Welcome to the sitting meditation instructions.
Appreciate yourself for taking this time to cultivate moment to moment awareness.
Please see this time as an important gift to be with yourself fully and to nurture a sense of compassion to your mind,
Heart,
And body.
Please accept yourself with kindness for however you are in the present.
And know that you are nourishing yourself by doing this practice moment to moment.
I invite you to allow the body to settle in an upright position that is supported and relaxed.
Allow your feet to be flat on the floor if possible and your hands to rest gently on your lap.
Please allow your eyes to close gently if that feels comfortable.
I invite you to shift your attention from external concerns and the constant mode of doing.
And allow your attention to go inward and to return home to simply being.
Taking your seat is a powerful and loving act to be present and open to yourself.
I invite you to direct your attention to the places of contact of the body.
Feeling the feet on the ground,
The legs,
And bottom on the cushion,
The hands resting on the lap.
Deeply remembering that this body is grounded and connected to the earth.
Allow the shoulders to soften and lower down from your ears.
Bring awareness to your neck,
Lowering your chin a bit to take off any strain from the back of the neck.
Allow the face to soften and rest in neutral.
Now I invite you to bring your attention to the sensations of breathing in the body.
If it is useful,
You can take a little deeper inhalation than normal and follow the path of the breath as it enters the nostrils.
There may be a slight rising of the chest or belly and a slight lowering of the chest or belly on an out breath.
Just paying attention to the sensations of breath where you most feel it in the body for one full inhalation and for one full exhalation.
Now allow the breath to be natural,
Not deepening it intentionally,
But letting it return to its natural state.
Once again,
On your next inhale,
Feel the sensations of the breath from the moment it enters the nostrils.
There may be a slight sense of friction or a temperature change.
There might be a slight movement in the chest or belly.
And on the next exhalation,
Just notice the sensations of the breath leaving the nostrils.
Paying close attention to the sensations of just one in breath,
Noticing the slight pause in between,
And then close attention to the sensation of just one out breath,
Simply noticing the sensations of one in breath and the sensations of just one out breath.
This is your life force,
The breath nourishing the entire body moment to moment.
Breathing in and breathing out,
Letting the mind rest on the sensations of breathing.
You may have noticed that the mind has wandered off the breath.
It may be often thought,
Thinking of the past or future.
You can congratulate yourself for waking up and noticing that the mind has wandered as it will do.
Just as soon as you notice,
Gently escort your attention back to the breath and begin again with one inhalation,
Close attention to the sensations of one in breath,
And then close attention to the sensations of one out breath.
Notice,
Is there a sense of judging or being self-critical?
See if you can soften and remember to be kind to yourself in doing this practice.
Then return to simply paying attention to one in breath and then to one out breath.
If it is useful,
You can silently note the breath with a soft labeling of the sensation such as in,
Out,
In,
Out,
Or rise,
Fall.
Just giving full attention to each in breath and full attention to each out breath.
Not trying to do anything or get anywhere,
Just simply being as you find yourself in this moment.
Now I invite you to expand the field of awareness from your breathing to include your whole body,
Opening to the sensations in the body.
Once again,
Tuning into the places of contact,
Such as the feet on the floor,
The back of the legs and bottom on the chair,
The hands resting on the lap.
You may have noticed that some sensations may have become stronger and more dominant in the field of awareness.
As best as you can,
Hold all these sensations together with the sense of the breath and the body as a whole,
Opening to the wider space of awareness of physical sensations.
Gently tuning into the actual sensations throughout the body from one moment to the next.
You may notice some sensations may be more intense and you find that the attention is drawn back to these sensations.
The invitation is to be curious about the sensations as best as you can.
Explore with gentle attention the detailed pattern of the sensations.
What precisely do the sensations feel like?
Do they vary over time?
Do they move from one part of the region of the body to another?
If there is a particular sensation that has some intensity,
See if you can explore it moment to moment,
The actual sensation itself.
Can you welcome the sensation with curiosity versus automatic rejection?
Can you just see it and note the sensation gently,
Silently labeling it,
Or staying open to explore it for a moment?
Are the sensations strong or subtle?
Is there tightness,
Tingling,
Itching?
Is there pulling,
Throbbing,
Lightness?
Can you notice any movement or change within the sensation itself?
You can breathe into a region of intensity and breathe out from the region,
Gently focusing on the intensity itself with the breath.
And notice if the sensation changes.
And if at any time you feel the sensation is too intense and you feel unbalanced,
You are welcome to shift your position and observe what happens to the sensation.
How does it change?
What is present in the region after the shift?
Does the sensation move or return?
And once again,
Whenever you find yourself carried away from the awareness of sensations in the body,
That you become lost in thought or in a story,
Just simply notice that you are off and remembering this is not a failure or a mistake.
Just simply note where the mind was and gently bring your attention back to your breathing and the sense of the body and sensations arising.
Now,
I invite you to shift the focus of the attention from the breath and the sense of the body as a whole.
Just full awareness of hearing,
One moment to moment as you sit here and breathe.
Notice if there is judging,
Like or dislike.
Can you simply reside?
Allow the awareness to open and expand to sounds arising in the body and the surrounding environment.
There is no need to go searching for sounds or listening in particular.
Just full awareness of hearing,
One moment to moment as you sit here and breathe.
Sitting in stillness,
Aware of sounds,
Moments of silence,
Sounds that are close,
Perhaps inside the body,
Sounds that are far away,
Open to the whole space of sound.
As best you can,
Be aware of sounds simply as sensations,
Noting hearing is arising.
Notice if there is judging,
Like or dislike.
Can you just simply notice the changing nature of sounds moment to moment?
Loudness,
Softness,
Vibrations,
Enduring,
Fleeting,
Fading away,
Returning.
And if you find that you're thinking about the sounds,
Wondering about them and who is making them,
See if you can let go of thinking about them and reconnect with the sensation of hearing simply.
And as always,
You're welcome to return to the breath as your anchor,
Paying close attention to the fullness of each in breath and paying close attention to the fullness of each out breath.
Now,
I invite you to shift your awareness from the breath to the process of thinking itself.
Letting go of the breath,
Can you just watch thoughts come and go into the field of awareness?
Can you see a thought arise?
Can you perceive them as events in the mind,
Arising,
Lingering and passing away,
Not getting drawn into their content or their story,
But just observing thoughts as they come and go?
And I invite you to note the thought,
Is it pleasant?
Unpleasant or neutral?
You can simply silently note thinking.
Note that some thoughts keep coming back.
Note that some thoughts keep coming back.
Note thoughts about the past,
Remembering.
Note thoughts of the future,
Planning,
Anticipating.
Note thoughts about judging,
Dislike,
Rejecting.
Can you observe the passing nature of thinking?
Just being aware,
Noticing that thinking is happening.
As momentary events arising,
Lingering and dissolving in the field of awareness.
Also,
I invite you to note feelings or emotions as they come and go in the field of awareness.
Can you name them quietly,
Exploring?
How do they feel in this moment?
Can you note sadness,
Sorrow?
Fear,
Worry,
Joy,
Contentment?
Worry,
Joy,
Contentment?
There may be feelings of longing or desire,
Anger,
Hatred.
Are there sensations in the body that arise with the emotions?
Can you note them gently?
Also,
Are there thoughts or stories that come with the emotions?
Can you note story,
Remembering?
Letting go of the content and just notice thinking has arisen once again.
If the emotion feels too strong or intense,
Or you find yourself unbalanced or lost in thought,
You can refocus your attention once again on the breath as your anchor.
Simply beginning again with an in-breath.
Full and careful attention for one in-breath and full and careful attention for one out-breath.
Coming back to this present moment with this breath.
Now I invite you to continue sitting in stillness,
Resting in the field of awareness itself.
Simply being present to what arises and passes away.
There may be a thought,
A sensation,
A sound.
Can you note what is arising in this moment?
And rest back into stillness and silence.
Returning to the present,
This moment,
With each breath,
Just as it is.
Complete and whole as you are.
Gently touching with kindness this mind,
This heart,
This body.
Being present moment to moment.
Gently touching with kindness this mind,
This heart,
This body.
Gently touching with kindness this mind,
This heart,
This body.
The
