The following practice has been brought to you by the School of Kamma,
Empowering students through mindfulness meditation.
Before you begin,
Find a safe and comfortable space where you won't be disturbed.
For safety,
Do not listen to this recording whilst driving or operating machinery.
Hi,
I'm Matt and I'll be your guide for this following period of meditation.
Take a moment to establish yourself in a comfortable position,
Maybe sitting upright with the back straight,
Or you may even want to lie down.
Whenever you're ready,
Bring the eyes to a gentle close.
We're going to start by building some mindful momentum in the body,
Bringing our awareness first to the soles of the feet and noticing any sensations in this area.
You may notice a slight tingling or a warmth.
Whatever your experience,
Just allow it to be without judgment and carry this attitude throughout the body as we extend our mind over the tops of the feet,
Wrapping around the ankles and into the calves,
And just becoming aware of any sensations that we may feel,
Giving ourselves permission to accept things exactly as they are,
Being kind to ourselves,
To ourselves,
And just allowing relaxation to arise in its own time,
Bringing the mind's eye over the shins and around the knees,
And gently noticing any tension or strain we may find in these areas as we come into the thighs and the glutes,
Feeling the weight of the body here,
Stable and grounded.
As we arrive now into the lower back,
We may find that we do have some aching or tension in this region,
And so we can just ever so slightly push the chest out,
Bringing the shoulder blades back and giving the back a little stretch to release some residual tension as we allow ourselves to drop deeper into calm,
The mind flowing over the middle and the upper back,
Relaxing the shoulders and maybe feeling them drawn down ever so slightly towards the earth,
As we cast our inner attention down over the arms,
Forearms,
Wrists,
And into the hands,
Maybe noticing some heat or perspiration in the palms,
Palms,
And using this increased awareness to move into the area of the abdomen,
Allowing that awareness to seep into the cavity of the torso,
As we sweep the mind's eye up through the middle of the torso into the heart center,
And allow it to re-emerge in the area of the chest,
Firm in the understanding that any tension or anxiety that we may feel here will soon fall away completely on its own,
Extending the mind's eye through the neck and the throat,
Rising up gently into the jaw,
Lips,
Cheeks,
Nose,
Eyes,
And forehead,
Arriving at the top of the head,
And turning our attention inward now,
To notice how we feel,
And yes,
We may notice the mind's tendency to wander from one thought to the next,
But we can simply hold an attitude of kindness here,
And just allow anything that unfolds to do so without any resistance,
As we take this time to familiarize ourselves with the temporary nature of sensations in the body and fluctuations in the mind,
Watching them arise,
Change,
And fall away completely on their own,
We witness a subtle dance of our nature's unfolding from moment to moment,
As we cultivate our practice,
We gradually develop an experiential understanding that nothing is here to stay,
And that everything ultimately comes to pass,
Whether this be nerves surrounding a new experience,
Apprehensions in light of new social situations,
Or even insecurities regarding a new project or task,
Our ability to cultivate this increasing sense of calm,
In which we just allow our experience to be as it is,
Without trying to explain anything,
We gently cultivate an inner kindness for ourselves,
Accepting that whatever we feel in this moment is perfectly natural,
And absolutely okay,
We develop a kind curiosity in the mind,
Honoring our experience fully,
And just being who we are,
In complete surrender to whatever is unfolding,
Over time,
This approach to our subjective experience inevitably empowers us to embrace change,
Opening our heart to new and exciting possibilities,
We make peace with the fluctuating nature of all experience,
And come to know a stable sense of calm,
Amidst the uncertainties,
As we integrate everything,
This knowledge that peace and stillness within is always available,
No matter what the circumstances may be,
Provides us with the foundations to be proudly ourselves,
To accept others,
And to follow the flow of our unique journey with balance and ease,
Setting an intention to relax a little deeper now,
We can gently return to the crown of the head,
And just allow our awareness to begin to drip down over the top of the head,
Observing any sensations in the forehead,
Over the brow,
Eyelids and down the bridge of the nose,
Smoothing out the cheeks and the jaw,
Feeling the lips and chin,
And just briefly scanning the back of the head and the ears,
As we arrive once again at the neck and throat,
We can just guide our inner gaze down into the shoulders,
Maybe feeling a little looser,
And feeling that gentle pull of relaxation,
Deepening,
Allowing the mind's eye to melt into the tops of the arms,
Dropping down over the forearms,
And into the wrists and hands,
Observing any changes in temperature,
Observing any new subtle sensations in the palms and fingers,
An indication that our mindful awareness of the body is increasing in sharpness,
Feeling into the upper back,
The middle back,
And the lower back,
Maybe still noticing some discomfort here,
But nevertheless acknowledging its presence,
And at the same time acknowledging the unwavering stability that we are creating,
As we allow sensations to rise and fall,
Fluctuations of the mind to rise and fall,
And making a conscious choice to integrate all aspects of who we are,
Feeling the chest relaxing a little more,
Softening and smoothing,
As we scan down into the abdomen,
And just watching anything that we may experience in this area,
Maybe the expansion and contraction of this region,
In tandem with the deepening flow of the breath,
Returning to its natural rhythm,
Checking in at the base of the spine once again,
And feeling the weight of the body on the glutes,
Glutes,
Heavier and more at ease,
As we sweep down over the legs,
Through the thighs,
And gently moving over the knees and into the shins and calves,
The legs almost disappearing now,
Dropping finally into the feet,
Around the ankles,
Over the tops of the feet,
And back into the soles,
Observing any subtle changes which may have occurred,
Since we began,
I invite you to turn inward once again,
To the quality of the mind,
Give yourself permission to enjoy the experience for a couple of minutes,
A couple of minutes,
And when you hear my voice again,
We'll begin to bring the meditation period to a close,
Coming close to the end of the meditation period now,
Take a second to check in with how you feel,
Bring a deeper awareness to what has changed since you began,
Remember that this practice is always here,
And you can work with it as many times as you need to,
You will now hear the bell ring three times,
And on the third ringing of the bell,
Gently and slowly begin to open the eyes and return to the room.
