So just starting by finding

your way into a comfortable

position for this meditation.

When you're ready, just allowing

the eyes to gently close.

And as a way of settling in here,

a little more fully, just taking

three deep, slow, full breaths.

So breathing in.

And breathing out.

And two more like that in your own time.

And with each exhale, can you get a

sense of really allowing yourself to

arrive here and now a little more fully?

And at the end of this next

exhale, just allowing the breath to

return to its own natural rhythm.

So just letting go of any

control of the breath.

And now just gathering your

awareness around the feeling and

sensation of the breath in your body.

Just finding a place in the body to

settle your attention and feel the breath.

So it might be in the belly.

It might be in the chest.

Or at the tip of the nostrils.

Finding some way you can now settle

in and resting your attention here

and feeling the flow of the breath.

And if the mind wanders off into

autopilot mode, just gently guiding it

back to the feeling of the breath and

following each breath as best you can.

We can so easily get caught

up in autopilot mode.

And when we do that, we get caught

up in our conditioning, in our

reactive patterns, in our old habits.

And we get caught up sometimes

in unhelpful thoughts.

Sometimes we get caught up in living

an almost robot-like existence, just

putting one foot in front of the

other, but not really living life in

a way that makes us happy and healthy.

So mindfulness helps us live

a more intentional life.

Each time you bring your mind back from

being lost on autopilot mode, you're

training in the art of intentional living.

You're building your capacity to respond

instead of react, and to live deliberately

instead of living out of habit.

You're training in untangling from

unhelpful thoughts and cultivating inner

qualities, like kindness, calm and peace.

So doing this practice could be the

greatest gift that any of us could

offer ourselves, the world, and

each other, to keep tapping into and

expressing our own wholeness and wisdom.

So as this practice now draws to

a close, just knowing that even

though this meditation is now ending

that this awareness that we're

cultivating is always available to you.

The mindfulness practice doesn't

ever really stop here at meditation.

The practice is your life.

So perhaps making an intention to live

today more deliberately by making choices

that nourish you, bring you ease and

happiness and health and choosing to

come home to this awareness anytime

you find yourself lost or caught up.

So when you're ready,

just opening the eyes.