Good morning.
This is a meditation intended for the morning before you get your day started.
When we set aside time for a short meditation in the morning,
We set up our day for a day of presence and we know from both direct experience and from research that being present with whatever experience arises throughout the day,
Whether it's pleasant or unpleasant,
Just being present for what is,
This is the way to increase our happiness.
And when I say happiness in this context,
I really mean more of a contentment.
Contentment,
A happiness beyond changing circumstances.
So if you would like to begin by closing your eyes,
Please do so now.
Or you can leave them open with a low gaze on a neutral object.
You might take a few deeper breaths,
Just letting the exhale stretch out longer than the inhale.
And let whatever is here be here.
So let's set an intention for the day.
Imagine that you're sending up a North Star that you can see or feel throughout the day,
Setting our intention to be present for whatever arises.
Allow your attention to gently settle into your body,
Welcoming whatever is present,
Whatever is here right now.
Energy,
Sleepiness,
Soreness,
Everything is welcome.
We're just checking in to see what's present,
What's there.
And we'll start by dropping our attention into the body.
You might have a few deeper breaths again,
Just focusing on the exhale being longer than the inhale.
Notice if your jaw muscle has any tension and just relax down the jaw,
The muscles around the mouth.
And noticing around the eyes,
The little micro muscles that get tight from smiling,
Laughing,
Squinting.
So you're relaxing the jaw,
Relaxing the eyes.
Bring your attention down to your shoulders,
Just relaxing any tension in the shoulders.
Dropping down to the belly,
Just allowing a softness in the belly throughout the day.
We often have a tight belly holding the core,
Sucking it in.
Right now,
Let's just have a soft belly.
And then you might notice your feet on the ground.
How do you notice whether you're standing or sitting or lying down?
What is the sensation like on your feet?
Is it solid?
Is it something soft?
We're really just noticing the contact points of our feet touching the ground or the bed.
And draw your attention up the back of your body,
Noticing the back of your legs,
Your seat,
Your back,
Touching the back of the chair or the bed.
All those contact points,
Just noticing the body touching whatever surface it's making contact with.
Setting an intention for the day.
It might be to practice and notice more kindness today,
Or an intention to be mindful of our speech today,
Or to have an embodied presence for the day.
An embodied presence simply means that we don't check out on autopilot as much as we normally do.
And instead,
We make an effort to notice our current experience throughout the day using the five sense gates of seeing,
Hearing,
Smelling,
Tasting,
And touch or feeling.
Plus,
Noticing our sixth sense,
Which is the mind.
The awareness of what the mind thinks about the stream of information coming in through the other five senses,
The five sense gates.
What do I want for myself today?
Listen for the answer.
Ask it again.
What do I want for myself today?
Listen to see if there's a different answer or a deeper answer.
And as we're noticing the body and the touch points with the chair or the bed,
You may begin to notice the body breathing.
Noticing the breath is a great way to stay in the present moment.
You may notice the entire process of breathing from the nose down the throat,
The chest rising,
The belly expanding.
Or you may just rest your attention in one of those places as a wise witness,
Noticing the breath going in and out of the body.
And the mind probably starts to wander off,
Planning for the day,
Remembering things.
That's totally fine.
Just gently redirect your attention back to noticing the breath.
It doesn't actually matter how many times our mind wanders.
In fact,
That's exactly what we're doing.
It's more important to notice a wandering mind and bring it back to the object of focus than worrying about trying to clear the mind.
Just tuning into where you notice the breath.
If it's helpful,
You can offer a gentle in,
Out,
In,
Out,
Soft mental noting to help keep the mind resting on this object of focus,
Which right now is focusing on our breath.
As we wind down the morning meditation,
It's helpful to remember that setting daily intentions can be a powerful practice.
It puts us in touch with the things we care about rather than just jumping in to our daily autopilot routine.
One day at a time,
We begin to notice if our actions are aligned with our values.
In a moment,
I'm going to ring a bell three times.
See if it's possible to listen to the sound of the bell all the way out and in between each time.
Have a wonderful day and thank you for your practice.
