Begin by finding a comfortable seat that allows your spine to remain tall,
Alert,
And spacious.
Take a few easy breaths in and out of the nose.
And exhale out of the mouth for a few of them if that feels natural to you to begin to settle your attention into your body.
Letting the breath make space in between the shoulders,
The chest.
Letting the breath to move freely in and out of the nose,
The lungs,
Even the heart.
As you feel ready,
If it feels natural for you,
You can begin to close your eyes softly from top to bottom or pick a gazing point in front of you.
Continuing to allow the breath to move easily,
Freely.
Beginning to notice as you sit still here the ebb and flow of thoughts that rise and fall like the breath.
Not trying to cultivate thoughts.
Just letting them arrive and leave.
Noticing if there's any sensations related to these thoughts in the body.
Not trying to change or push away these thoughts,
But simply noticing as they enter and exit your general awareness in this moment and the moment after that.
If it's helpful,
You can label these thoughts as thinking.
Noticing your breath not to attach to each thought emotionally,
But just witnessing.
There might be words or image associated with them.
They might come quickly in succession.
They might move slowly,
Lingering perhaps on a thought or two.
Just paying a gentle attention to how your thoughts move within your awareness,
Within your body today in this moment.
If the thoughts feel uncomfortable or unbearable,
Coming back to the breath over and over again just like we began in the beginning.
Allowing the thoughts to flow like the waves of the breath.
Just like a wild animal might try to break free from a cage,
Allowing your mind to wander free without working so hard to control it or to stop the thought process from happening.
Instead just inviting back your attention with gentleness,
With kindness.
Continuing to allow the attention to settle on the breath and on the thoughts that come and go freely,
Openly.
And if the thoughts become too emotional or challenging,
Returning your attention back to the breath can be a little bit deeper if that helps you to settle.
Even cracking your eyes open if that's helpful to anchor your attention in this moment in whatever thought arrives,
Watching them come and go,
The same way you would watch the scenes of a movie.
Not trying to create any thought in particular but just being still with yourself here.
Letting the thoughts rise and fall like the breath.
There's a quote by Gita Iyengar that says stability is not necessarily stagnation.
She refers to stability as being aware but also being fluid like water.
Everything has an ebb and flow,
Breath,
Emotions,
Thoughts,
Sounds.
As you sit still with yourself here,
Allowing your thoughts to move freely like water and just observing them,
Doing your best to be a witness and always returning to the breath.
Allowing the next exhale to come out of your mouth if that feels natural for you.
Re-sting any tension you might be holding especially in the face or the neck or shoulders.
Letting your attention again come back to your breath,
Your body,
Perhaps the sounds around you to reintegrate your attention back into this moment.
Recognizing that a gentle awareness is available to us at any moment whether we're thinking or clear headed.
Honoring the ebb and flow of all things,
All beings,
Ourselves included.
Namaste.
