I invite you to settle in,
Get comfortable,
Close your eyes if you'd like,
Or gently lower your gaze.
Notice the sensations of your breath,
Breathing in and breathing out.
You might like to take a slow,
Deep inhale and sigh it out on the exhale.
We're going to do a meditation today that is called Open Awareness.
And the idea here is that there's no right or wrong way to meditate,
We're really just observing our thoughts,
Emotions,
And physical sensations.
It's really compelling when we get different thoughts in our mind,
Or different emotions can really grab us.
So we're going to practice observing with an attitude of curiosity and kindness.
I'm going to provide a lot of space for you to just be and gently offer some guidance if that's supportive.
If it's helpful,
You can use a technique called noting.
And what this is,
Is whenever you notice a thought,
Emotion,
Sensation,
You can give it a mental note in your mind.
Could be thinking,
Feeling,
Perhaps you hear sounds,
Hearing.
So let's just practice a little bit,
Observing whatever is here in this moment.
If you notice that your mind has wandered off,
It's not a problem.
Our minds wander on average half the time,
Just giving it a label,
Thinking.
As you practice making these notes in your mind,
Really try on this approach of non-judgmental welcoming,
Whatever is here.
Meditation is not about stopping our minds from wandering,
It's allowing ourself to create space to be with ourself.
When a thought arises,
Noting it and letting it pass on by.
You can imagine that you are standing on a train platform,
Watching the train go by.
You are not the train,
You are the observer of the train.
If you need more of a sense of groundedness in this practice,
You're always welcome to feel the sensations of your feet on the ground,
Sensing into the support of the solidity below your feet.
I encourage you,
If you'd like,
You can do a scan in your body,
Turning on a flashlight,
Pointing it at the top of your head and bringing your attention,
Scanning down,
Noticing what sensations are in the body.
Whatever sensations are here,
Allow them to be here.
You're not creating a story around what they mean or trying to fix or change it.
Simply noticing,
How does the body feel?
It may be helpful to actually name some of the sensations that are here,
Tightness and shoulders,
Buzzing in hands.
Just see,
Like you're a scientist,
What sensations are here?
Checking in with the thoughts,
What am I thinking about?
I'll allow you to explore what's here in the present moment on your own,
Noticing whatever is capturing your attention.
Meditation can be a great opportunity to create self-awareness on a deeper level.
Oftentimes we're running on autopilots and aren't even aware of the sensations,
Feelings,
Thoughts that are driving our actions.
So if you'd like,
You might take a moment just to reflect on what you're learning from this time.
Is there anything the body wants you to know?
Our body contains a lot of wisdom and information,
And it's common to operate from the neck up.
But just seeing,
Anything the body wants me to know,
What would be of service now?
I encourage you to take note of the time that you just made to meditate.
Offer yourself compassion,
Gratitude,
Any wishes of loving kindness in this moment that would feel supportive.
Opening your eyes at your own pace,
Feel free to wiggle your fingers,
Your toes,
Roll your neck and shoulders.
Thank you for practicing with me.
