Beginning to allow the body to settle into a comfortable posture,
Closing the eyes if that feels appropriate,
Otherwise just softening the gaze,
Looking a few feet in front of you.
There's always the option to lay down if that feels appropriate if you're just feeling really tired and needing rest.
Otherwise finding a seated posture that's both awake and alert and also at ease.
Maybe softening the muscles around the eyes and the jaw,
Allowing the shoulders to relax and fall away.
Today's practice will be centered around mindfulness of the body while also cultivating what are called the seven awakening factors.
We'll start with a quote from the Dalai Lama.
As life forces us to slow down,
Let us take tiny steps to a better mind and a better body.
Let's give our bodies the respect and the time it deserves from us.
We're taking this time to intentionally pay attention to this body.
Bringing mindfulness to the forefront of awareness.
This present moment awareness.
Just this moment,
You might notice the feet touching the ground,
Noticing the weight of the body sitting or lying down,
Noticing any touch points on the skin.
Your skin is touching clothes or air,
The floor beneath.
As much as possible letting go of any judgment of how things should be in the body and opening to how they are.
This moment starting with this physical vessel that we experience life through.
Remembering that all of these experiences from our life up to this point are living in our bodies.
Can we honor this experience with mindful attention,
Gentle attention?
Noticing to bring this element of investigation or curiosity to this body.
Noticing what you're feeling.
Sometimes there's temperature.
Sometimes a sense of touch or pressure,
Tingling.
Doing a gentle body scan with this element of curiosity,
Noticing the feet,
Noticing the legs.
What does it actually feel like?
Noticing the hips and the pelvic floor.
Noticing the abdomen up into the chest.
We notice sensations and even the lack of sensations.
Sometimes there's an empty feeling or numbness.
Noticing space for the entirety of the experience in the body.
Noticing the low back,
Middle back,
Upper back,
The central column of the spine.
Noticing the hands and the fingers up into the arms.
Being this gentle quality of investigation and curiosity.
What is this body speaking in this moment?
We just listen with curiosity.
And sensing into the throat and the neck,
The face and the head.
Remembering that nothing has to be fixed or changed.
Just enough to be with this experience in the body.
Trying to very gently increase the level of energy of our attention,
Bringing this intentional attention to the body.
Not in a forceful way.
Bringing this intentional quality to our attention.
The body in this moment,
Just this moment.
Alan Watts says,
This very moment,
This very world,
This very body is the point now.
You see,
But if you're seeking something beyond all the time,
You never get with it.
You're never here.
And if the mind starts to take us away from this moment,
Remembering again,
This is part of the practice,
Nothing wrong here,
Just a gentle return.
We notice when we've lost contact with the moment and we come back.
Begin again,
Feeling the body.
Sensing and mindfulness of the body.
From this place of mindful attention,
We can begin to cultivate qualities.
Beginning to cultivate this quality of joy or pleasantness.
Just beginning to notice,
Is there any part of my body in this moment that feels particularly pleasant?
Or maybe there's even a quality of joy that's already there.
And if we notice that,
We can stay with it,
Give it a little bit more of our attention.
Noticing this is a pleasantness within the body.
This is actually joy in the body.
And if we can't quite access it,
Is it possible to very gently cultivate a little bit of joy in the body?
Maybe just by softening around the eyes,
Soft smile at the mouth,
A hand on the heart.
Sometimes just a small adjustment in the posture can move us into a more pleasant position.
It's not that we're pushing away the unpleasant,
It's just we're highlighting any little piece of joy in the body.
For a few moments,
Allowing yourself to marinate in this joy in the body,
Even if it's just a small part of the body,
Really noticing this.
You might even notice the qualities that lead to this joyful feeling.
Is there ease?
Is there softness,
Warmth?
Or just a general sense of pleasant?
And again,
It's not a forceful practice,
Just a little nudge,
A little nudge in that direction of joy.
And again,
It's just a little nudge in that direction of joy.
I'm beginning now to notice any part of this physical experience where there's tranquility,
This quality of calm,
Ease,
Tranquility in the body.
And is it possible to cultivate a little bit more ease in the body?
Maybe softening muscles,
Allowing the breath to fall into the belly,
Offering an invitation of ease into the body.
Sometimes we might notice one part of the body that has this quality.
Sometimes we might notice just the body as a whole feels a little more tranquil.
Giving yourself permission to rest here.
Give a little bit of attention to this ease within the body.
You might begin to notice as things calm and settle,
But the attention becomes more and becomes more focused.
And if it doesn't,
That's okay.
But again,
Intentionally noticing is there any part or quality of attention that feels more concentrated and not in a tight forced way,
But just a relaxed focus.
This concentrated attention on the body,
This physical experience,
It's ever changing.
And noticing what it's like to have this relaxed focus.
And noticing if there's any part of this experience that's beginning to feel more and more relaxed.
This quality of equanimity.
Being able to experience a pleasant sensation without grasping,
Experience an unpleasant sensation without pushing away.
Being able to hold space for the entirety of this physical experience.
And as we practice these seven awakening factors of mindfulness,
Investigation,
Intentional attention,
Joy,
Tranquility,
Concentration,
Equanimity,
The sense of balance begins to arise more naturally.
And we don't have to do it perfectly.
This is the practice.
Hearing these words,
And I said to my body softly,
I want to be your friend.
It took a long breath and replied,
I have been waiting my whole life for this.
This practice is a gentle befriending of this entire physical experience,
Allowing the body to be an accepted and loved companion along this ever changing and very interesting journey of being human.
We'll take a couple of minutes here of silence and staying connected to this physical experience with a very kind and gentle attention.
Thank you.
You you you and then whenever you're ready you can open your eyes if your eyes were closed gently move the body
