This mindfulness sitting practice is designed to support a deep,
Steady awareness of present moment experience.
It gently guides attention through the body,
Breath,
And the mind,
Helping to cultivate clarity,
Calm,
And insight.
The practice invites a balanced attitude,
Alert yet relaxed,
Attentive yet at ease.
It's suitable for newer meditators looking for something to just deepen their experience and also more experienced meditators who want a structured,
Spacious sit.
Longer silences are intentionally woven throughout to allow for direct experience rather than having a constant guidance.
You are encouraged to meet whatever arises with curiosity,
Patience.
And kindness.
So welcome,
Let's begin.
Finding a comfortable seated position.
You might sit on a chair,
A cushion.
Maybe a bench.
Allowing the spine to be upright but not rigid.
Letting your hands rest easily.
Gently closing your eyes or if that doesn't feel comfortable just lowering your gaze and just take in a moment to arrive.
There's nowhere else you need to be.
There's nothing you need to do.
Just sitting here.
As best you can.
Feeling the weight of your body.
And the contact with the ground beneath you.
Allowing the body to settle.
As best you can,
Taking a slightly deeper breath in.
And a slow.
Breath out.
And again.
Breathing in.
And breathing out.
And just letting the breath flow.
Return to its natural rhythm.
As best you can,
Just bringing your attention into the body.
Notice the points of contact.
Maybe the feet on the floor.
Legs supported.
Or your hands gently resting where they lie.
As best you can,
Allowing yourself to feel the stability beneath you.
Now we're going to gently scan through the body.
Starting at the top of the head.
As best you can,
Just softening the forehead.
Allowing your eyes to relax as best you can,
Allowing the jaw to soften,
Often in an area in which we hold quite a lot of tension.
Letting the shoulders drop slightly.
Feel the body into the chest.
The abdomen.
Best you can,
Just allowing the abdomen to soften.
Moving down into the hips.
Best you can bring in awareness to your legs.
And your feet.
There's no need to change anything.
All we're doing here is noticing.
If you encounter tension.
See if it can soften.
Even if that softening is just a little.
And if it doesn't soften.
That's okay too.
Best you can now,
Resting in a sense of the whole body sitting here.
As best as you can now,
Bring in the attention.
To the breath.
Where do you feel the breath most clearly?
Maybe it's at the nostrils.
Maybe it's through the chest.
Or perhaps it's at the abdomen.
As best you can,
Just choose one place to rest your attention,
Where the breath feels most prominent for you.
As best as you can,
Just feeling the inhale.
And feeling the exhale.
There's no need to control the breath.
No need to breathe deeper.
But just receiving it.
The breath as it is.
Each inhale.
And each exhale.
If the mind wanders,
And it will.
Just gently noticing that and returning to the breath.
No judgment.
No need to admonish ourselves,
Tell ourselves off.
Just beginning again.
Over and over.
As you begin to focus on the breath,
You might begin to notice the spaces in between the breaths,
That natural rhythm that we have,
The quiet pause at the top and the bottom of the breath.
As best you can.
Let the breath anchor you in the present moment.
And as best you can now just gently expanding that awareness including not just the breath,
But the whole body sitting and breathing.
The body as a field of sensations.
Breath moving within it.
Focusing narrowly,
But just resting in a slightly wider awareness.
As best you can,
Allowing any sensations to come and go.
Maybe warmth,
Coolness,
Pressure.
Movement.
Let everything be included.
If you find that the attention is contracting again.
That's okay.
Just noticing that has happened.
And then gently opening that awareness,
That attention back up again.
As best as you can now,
Just seeing if you can just expand that awareness further.
To include thoughts.
Noticing those thoughts as they arise.
Getting caught up in the story.
Just seeing them as events in the mind.
Like clouds passing through the sky.
A thought appears.
Lingers.
And dissolves.
There's no need here to push thoughts away.
There's no need to follow them.
We're just noticing them.
You might silently label them if that's helpful for you.
Thinking.
That's planning.
Or maybe ooh,
That's remembering.
And then returning to the awareness.
As best you can now,
Also including emotions.
If an emotion is present Notice where it lives in the body.
How it feels.
Allowing it to just be here.
Meeting it with curiosity rather than resistance.
Now as best you can,
Just letting go of any specific focus.
Resting in open awareness.
Whatever arises.
Sounds,
Sensations,
Thoughts,
Emotions.
They are all welcome.
Nothing to hold on to.
Nothing to push away.
Just awareness.
Awareness itself.
Open and spacious.
If you notice effort creeping in.
Just seeing if you can soften that a little bit.
Let awareness be natural.
As best you can now,
Just gently returning attention to the body.
Starting to feel the breath again.
Feeling the contact with the ground.
The space around you.
And taking a slightly deeper breath in.
And a long breath out.
As best you can,
Just noticing how you feel.
No need to evaluate,
Just observing what's there.
Beginning to bring small movements into the body.
A slight wiggling of the fingers.
Movement of the toes.
If your eyes are closed,
Then gently opening them.
If you soften the gaze,
Then just refocusing that a little bit.
Taking in the space around you.
And carrying this awareness with you into the rest of the day.
Thank you for practicing with me today.
May this practice support clarity,
Calm and kindness,
Both within yourself,
But also in the world around you.
