Let's start by finding a comfortable

posture for this practice, whether

in the traditional seated position

or in some other position that

feels comfortable for you right now.

May be lying down or otherwise.

This practice will support you in

cultivating joy and exploring how

self-compassion practices can help

you sustain joy in your own life.

So let's begin by becoming aware

of the sensations of the body

in the posture you've chosen.

And inviting the mind to rest

on the sensations of the body,

as it rests in contact with

the seat or other structure.

And through all of that, the ground below.

And letting the mind rest on

the sensations, perhaps gently

noticing the sensations of the

in-breath as you breathe in.

And the out-breath as you breathe out.

And perhaps taking one or two deeper than

normal breaths for you to support you and

allowing the mind to just come home to

the sensations of breathing and sitting.

And resting on the sway of the flow

of the in-breath or the out-breath.

Wherever you happen to find

yourself in this moment, and then

continuing to follow along gently.

Allowing attention to rest in

breathing in and breathing out.

And as you breathe in and out,

and notice the way in which

impact of breathing can be known.

Or just sensing into the breath itself and

what it feels like for you in this moment.

Noticing as you breathe in and out,

perhaps one subtle way in which the

breathing in and affects the sense of

the body and the mind in this moment.

Seeing if you can become aware of

the impact of a cleansing breath in.

Perhaps lightening, brightening the mind.

And the impact of a full breath out.

Allowing yourself to feel the joy of

just letting go of thought in this

moment, of any plans, any judgment.

Just allowing yourself

to really be here now.

Inviting awareness of what it

feels like to gently allow yourself

to be present to the sensations

of simply breathing and sitting.

Noticing any thoughts that

arise in these few moments.

And for this practice, allowing the

thoughts to really be the least.

Perhaps imagining releasing them into

the earth, letting them fall away,

or if it helps, perhaps imagine each

thought dropping onto a leaf and that

leaf falling into the stream of water,

rolling on by, and just floating away.

Or it might help to have the image

of a thought rising, floating up and

drifting off, as you might imagine,

reflecting and seeing a cloud drifting

off against a peerless blue sky.

And so the invitation then is to,

again and again, as often as is

necessary, smilingly and lovingly

bring the attention back from thoughts,

planning, any subtle judgment that

may have come up, any stories.

Realizing that the moment that you

notice that the mind has wandered

off and gotten engaged in one of

these ways, noticing that, and

gently bringing the attention back.

That is a moment of mindfulness.

And indeed, it's a moment of

self-compassionate mindfulness.

We are cultivating the will and then

the action of alleviating our own

suffering by meeting the movement of

our mind, the engagement with thought

when we've chosen to sit and meditate.

Meeting that movement with kindness,

with love, with understanding.

Yes, this is what the mind does.

It's like this.

Smiling, and letting go of any

judgment or narrative about how

bad you are at meditation, anything

else that could be coming up.

And just gently as you would, perhaps

with kindness, offer a kind of support

for a young child to come back, to sit.

Or maybe a puppy you're trying

to train and potty train.

You might just imagine bringing

that puppy back gently right here.

A wandering mind, somewhat,

as many have called it, like a

monkey mind, kind of moving to and

fro, grasping on this and that.

The invitation is to meet

that movement with love.

Bringing the attention right back

home to the sensations in this moment

of breathing in and breathing out.

And resting, relaxing, lovingly

allowing yourself to come

home to the present moment.

With each momentary focus on the

sensations of breathing and sitting.

And now, if you're willing, the invitation

is to allow the sense of the attention

to focus it more broadly now on awareness

of the body as a whole as you sit.

Breathing in and breathing out, perhaps

allowing the focus on the sensations

of breathing to fall a little bit into

the background and bringing to the

fore a sense of the body as a whole.

Perhaps noting it, noticing again the

points of contact between the body and the

seat beneath you or the bed or cushion.

And the floor beneath that

and the ground beneath that.

Or you might be noticing the skin and

the sensations at the level of skin.

Maybe a breeze at the cheeks or the hands.

The feeling of clothing or cloth resting

on the elbows or around the waist.

The sensation of tightness

somewhere in the body.

The invitation is to perhaps in the

next in breath, noticing all of these

subtle ways in which we are just fully

spaciously resting in this moment.

And allowing again as we breathe out, to

let go of any particular narrow focus.

Expanding the sense of the

awareness to take in the body as

a whole, breathing and sitting.

And feeling again the joy.

Just allowing yourself to rest

in this way of the sensations

of your life in this moment.

And as we begin to bring this

meditation to a close, just gently

noticing the way in which allowing

yourself these few moments of gentle

awareness of sitting and breathing.

Also, it may deliver a

sense of the pleasantness.

Just resting, letting go of thoughts for

just a few minutes and coming home to

the present moment right here, right now,

with a deepening commitment to allow in

yourself the ease of resting in awareness.

Keep practicing like this with love for

your own experience in these moments.

Thank you for your practice.

Be well, until we meet again.