Just Being

So often in our mind, the thoughts lean toward becoming something or someone, a future state as yet out of reach. But letting go of these thoughts we're content with simply being instead. This is quite a common thing, I think, when especially when we begin meditation, perhaps we do it because we want to be a better person in some way. And I think it's helpful just to turn that around a little bit and look at it in a slightly different way. Rather than if we're engaged in trying to become, then there is a sense of doing. And meditation's really about giving up doing purely within the framework of meditation itself. Doesn't mean we ceased to become useful in the world. We still kind of are active in the world, but within our meditation, we're not doing. If we can get comfortable with that idea that in being we let go of trying to become something, trying to do something, trying to change something, then we give the meditation room to breathe. We're no longer trying to point it in a particular direction. We're no longer trying to achieve a particular outcome. Instead we are simply allowing the mind to be as it is. And the more we do that, the more comfortable and confident and familiar it all becomes, it feels. And we start to find a genuine peace of mind. So just taking a moment to settle. Make sure that you're sitting comfortably, that the back is upright, or at least flat if you're lying down. We're gonna begin with the eyes open, aware of the space around you. And by taking some big, deep breaths, breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth. And with the next exhalation, as you close the eyes, just feeling the body, the weight of the body pressing down. Just taking a moment to settle into the body, to pay attention to that point of contact. The same time it's becoming more familiar, the space around you, starting to notice the different sounds, sensations, just allowing them to come and go. And now just bringing the focus back to the body once again. Noticing how the body feels, having paused for a moment. Noticing if there's a sense of stillness right now, of restlessness, heaviness or lightness. And without trying to change any of that, starting at the top of the head, scanning down to the toes. Not getting stuck in any particular place, just evenly slowly scanning down through the body, just noticing any particular sensations. And as you move towards the end of the scan, just becoming more aware of the breath, the movement of breath in the body. To begin with, just noticing where in the body you feel that movement. Now starting to pay a little more attention to each and every breath. Just noticing the rhythm of the breath and noticing how each breath differs from the next and the last. And...