
And then there's you observing it.
As this exercise comes to a close,
I invite you to bring your attention back to your breathing for a moment,
Noticing the in and out sensations,
And you as the observer of these sensations.
As you move forward with your day,
See if you can bring forth an intention of presence and openness.
