Arriving and Settling: a short guided sit
A short settling sit for any lesson. Timed text cues guide posture, a few deliberate breaths and a light resting of attention, with optional device narration reading each cue aloud.
Before you begin
Sit upright on a chair or cushion, hands resting in your lap. Read each cue as it appears; between cues you may close your eyes or lower your gaze.
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The full script
Each line appears at the time shown. Read it, then rest until the next.
3-minute version
- 0:00Find your seat. Let the spine be upright and the shoulders easy. Take three slow, deliberate breaths.
- 0:30Let breathing return to its own rhythm. Sounds may come and go; there is no need to follow them or push them away.
- 1:15Rest attention lightly on the body sitting here. When the mind wanders, simply notice, and come back.
- 2:05Nothing to fix, nothing to achieve. Just this breath, this body, this moment.
- 2:40In the last moments, widen your attention to the whole body and the room around you. The chime will sound soon.
- 3:00Bell. The sit is complete. Take one more easy breath before you move on.
5-minute version
- 0:00Find your seat. Let the spine be upright and the shoulders easy. Take three slow, deliberate breaths.
- 0:30Let the breath find its own pace. Sounds may come and go; let them be, without following or resisting.
- 1:20Rest attention lightly on the sensation of sitting: the weight in the seat, the hands, the breath moving.
- 2:30If the mind has wandered, that is normal. Gently notice where it went, and return to sitting here.
- 3:40Nothing to fix, nothing to achieve. Just this breath, this body, this moment.
- 4:40Widen attention now to the whole body and the space around you. The chime will sound shortly.
- 5:00Bell. The sit is complete. Take one more easy breath before you move on.
10-minute version
- 0:00Find your seat. Let the spine be upright and the shoulders easy. Take three slow, deliberate breaths.
- 0:30Let the breath find its own pace. Sounds may come and go; let them be, without following or resisting.
- 1:30Rest attention lightly on the sensation of sitting: the weight in the seat, the hands, the breath moving.
- 3:00If thoughts have carried you off, no problem. Notice, and return to the feeling of the body sitting here.
- 5:00Let sounds arrive and pass on their own. Rest lightly, without effort, on the breath or the body.
- 7:00Nothing to fix, nothing to achieve. Just this breath, this body, this moment.
- 8:30Check your posture with kindness. Let the shoulders soften and the face relax, then rest again.
- 9:30Widen attention now to the whole body and the space around you. The chime will sound shortly.
- 10:00Bell. The sit is complete. Take one more easy breath before you move on.