We begin this three-minute breathing space meditation by making a deliberate change in posture.
A posture that supports a sense of wakefulness.
A posture that helps move us out of being on automatic pilot and brings us into the present moment.
And you can choose any posture that's supportive for your body and that feels called for.
That might be lying down on the ground or being seated in a chair.
Being sure that the posture has a sense of ease.
And to begin this practice, in step one, we'll start by becoming very aware of what's happening.
And so maybe taking some moments now and just checking in and sensing into what's happening in the mind.
What thoughts are here, if any?
And perhaps noticing these thoughts as mental events in the mind.
Sometimes it might even be helpful to put them into words.
Like planning, anticipating, worrying, remembering, rehashing, rehearsing.
Sometimes just naming them can kind of take the wind out of the sails of the thoughts.
And then beginning to sense into, if there are any feelings or emotions that are present.
And even if they're uncomfortable or unpleasant.
Is there a way to acknowledge them?
Because they're already here.
And then beginning to bring attention to the sensations in the body.
What are you aware of right now?
Are there any areas in the body where there might be a sense of tension or tightness or holding?
If there are areas of tension or tightness.
Particularly where it's not needed.
Perhaps letting go of anything you don't need to be holding on to.
So now that you have a sense of what's going on right now.
You've brought attention to the present moment and stepped out of autopilot.
Let's start to bring our attention to an anchor point.
We've been working with the anchors of attention.
So you might notice just the sensations of the feet in contact with the ground beneath you.
Or sensations of sitting or lying down.
Perhaps the hands wherever they're resting.
Or perhaps it's the breath.
Whichever anchor feels most reliable.
Most like a touchstone in this practice.
And just taking some moments to allow the attention to settle there.
And knowing that the mind will drift off from time to time.
That's what minds do.
And just as soon as you become aware of that.
Just gently and firmly bringing the attention back to your anchor.
And then in step three, we'll start to expand the awareness to include the entire body.
The posture.
Facial expressions.
How the body feels in this moment.
And if you become aware of areas of discomfort.
You might experiment with breathing in on an inhalation to those areas.
And breathing out from them on the out breath.
Perhaps even feeling a softening.
Or a releasing with each out breath.
And now that you've done this practice, as best you can, bringing this expanded and more spacious awareness to the next moments of your day.
In just a moment, you'll hear the sound of a bell to close this practice.
(The sound of a bell.)