Come into a comfortable seated position.
Make your spine tall.
Maybe rock from side to side,
Front to back.
I'm using oil because that serves me.
If that suits you as well,
Then go ahead and get a drop or two of that.
Maybe rub your palms together.
Take a deep breath in through your nose,
Fill the belly.
All the way up to the shoulders,
Breathe out through the mouth.
Deep breath.
Allow the eyes to close or the gaze to soften perceptibly.
Relax the hands into a position that feels good to you.
Breathe normally for a couple of rounds.
Sense your body.
Notice the sensation of gravity,
The weight and mass of you.
Feel the skin,
The bones.
Now breathe in through your nose,
Slow and deep.
Expand the belly first and then the mid-lungs and then the upper lungs.
Pause at the top of the breath and breathe out through the nose.
Pause at the bottom of the breath.
In through the nose,
Maybe for the count of four,
Five,
Maybe even six.
Pause for the same amount of time.
Breathe out for at least as long as you inhaled.
If anything,
It's longer.
And then pause for an equal measure.
Bring all of your awareness to the breath.
If the mind starts to wander,
That's okay.
Noticing it is the work of meditation.
You're not doing it wrong.
Just come back to the breath.
Innocently favoring the breath as if it were the most interesting thing.
Take one more round.
Release the practice.
Breathe normally.
Give yourself permission to be exactly as you are.
Notice the contents of this moment in as much detail as you can.
Don't worry about thinking about what got you here or planning about what's to come in the future.
In order to get anywhere at all,
It's necessary to know where you are.
Take that moment.
No judgment,
No expectation.
Just notice where you are.
And then bring the hands together at the heart with a sense of gratitude.
Perhaps a prayer to the God of your own understanding.
The energy of willingness to be present.
Aum.
Namaste.
Linger in this space as long as it feels good to you.
There's no rush.
Just after meditation is a wonderful time to let yourself be in that clear space.
Just awareness.
Softness.
A little bit of lightness of being that maybe isn't as readily present when we're getting up.
And going about what do I need to do?
What do I need to accomplish?
So I invite you to embrace that for as long as you're able to.
