Mindfulness Of Breath & Body For Present Moment Awareness

As you're settling yourself into a comfortable posture,

However that feels like you want to be today,

We're going to meditate for around 15 minutes.

So if you would prefer to lie down,

Please feel free to do so.

Maybe you'll need a cushion behind your back,

Perhaps you want to adjust yourself slightly.

We're just finding your way to be super comfy and we're going to have a meditation called mindfulness of the breath and body sounds and thoughts.

And in this meditation we continue to learn to practice acceptance.

And at first,

In each stage of the meditation,

When distracted,

I'd invite you to just notice where the mind has gone,

Just notice it and then return to the object of the meditation,

Just like we've been practicing.

And then after a few minutes in each stage,

We'll then aim to cultivate acceptance when the mind is repeatedly pulled towards a particular experience,

Whether it's a thought or emotion or a bodily sensation.

And so that's how we'll practice today.

But for now,

We'll just settle into our posture and start to notice the contact points between the body and the chair,

The feet on the floor.

And perhaps we can start with a short body scan,

Just paying attention to the sensations of the body,

Maybe directing our attention towards our feet and seeing if it's possible to notice any nerve endings in the bottom of the feet.

Remembering the sensation might be a prickly or heat or it might be a tingling or it might be a pulling.

It could be anything that we can notice is arguably a sensation.

We might want to notice the ankles as well,

The tops of the feet.

And perhaps focusing in on how our calves are feeling.

Just staying with the lower part of the feet and the legs,

Just noticing any sensations that call for our attention.

And then we might move slightly higher and notice the lower back.

Perhaps with a sense of curiosity,

Just become aware of any sensations in the back.

Maybe taking our attention around the spine and the area on either side of the spine.

And we might travel upwards in our mind's eye and noticing the shoulders,

Noticing if they feel any sense of stiffness or tightness.

Sending some kind attention and breath there,

Perhaps inviting them to rest and relax in this moment.

And taking our attention to our jaw.

Is it possible to release the jaw?

Maybe we're holding some tension there,

So maybe sighing out is helpful.

We might imagine the forehead is being smoothed out.

We let go of any lines or any intensity in our mind.

And we might take our attention to the front of the body and invite all of the front of the body to soften.

Dropping the attention into the belly,

Really releasing the muscles that hold the belly in.

And in this place it might be comfortable to focus on breathing in and out of the belly.

And this is always an invitation whenever we start to focus on the breath,

To practice belly breathing.

But if it doesn't feel comfortable or right for you,

Then feel free to connect with breathing in and out of the nose and stay with the sensations of breathing in and out of the nostrils.

But for today,

Dropping the attention into the belly if it's comfortable.

Just begin to focus on the breath,

Breathing in as the belly expands.

And breathing out as the belly contracts.

And there's nothing else we need to do for the next couple of minutes but stay with the breath.

I'm going to quiet and just allow you that minute or two just to focus on breathing in and out.

And remember when the mind gets distracted and we notice that,

First of all say well done to yourselves because that's an act of mindfulness.

The very act of noticing and becoming aware that you're lost in thought.

And then simply unhook from that toe of that thought and imagine that you are that behind that waterfall and the thought is the waterfall in front of you and you're turning your attention gently inward back to the breathing,

Back to the rise and the fall of the belly.

And we might do this many times or we might do it once or twice in two minutes.

There's no right or wrong way,

It's just our experience.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And remembering also we have permission if we're really unsettled in our meditation to stand up or to slowly walk or to adjust our position,

Staying with the breath until we feel more comfortable.

But for now we're going to start to place our attention onto sounds that we can hear.

And these may be sounds within the room or perhaps within our own body.

If that's not comfortable don't go there.

Maybe the windows are open and we can hear sounds outside or in the wider household.

But let's just focus in on what we can hear both nearby and far away.

If we have silence around us we might notice there's a frequency in the sound within the silence.

And we might notice there's certain thoughts that keep coming back.

What type of thoughts are these?

And can we take that image of the waterfall and notice them without them sucking us in?

Maybe we want to question them,

Maybe we can recognise the type of thought but we let it go and then come back to the breath,

Come back to the sounds that we can hear,

The sensations in the body.

And at some point we might become aware that we are constantly drawn to a particular experience.

Maybe it's compelling thoughts that are going on or it could be an emotion or a particular sensation in the body.

So the invitation if you feel comfortable to do so is to deliberately turn your attention towards that experience.

Now remembering it's your choice how long you stay there,

Particularly if it's uncomfortable.

And it might be helpful to have a neutral place like the hands or the soles of the feet,

The elbows to toggle back to during this practice in the second half of this meditation.

But if you feel comfortable to do so bring awareness to the body and noticing how the experience is being held in the body.

Where does it show up?

What is the intensity of the experience?

What is the feeling tone of the experience?

Is it pleasant,

Unpleasant or neutral?

If it's an uncomfortable experience can we lean in a little bit and have a sense of letting go of the aversion in the body,

Letting go of the tension.

Breathing with sensations softening and opening to the experience.

And can we practice accepting the experience just as it is,

Not trying to grasp too tightly onto a pleasant experience or push away an unpleasant experience but rather hold the experience as it is with a sense of allowing and letting be.

When we can view this meditation practice with a sense of curiosity we're exploring our own edges.

What are we comfortable with?

How far do we feel discomfort?

When do we need to back away?

And of course this might be different every time we meditate.

So what is going on right now?

What is today's present moment experience for us?

Keeping this attitude of gentle curiosity and one of friendliness we can explore our edges noticing the intensity increasing and decreasing as we lean in and pull away.

And perhaps we might say to ourselves it's okay,

Whatever it is it's okay,

It's already here,

Let me feel it.

You Noticing where the mind is.

Are we lost in thought?

Do we need to unhook?

We're gently releasing this experience,

Whichever it is or however it is for us,

And connecting once again with the sounds that we can hear in the present moment.

Noticing the feelings of the feet against the floor,

The body against the chair.

Perhaps sensing the temperature and the air of the room around us or the temperature of our own bodies,

Our own skin.

And starting to inhale a little deeper,

Becoming aware of our fingers and toes,

Maybe gently wiggling or starting to gently move or sway our bodies if we've been in stillness.

Listening now for the sound of the bell to bring us back into virtual space.

Leader-in-Law and leader-in-law Dr.

Charles Robinson Lightover