Sitting in Awareness

::
Sit upright, grounded, alert, relaxed.

Don’t hold the body up. Balance & let go.

Let the ground support you.

Notice the sensations & movements of breathing in & breathing out.

Invite the whole body to breathe in & out.

Relax from the inside. When the body settles, the mind settles.

Let all your senses open: touching, seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, temperature, balance, location.

Feel the whole spine, from tailbone to skull. Let it move as you breathe.

Don’t try to hold body or mind still. Rest in the sitting breathing body.

Sit here, in this place.

Notice that sensations, feelings, & thoughts are all there is, appearing & disappearing on their own.

Breath connects body & mind.

Appreciate the qualities of each sensation, feeling, thought — the ones you like, the ones you don’t like, the ones you ignore.

Don’t try to control, block, or create certain thoughts & feelings. Resting in the body, include whatever arises.

Just rest, like a great ocean accepting hundreds of streams. (Hongzhi)

Let exhaling be complete. Let whatever you’re holding drop down through your body & release into the ground.

Notice the gap between breaths.

Notice the gap between thoughts.

Don’t fidget or hold still. Rebalance as needed so you’re resting, alert, settled.

Don’t hold attention. Rest attention in the experience of sitting & breathing.

Start anew as needed, again & again. Short sessions, many of them.

Don’t waste time or energy fighting or chasing what arises. Let what arises rise; take care not to follow. (Milarepa)

Form the intention to know & appreciate your actual experience just as it is. Then practice doing that, again & again.

Invite the whole body to sit so no part has to do extra work. Don’t arch, slump, or hold. Stack your bones on your seat so the body can rest.

Let awareness ride the breath through the whole body, right out into fingers & toes.

Notice the moving & the stillness involved in breathing & in sitting.

Gently open awareness again & again. Whatever arises is fine. Gently mix it with awareness & breathing.

Let awareness expand to include all that is in & around you. Open like the sky. Trust.

Don’t try to get rid of “distraction.” Whenever you discover you’ve been lost in the maze, just drop back into the center — the breathing body. Return & rest.

Let subtle sensing of the breath reveal balance & imbalance in the bodymind.

Completely mix three things: wareness ~ breathing ~ sitting