Drop the Story, Drop the Stress

Let's start by finding a comfortable posture. This could be sitting, lying down or standing. If it feels okay to do so, you can invite your eyes to close. And we'll take one deep breath together. In through the nose.

And slowly out through the mouth. Inviting the jaw to relax. Let the shoulders be at ease. And soften the hands and belly. Just settling into this moment, settling into yourself.

The breath can fall into its natural rhythm. And you're just tuning into the most basic elements of your experience right now. Noticing what it's like to breathe. What it's like to hear. What it's like to feel sensation in your body.

The theme of this meditation is bare attention. Stepping out of the story, judgments, exaggeration, hyperbole of the moment and just dropping into the raw, fundamental reality. Just like in the haiku, "the old pond, a frog jumps in, plop." Just the basic elements. A person in a meditation posture, breathing. That's it.

Person in a meditation posture, hearing. The person in a meditation posture, thinking. Take a few moments to apply this to any aspect of your experience. Viewing it with this bare attention. Letting go off the story.

Stepping into your life as it's actually happening. Let's take one more deep breath together. In through the nose. Out through the mouth. And when you're ready, you can invite your eyes to open again.

Great job. As you go about your day, see if you can bring this bare attention into your experience. You can even put the elements of your experience into the haiku as a way to simplify and drop into the direct elements of what is here. Thank you for your practice. And until we talk again, take care.