First things first,
Make yourself really,
Really comfy.
Make sure your back is supported,
But ideally your head is unsupported.
So if you end up falling asleep,
Then that is fine and your head will go forward,
Not back.
And then close down your eyes whenever you're ready.
And just allow yourself a few moments to arrive here.
You might like to take a sigh out.
Ah,
If that felt good,
You can do it again.
Ah,
This helps to let go of the day.
Really sink into this time you've carved out for yourself,
These next 30 minutes for you.
Tuning in to your breath now.
Noticing the way that it rises and falls all on its own.
And then starting to deepen your breath now.
And as you deepen your breath,
You can lower your awareness of your breath down into your belly.
Feeling your belly rising on your inhale and then falling on your exhale.
And when we can feel our belly rising and falling with our breath,
It indicates we're breathing effectively using our diaphragm,
Which is the main breathing muscle below the ribcage.
And when we breathe through the diaphragm,
It reminds our body that we're safe.
There's no dangers around.
There's no need to activate the fight or flight response.
We can head into rest and digest,
Our parasympathetic nervous system.
You might like to extend your exhale now,
Allowing it to become a little longer than your inhale.
There's no need to be precise about it.
Just setting your intention to have the exhale a little longer than your inhale.
When we extend the exhale,
It's like getting into a warm bath.
Again,
It reminds the body that it's time to relax.
And as you continue with that extend,
Exhale breath,
Reminding yourself that you are not trying to have a still mind throughout this meditation practice.
You're not trying to block out your thoughts or stop them from arising.
You're just allowing the mind to debug itself in a way that it knows how.
We do this by following this simple process of effortless meditation.
We come to rest our awareness ever so gently on our anchor,
Which right now is that extended exhale breath.
We then allow the awareness to drift away from our anchor onto thoughts or feelings or noises.
And then whenever we happen to realize where we are,
What we're doing,
That our anchor has disappeared altogether,
We remind ourselves that was exactly what was meant to happen.
And then we ever so gently return to our anchor again,
Remembering that there's nowhere we're trying to get to.
There's no state we're trying to achieve.
We're just allowing this process to unfold in its own time,
At its own pace.
Inviting the breath to go back to its natural rhythm now.
Going into the background once again.
I invite you to scan each of your senses now,
One by one.
Beginning with your sense of sight,
Just noticing what you can see behind your closed eyelids.
You might see darkness,
Shades of darkness,
Perhaps colors,
Patterns,
Shapes.
Nothing at all.
Just noticing what's true for you in this moment.
Whilst you're there,
Softening your eyelids,
Releasing your eye muscles,
Relaxing your forehead.
And then moving down to your sense of smell.
Noticing all the scents that are reaching your nose.
You might have a candle burning,
Essential oils diffusing.
You might smell aromas wafting in from the kitchen,
Or remnants of your deodorant or perfume or aftershave.
And then coming down to your sense of taste.
And noticing any flavors lingering inside of your mouth.
Leftover from your last meal,
Your last snack,
Your last sip.
And whilst you're there,
Unclenching your jaw,
Dropping your tongue from the roof of your mouth.
Unpursing your lips.
And now coming to your sense of touch.
Observing your body resting against your seat.
And feeling where your feet meet the ground.
Feeling where your clothes meet your skin.
Where the air meets your face.
And scanning now with your mind's eye from the top of your head all the way slowly down your body.
And just noticing any remnants of tension held in any body parts along the way.
Inviting them to soften and release as you pass them along with your mind.
And now coming to your sense of hearing.
Noticing all the sounds that are reached in your ears.
Starting with the sounds furthest from your ears.
Perhaps outside of your room.
Sounds of traffic passing.
Footsteps or voices.
Nature.
And then coming closer to the sounds from within your room.
The sounds of the music.
And the layers of the music.
The mother sound,
The white noise.
Like the heats are blowing.
The clock ticking.
All the technology.
Perhaps noticing the sounds coming from within your own body.
And inviting now to rest your awareness on one of these sounds of your choosing.
Using it as your anchor to very gently come back to.
And your anchor to very gently come back to whenever you happen to remember.
You're not focusing intensely on the sounds.
You're just allowing them to wash over your ears.
And if you prefer to use your breath or a mattress as your anchor instead.
Then you're more than welcome to do so.
You're just resting gently on your anchor.
Allowing the awareness to drift away.
And whenever you happen to remember ever so gently drifting back.
Drifting away.
Drifting back.
There's no where you're trying to get to.
There's no goal state you're trying to achieve.
Allowing that process to unfold in its own time.
At its own pace.
Your thoughts are simply passing through you.
You are not your emotions.
Your emotions too are just passing through you.
You are that calm,
Content,
Ever present witness deep inside of you.
And I'm going to invite you now to let go of your sound.
Release your anchor.
Just rest for the last couple minutes.
Allowing the effects of the meditation to slowly sink in.
You can stay as you are or recline back into a more comfortable position.
There's nothing to do here but rest.
And I'll tell you when the time is up.
And I'm beginning to deepen your breath.
Deepening your breath.
Allowing it to awaken the contours of your body.
Allowing it to awaken the contours of your mind.
Bringing very gentle movement with your fingers and your toes.
And gradually extending this movement into your arms and your legs.
Stretching out.
Twisting your spine.
Rolling your shoulders.
Rolling your neck.
Listening to what your body is asking for.
And then pausing and checking in with yourself.
Noticing how you're feeling now.
Whether it's a little more calm.
A little more centered.
A little more you.
Like the real you.
And setting your intention to carry these feelings with you throughout the rest of your day.
There is no rush to get up.
Take as long as you need,
As long as you have.
Only opening your eyes at the very last thing that you do.
Thank you so much for joining me today and I hope you have a lovely rest of your day.
