Hello,
And thank you for joining me for this color breathing meditation.
As I describe the exercise,
I invite you to take a few moments to really get comfortable.
You can ask yourself if you would prefer to do this practice from a seat,
Or lying down,
Or in some other position.
And as I begin to describe the exercise,
Feel free to shift around,
Grab a blanket or pillow,
Or anything that would make you just 5 or 10% more comfortable as we practice together today.
As you're getting yourself comfortable,
Starting to center and ground yourself,
I'll describe the basic structure of the exercise and then I'll actually lead us through it.
The first step of this practice is identifying a state of being,
An emotion,
A feeling that you would like to invite in right now.
This could be something like peace,
Relaxation,
Joy,
Or self-compassion.
Anything that you would like to invite in.
You can take a moment to think about that,
Or if one of the words that I just said to you resonated,
You can go ahead and pick that.
Once you've identified an emotion or a state of being that you would like to invite in,
I'll ask you to think of a color that represents that emotion to you.
Now I invite you not to think too hard about this.
There's no right answer.
There's no wrong answer.
It's the first color that comes to mind.
It could be your favorite color,
A color you find really beautiful or soothing,
Or it could be a color that you just associate with this emotion or this state of being.
Taking a moment to identify that emotion and that color.
I'll go ahead and put a pin in that.
We'll return to that emotion and that color.
But for the second part,
I invite you to bring to mind something that you would like to let go of.
This could be an emotion that you're currently feeling that you would like to reduce the intensity of.
Something you identify as a negative emotion or feeling or state of being,
Such as stress,
Anger,
Sadness,
Anxiety.
What's something that you would like to let go of?
Once you've identified that thing you'd like to release,
I invite you to assign a color to that emotion as well.
Again,
No need to think too hard.
You can choose the first color that comes to mind.
Once you have your two colors in mind,
I invite you to start the practice with me.
We'll begin by simply grounding ourselves,
Taking a moment to bring our attention to our bodies.
Feeling the place where your body is connected to the floor or to your piece of furniture or the ground if you're outside.
Taking a moment to bring some awareness to your breath.
And in this moment,
There's no need to change your breath,
To control your breath.
There's no right or wrong.
You're just noticing what is it like to breathe in this moment?
Where in my body do I feel my breath the most?
Do you notice your breath in your nostrils?
In your chest?
In your belly?
Where do you feel your breath?
When you're ready,
We'll start to introduce the practice,
The visualization of the colors.
So on your next natural inhale,
I invite you to visualize that first color,
That color associated with that positive feeling that you would like to invite in.
You might imagine this color surrounding you.
You might simply see this color in your mind's eye.
You might imagine yourself breathing in a gas or vapor of this color,
Or you might have some other visualization.
Just picture this color as you inhale.
And as you exhale,
With each exhale,
I invite you to picture that second color,
That color that you'd like to let go of.
Breathing in,
We invite in that positive color.
Breathing out,
We exhale,
We release,
We let go of that second color.
Inhaling to invite in that positive emotion.
Exhaling to release that thing that isn't serving you right now.
Inhaling and exhaling.
If your mind starts to wander,
That's okay.
That's normal.
Just gently,
Kindly bring it back to those colors and your breath.
We'll do a few more rounds just like that.
Okay.
And if you'd like,
You can stay here until you feel ready to release.
You can pause this recording or just keep going with it until the recording ends.
Or if you're ready to release the practice now,
Feel free to just let the visualization of the colors go.
Let go of any control of your breathing and return your awareness to your body as you start to make some subtle movements.
Maybe wiggling your fingers and your toes.
Maybe making a nice stretch.
And slowly returning your awareness to your surroundings,
To this moment.
Perhaps quickly checking in with how you feel.
Realizing any differences between how you feel physically or emotionally now and how you felt at the beginning of the practice.
Feel free to return to this practice anytime you like.
And I hope you have a nice rest of your day or night.
Take care.
