Tara Brach

Moment to moment, the sensations of the breath.

Whole body expanding and then deflating.

Even on a cellular level.

For some, rather than the breath, it can help just to feel the sensations in the hands or the feet or the sensations of the sitting posture.

Moment to moment as a way to steady and quiet the mind.

You'll notice at some point that you're no longer resting in presence, that the mind has carried you off into the future, the past.

It's totally natural.

And when you notice it, you have a choice.

You can relax back, relax back into presence, reopening the attention, listening to sounds,

Reopen the sensitivity to the body perhaps by seeing what might want to relax a little more in your body.

Maybe letting go in the shoulders again.

Maybe bringing a slight smile to the mouth and relaxing through the face.

Maybe relaxing your heart.

Resting again in the presence that is aware of the breathing, the sensations that are here.

Notice what it's like to rest in the gap between the thoughts.

When there's no thinking that's taken over, what's right here?

Can you sense in the gap between the thoughts the awareness that's here?

This mystery of presence.

You can start fresh in any moment.

If you notice you've been off in a thinking trance, relaxing back, you can ask, well, what's happening inside me right now?