Here & now, it is our intention to openly and gently bring the mind and body together- to bring awareness (i.e. knowing) and presence (i.e. mindfulness) into our moment-by- moment experiences.

Taking our seat, we sit so that we may come to know what is clearly before us- as it is- arising and passing without aversion or attachment. We have shifted and opened up into this moment… relaxed & ready… balanced & steady to simply NOTICE & acknowledge things as they are. Arriving awake with all of our senses we have converged into the fluidity, and into the unity of our observation itself.

Taking our seat, we have placed our awareness upon our posture- sitting properly aligned, dignified, and yet comfortable so that we may sit without distraction. This is the instruction.

Once settled into our posture, we then gently rest our mind- our ‘open awareness- our ‘free attention’ upon the anchor of our breath. Uprooted from our habitual discursiveness, we sit simply & patiently observing the rhythm & flow of our ‘in’ and ‘out’ breath… breathing “IN” we simply notice our breath… breathing “OUT” we again simply notice our breath… and in the “PAUSE” or “SPACE” between our “in” and “out” breath, we simply notice. This is the instruction.

Gathering our scattered energies of mind, we become anchored in our noticing, acknowledging, and letting go. It is in this initial placement of mind that we set the tone- the atmosphere- and the ATTITUDE for our sitting.

Here & now, we are learning and REMEMBERING to simply notice & release… to ‘touch & go’ over and over again. This is our practice.  

We are gentle and balanced maintaining our posture of being and our composure of mind… one breath at a time… moment by moment. The more we practice, the stronger our capacity for awareness, attention, and presence becomes. This is our ‘mindfulness muscle’- our innate ability to penetrate our scattered (habitual) tendencies to wander and to re-focus on a single-pointed object like the breath. We see and feel the benefit of placing & resting our mind– and it motivates us to continue our practice with confidence and care.

It is this confidence & care- this attitude & effort that helps us to ultimately develop stability & precision to gather ourselves and to work routinely & systematically with the mind. We wander and we gently bring ourselves back- tethered closely to the breath… again and again. This is what is often referred to as peaceful abiding in our practice. With regularity of practice, there evolves this growing sense of ease & effort, and the wandering begins to diminish as the relaxed mind becomes re-familiarized with its natural proclivity to rest- to be calm & peaceful.

With growing stability & confidence, we begin to open up to the realization of our mind’s ‘workability’. We come to see with some clarity how our own mind really is. What was unbridled can be tamed– continually, systematically, and repeatedly. With clarity we can now adjust & modulate our inner capacity for awareness with precision & accuracy. We have harmonized with our mind- knowing it we have befriended it– and with this shift in relationship our practice begins to truly mature.

This taking our seat- this single-pointedness– this taming & befriending our mind has brought about states of calm, stability, clarity, strength, confidence, and a deeper sense of inner peace and contentment with who we are… with where we are… just as we are. We can now feel the energy of the embodied maturity we have skillfully cultivated in our meditation practice.  Moving forward, this sitting has become a way of being- a way of greeting and embracing a centered, open, and expansive mind that aspires to rest… to be present… to awaken… to explore… to examine… to know… and to understand.

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