Open awareness, widening in stages. Music underneath
Awareness has one job. To be aware. Not to be aware and then do something about it. The simplest meditation I teach, and the one that changes most.
About 14 minutes with Steven Webb's calm voice.
You widen out in stages. Breath first, then the whole body, then thoughts, then everything arriving from the room. Nothing gets fixed on and nothing gets fixed. What you build is a gap between what turns up and what you do about it. Sit with this daily for a few weeks and it works on you.
Treat me to a coffee, keep the podcast free, and get my Weekly Calm every Sunday. It is all on stevenwebb.uk
Thank you for sitting with me.
Steven
Who this is for
You want the plainest practice there is, and you want the one that actually changes things.
There is no story in this, no visualisation and nothing to picture. It is the simplest thing I teach and the one that does the most, provided you keep coming back to it.
What happens in this meditation
You widen out in stages.
The breath first, unchanged and uninterfered with. Then the whole body, including whatever aches, left exactly as it is. Then your thoughts, arriving and leaving with nobody chasing after them. Then everything coming in from the room, sounds and smells and all of it.
Then a few quiet minutes holding all of that at once, softly, without settling on any of it. Your attention will keep darting between them. That is expected and it is said out loud in the recording.
How to get the most from it
Fourteen minutes, and daily is where this one earns its keep. Give it a few weeks before you decide anything about it.
Awareness has one job, to be aware. Not to be aware and then do something about what it found. That is the whole instruction, and everything else follows from it.
When your mind wanders, smile at it. Getting annoyed is the only mistake available here.
Questions people ask
Is nothing supposed to happen?
Not in the moment, no. What builds up over weeks is a gap between what turns up and what you do about it, and that gap is where the choice lives.
I cannot hold all of it at once.
Neither can I, most days. Widening is the exercise, not managing it. Notice when it narrows onto one thing, and let it open again.
How is this different from the other meditations?
There is nothing to imagine. No garden, no river, no light. Some people find that harder and most people find it goes deeper once they have got used to it.
Read along
The transcript
It follows the audio. Press any line to jump there.
mindfulness · present-moment · breath
Read the transcript
In this meditation, we'll embark on a journey to profound awareness, aiming to cultivate a deep insight into
ourselves and our experience. It's a really simple meditation, but it really does have a massive impact
if we do it on a regular basis.
And it cannot be any simpler than what this is. It really does make a difference. and all
you've got to do is find a comfortable position, either sitting or lying down, and then we'll start. I'll give
you just a second or so to get into that comfortable position.
And when you're ready, shake out your arms and just just allow the body to relax and gently close your
eyes or just soften your gaze to a few feet in front of you.
And we start by just bringing our awareness to our breath.
And just notice as you bring your awareness to your breath, notice the natural rhythm without trying to change or
control them.
Just be aware that you're breathing in calm, breathing out relax
You can observe the air entering and leaving your body
And allow your breath to flow just as it is.
You may notice your body move slightly back and forward as you breathe in and out.
It's really important that we just have an awareness of the breath and we don't do anything with the breath.
The body's been breathing perfectly fine without us getting involved. Awareness has one job, just to be aware.
It doesn't have a job of being aware and then do something with it. It's literally just to be aware.
Now expand your awareness to include your entire body.
You can feel the points of contact with the surface beneath you.
Notice any sensations of tension.
Maybe there's some areas of discomfort present in your muscles or joints.
Remember, there is no need to change or do anything with these sensations.
Simply be aware of them
and allow your body to relax into its natural state in this moment.
Your body knows how to relax.
It's just waiting for you to give your body permission to do so.
So holding your awareness on your breath and your whole body, Just softening your awareness on each and
becoming more and more aware of different things.
Turn your awareness to your thoughts.
And when you expand your awareness to your thoughts, maybe there's no thoughts or maybe there's a thought that comes
and goes.
Watch as they come and go. Just like leaves floating down a stream.
There is no need to engage with them or hold on to them
Simply witness their presence.
Maybe You notice the way they come and go,
but you don't need to do anything with your thoughts. Just the same as you don't need to do anything
with your breath or anything with your body and the sensations within your body.
allow your awareness to expand even further. Become conscious of your surroundings.
Notice any sounds or smells or any other sensory experiences.
And you may notice your awareness flicks between one and then the other. It may flick to a thought. It
may then go to your breath and your body and to a sound. Just soften on each one of them
and expand your awareness to try to bring them all in as much as possible.
And just be aware that it's not easy. And that's okay.
It's about embracing these perceptions without focusing on anyone in particular.
Keeping your awareness soft and open.
And throughout this whole meditation, maintain a gentle and loving awareness towards yourself and your experiences.
The purpose of this practice is not to change anything, but to be present with exactly what is
moment to moment.
This moment is okay.
You don't have to do anything with this moment.
The job of your awareness is just to be aware of this moment.
And by becoming more aware of this moment, more aware of your sensations and your thoughts and your breath,
it gives you more control over what you choose to do with anything if you choose to do anything with
it.
You're creating a gap between everything that's arising in this moment and everything that's coming into your
awareness and
a choice to whether to do anything with it or not.
What a wonderful, refreshing change to feel that you have choice to do anything you want with anything
that's arising.
As you continue to breathe naturally, take a moment to consider the vastness of your awareness.
You can like it to an open sky. It has no boundaries. Embracing all that is without
discrimination.
In this space, there is only pure consciousness.
Untainted by judgement or attachment.
For the next few minutes, Simply rest in this state of profound awareness. Allowing everything to be
just as it is.
Without any interference or control. And if your mind does wander, Just bring it back with a gentle smile on
your face. It's
important not to get frustrated or anything. Just be aware that your mind wandered and smile and bring it back
to what you're focusing on. Just open awareness.
So I'm going to keep an eye on the timer for you. I'll leave you a couple of minutes just
to have this open, profound awareness.
Now as we come to the end of the meditation, take a moment to appreciate the experience of this profound
awareness and The deep insight that it can bring.
Just by practicing and having this deep awareness, and allowing your awareness to do its job just being aware,
without judgement or attachment, without the need to do something with everything that arises, it can
give you more control and power. It can give you more...
Peace and inner joy in life. Just the ability to be aware
but not have to do anything with it.
So as we gently bring our attention back to your breath and the sensation within your whole body, slowly begin
to move your fingers and toes. And when you feel ready, open your eyes and carry this newfound sense of
openness and presence with you throughout the whole day. Remembering that you can return to this place of profound awareness
anytime you wish. It's literally just, am I aware? Do I have to do anything with what is
arising? I would recommend that you do this meditation or a form of just sitting and being aware. Every day
or a couple of times a day for a few weeks and it will really have a profound effect on
your deeper insight and seeing things a lot more clearer. Seeing the whole of things rather than that you have
to control and you have to do things with everything that arises. Take care. Have a beautiful day.
I'm Steven Webb and I'm the host of Stillness in the Storms podcast that helps you to see life a
little bit different so you can have a little more inner peace in life.
You can always support me if you head over to thankyousteven.com.
