Begin by taking a broad view of your environment,
Presumably a place that you've chosen for the activity of meditation.
Some level of quiet,
Some level of privacy,
A level of comfort in seating and temperature.
Note the intentions that went into this simple choice,
Not least of which is the choice to set aside time for practicing meditation.
Bring your awareness fully into this space.
Begin to narrow your focus to just this body.
The body is never completely still,
But you can think of it as moving toward stillness.
As the body moves toward stillness,
Notice where there is still movement.
The most obvious movements tend to come from the rising and falling breath.
The sensations of breathing can be a source of comfort and refreshment.
Incline toward this comfort and refreshment.
Think of this comfort and refreshment as intentional.
You can intentionally take deeper than usual breaths,
Or you can calm and soften your breath,
Or breathe more quickly,
Depending on what is called for in any given moment.
Take a few moments now to play with the voluntary aspect of the breath.
Explore enhancing your breathing by being intentional about it.
Now,
Allow your attention to drift back to your body,
Sitting in relative stillness.
You can apply your attention however you like,
Gently scanning through the body or taking a broad general view.
Just be with the body,
Relaxed in stillness.
Notice how,
When your attention is with your body,
You are not giving a lot of thought to controlling your breath,
And yet the breath keeps satisfying its role.
Something like a handoff takes place between the voluntary and involuntary aspects of breath.
The task still takes place,
But the control is changed.
Now,
See if you can pull back your attention again to that broad view of the body from the beginning of the meditation.
Just be aware of the whole body at once without focusing on anything in particular.
If there's any focus at all,
Let it be toward sensing ease and well-being in the body.
Your body is relaxed and not being called to any tasks.
Now let's consider the realm of thoughts.
Of course,
You've been using thoughts this whole time.
It's just that this guidance has stood in to shape the thoughts and directives,
Where usually this guidance would be absent.
When we concentrate and do something intentionally,
We're taking voluntary control over our thoughts.
When we've finished a task,
It's often the case that we allow the thoughts to choose on their own,
Until,
Of course,
The next time we need to take control.
This,
Again,
Is like the handoff between voluntary and involuntary breathing.
Let's try it as part of the meditation,
Combining the two.
Direct your thoughts,
Again,
To the kind of breathing you'd like to do right now.
For example,
If you think the body would like some long,
Slow,
Deep breaths right now,
Tell your body,
Through your thoughts,
To breathe in that way.
Through each rising and falling breath,
Direct your breath with your thoughts.
Now,
Think of a cute puppy.
Now think of the ocean.
Now stop thinking entirely.
As you may have guessed,
The last directive wasn't serious.
It would be about as serious to say,
Now stop breathing,
Except it would probably be easier to stop breathing,
At least for some time.
Yet,
There are times when we'd like to stop thinking.
During these times,
It can be helpful to think of thoughts the way we often think of our senses.
There isn't really a way to completely stop seeing,
Or tasting,
Or smelling,
But we do have some control over the inputs.
We can close our eyes,
Go into a different room,
Take a sip of something different.
Likewise,
We can change the conditions that lead to our thoughts.
We've been doing it all along,
In fact.
My voice is an example of an input that guides thoughts.
The more we practice working with thoughts from this perspective,
The more control we'll have with them.
Perhaps not the control to turn them off completely,
But maybe to adjust the volume a little bit and bring in other thoughts for contrast and color.
Just like the body,
Thoughts might never be truly and completely still,
But they can be moving toward stillness.
Once again,
Return to holding your attention in the body.
Notice the relative stillness of the body and the gently rising and falling of the breath.
Now see if you can soften your attention such that not only do you have a broad view of the body,
But included in your awareness is the rising and falling breath,
The pleasant sensations of breathing,
And your thoughts.
Nothing in particular is in great focus.
If something comes into focus,
Remember the other aspects you are holding.
If your thoughts come into focus,
Remember your body,
Remember your breath,
And hold them all gently.
You can also encourage this softened focus by letting your eyes be very relaxed and letting the body and mind follow suit.
This tells the brain that we're not zooming in with our attention right now.
Just the whole body,
The breath,
The sensations of being here right now,
And the mind and heart gently holding this experience.
