Hello, this is Christine
and welcome to Mid-day Mindfulness Meditation
Let's begin
When you're ready, settle yourself into a comfortable seated position
closing your eyes
and through the awareness of your breath, feel how you begin arriving into yourself
noticing the waves of breath moving your body
and if you'd like to set an intention you can do that now
perhaps it's an intention to be more present
to build the skills of mindfulness to help support you in your life
you could set an intention that any benefits you receive from this practice,
will be helpful for you, and the people closest to you
now if you choose to, set your intention to be here during this entire session
with as much presence and equanimity as possible
again, start noticing what it feels like to be in a seated position in your body
traveling down to your feet
just touching in and feeling all the sensations of the feet
may notice numbness, warmth, tingling
whatever is there coming up into the lower legs and your knees
and if there are any unpleasant sensations, recognize they are unpleasant
recognize if they are pleasant, or perhaps they are neither — just neutral
but you are arriving in sensations in the body
coming now to the top of your legs, your thighs, hips, pelvis, the back of the body
all sensations related to sitting
pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral
and allowing your awareness to spread into your lower back
mid-back and now to your upper back
touching into the back of your shoulders
to the front of your shoulders
down your arms to your elbows
forearms and wrists
and finally into your hands, noticing all sensations of your hands and fingers
pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral
and coming to the front of your neck, and down your chest to your abdomen
your whole torso region alive with sensations
coming up through the spine to the back of the neck
to the back of your head
noticing if there are any areas you have difficulty sensing
top of the head
ears, forehead, eyes, nose, mouth, and jaw
allowing your awareness now to notice the whole body in its entirety
the entire body here as sensation
and within that, can you notice any feeling tones of pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral
notice how every individual sensation resides in the overall field of the entire body as sensation
bringing your awareness to your breathing
such a natural process
breathing in, and breathing out
can you let the energy of a beginner's mind rest on the breath
like you're noticing your breath for the very first time
you may notice the quality of the breath, the texture
is it effortless? or difficult?
smooth or rough?
letting the breath be just as it is
you can also
start to notice the body breathing in, and breathing out
and just notice that with the intention of breathing in, breathing out
or you may want to count your breath 1 to 10
and back down again 10 to 1
a focused attention on the breath
if the mind gets distracted
know where it's going
what is it interested in right now?
is it perceiving this experience as pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral
and then coming back to the breath
with a kind gentle energy that's not judgmental for being distracted
in the final minute of time
let your awareness move to wherever it's drawn to go
perhaps your breath sensations in the body
whatever is your most dominant experience
rest in that experience allowing it to be exactly as it is
like opening your front door and inviting in a good friend
just notice at any point if the mind is trying to control the experience
and bringing your awareness back to your body, sitting in the room around you
opening your eyes, and taking some deeper breaths
Thank you for being here
Be well.