Welcome to a 10-minute sitting practice.
Inviting you to come into stillness and find a posture that's comfortable,
It also allows you to be awake and alert.
This might be sitting in a chair or lying down,
Could even be standing.
Taking a moment to settle in.
And if you're seated,
This posture may be with the feet placed flat on the floor,
The back straight but not rigid,
And the head slightly tilted forward with head over heart and heart over hips,
The hands resting where they may on the table or in the lap or at your sides.
And the eyes either closed or pointed downward with perhaps a blurred gaze,
Allowing for some reduced external distractions,
A chance to go inward,
A chance to be right here.
As you settle in for this time of practice,
Inviting you to begin by noticing the breath,
Choosing to take a moment and notice that the body is breathing itself.
Using this breath,
The next breath,
And the next.
And inviting you to bring attention up to the nose,
To the nostrils or mouth where the air is moving in and out,
Sensing as that air flows in and out.
And letting attention move down to the chest.
Noticing as the ribs expand and contract with each breath.
It may be obvious,
It may be subtle.
And allowing attention to move down to the belly,
Sensing the breath here.
The diaphragm muscle inside pushing and pulling on the lungs.
And then widening the lens to notice all these aspects,
All the parts of the body,
All the things involved in breathing.
Nose,
The chest,
The belly.
It's taking a moment to simply notice the breath.
And taking a moment to let go of the breath and notice the body.
This contact points with the floor,
Cushion,
Or the chair,
The feet,
The legs,
The back.
Sensing what those contact points feel like.
Perhaps there's a notice of temperature or pressure.
Or perhaps no sensations at all,
And if so,
Noticing that.
Allowing attention to move to other parts of the body,
Wherever sensations can easily be noticed.
Perhaps there's an area of tension or tightness in the shoulders.
Perhaps it's noticing the weight of the body,
The length of the legs.
Or even noticing into the hands,
Inside the hands.
Notice any sensations,
Any vibrations,
Any sense of aliveness or tingling that can be felt there.
If at any point you notice attention is wandered,
Thinking,
Planning,
Remembering,
It's a moment of waking up,
A moment of mindfulness.
Chance to notice that the mind is wandered and gently but firmly bringing attention back to where you place it,
Which right now is on the hands.
Even noticing outside the body,
Starting with noticing sounds.
Sounds of these words,
Sounds that are near,
Sounds that are far.
There might be constant sounds,
Like the drone of an air conditioner or heater.
Any sounds like a clock or moving sounds of a car or plane.
And taking a moment to rest our attention on the sounds that are reaching our ears.
Noticing around the body as well,
Noticing if there's any smells,
Any aromas can be detected.
Many tastes that are lingering.
Not needing to notice one,
But noticing if one is there.
Letting attention move away from outside the body to states of the mind,
To the thoughts and emotions,
Allowing our attention to rest here to see what's present in the mind.
Thoughts and emotions may be obvious,
Coming and going.
Maybe they're elusive,
Can't be noticed right now.
Choosing to place our attention on what's happening in the mind.
Seeing if it's possible to catch a thought as it arrives and deciding whether to stay with that thought or whether to let that thought go.
And then noticing emotions,
What's coming up now.
Maybe calmness and peace,
Maybe anxiousness or agitation or fear or grief or pleasantness.
Noticing whatever's here.
Noticing go specifically of thoughts and emotions and seeing if the awareness can be opened to be wider,
As if awareness is the open sky,
Noticing the clouds that come and go.
Allowing our awareness to be like the open sky,
Noticing all the things that come and go,
Breath,
Body sensations,
Sounds and smells,
Thoughts and emotions.
As if we're the sky,
Noticing as things come and go.
Open to whatever comes.
Noticing and allowing.
Noticing it all to be here because it is here.
As we move towards closing this practice,
Taking an opportunity to notice the quality of awareness that's here right now,
Whatever it is.
When you're ready,
Opening the eyes,
Coming back into this space and continuing with the day while you're still here.
