We'll begin this five minute sitting by bringing ourselves into a seated posture that is upright and stable,
Bringing awareness to our posture as we breathe.
Aware of the in-breath,
Aware of the out-breath as this mindful practice is one of waking up,
Not falling asleep,
One of alertness.
And we bring awareness to our body sitting in the chair,
Aware of where our body makes contact with the chair as we deliberately bring our attention to our senses,
The sense of touch.
Aware of where our bottom meets the seat of the chair as we breathe,
Where our back may make contact with the back of the chair or the underside of our legs,
With the frame of the chair,
Lowering or closing our eyes if we haven't already so that we can bring an inward gaze,
A looking inside,
A feeling inside in this moment.
Aware of where our feet are making contact with the ground and if our legs are crossed then it's comfortable to uncross them to do so.
And if our feet are touching the ground,
To notice the touch points where our feet are making contact with the ground or with our shoes or socks.
When as you notice the mind wandering as it may well have already begun to do,
When we notice that our mind is off somewhere else,
We gently bring our attention back to the breath,
To the body.
And so we'll allow an awareness of the body,
An awareness of the feet,
To recede into the background so that we're no longer attending primarily to that as we direct our attention to the breath itself.
Feeling with this breathing that is happening,
By feeling the breath as it moves through the body,
You may notice the belly moving with the breath and allowing the belly to move with the breath.
You may want to place your hand on your belly so that you can feel it move with the breath,
Riding the waves of the breath.
Or perhaps it's where the air flows into or out of your nose or mouth that you are aware that you connect with,
That you feel the breath moving through the body.
This is a practice of paying attention.
This is a practice of noticing.
This is a practice of cultivating curiosity.
And so,
Rest your awareness on the breath.
And when you notice your mind moving off,
In that moment of mindful awareness,
Gently bring your attention back to the breath.
Breathing.
And when you're ready in the next moment or two to lift your gaze,
Open your eyes and bring a little bit of what you've cultivated through an awareness of the breath of the body into the moments that follow.
