This particular meditation is designed for those times when you feel you need to settle into the present moment and reconnect with some degree of balance and perspective in the midst of turmoil or difficulty….

You can use this practice at home or at work, or on a bus or sitting in a park…. It helps to remember that in this, as in any and every moment, you can assume or reestablish a posture that intrinsically embodies dignity, wakefulness, and ease, whether sitting, lying down, standing, or walking.

Let’s begin by dropping in on the present moment as it is and holding it in awareness, allowing yourself to feel what it is that you are already feeling, whether it be pressed for time, stressed, agitated, anxious, depressed, in pain – whatever it might be that is calling out for a bit of kind attention.

As best you can, bringing full awareness to the constellation of feelings and circumstances that are present in this very moment, without having to do anything or change anything, without having to make anything go away, and without judging whatever arises or yourself (or noticing how much you may be judging yourself and everything else and not judging that). As best you can, putting out the welcome mat for whatever is here. Why? Because it’s already here! We might as well acknowledge it, whether it is pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. Anchor yourself in the breath sensations in the body, welcoming and embracing in awareness whatever is here in the timelessness of this very moment.

At this point, you might play with featuring a particular aspect of your experience center stage in the field of awareness, as if shining a spotlight on it. It could be anything you would like to focus on that is already here: perhaps an intense sensation in the body, a story you’re telling yourself about it at the moment, a thought, a disturbing emotion, or a sense of joy, of completion, perhaps even of being at home in your own skin in this very moment.

Simply breathing with it – in and out, in and out. Just holding it in awareness with great tenderness, as a mother might hold her small child, in full acceptance and with great love. Simply recognizing and opening to any sensation that might arise as a sensation, any thought as a thought, any emotion as an emotion.

Now, for the closing minute or two of this practice, seeing if you can simply rest in awareness itself – allowing any and all sensations, thoughts, and emotions to come and go like clouds in the sky or like writing on water as you dwell in the spaciousness of your own heart. Allowing yourself to feel whatever is here to be felt and to know whatever is here to be known. Why? Because it’s already here. Experiencing the spaciousness of awareness itself and how this awareness feels in your body and in your heart in this moment.

And as this brief meditation comes to a close, you might, just as an experiment, form the intention to see if you can bring this boundless, spacious, open-hearted awareness, with the lightest of touches, to various aspects of your life, even for brief moments now and again, as your day continues to unfold. Remember, the real curriculum here is life itself, and our resolve to be present appropriately for the seamless continuity of moments that make up the day.

_________

You can find an audio of this meditation on Track 4 at soundstrue.com/mm-for-pain-relief-audio.

— Jon Kabat-Zinn in Mindfulness Meditation for Pain Relief