Hello and welcome.
Take your time,
Get yourself completely comfortable.
Make sure you feel warm and supported with any cushions you need around your body.
Any silences during this meditation are intentional.
Let's take three deep breaths,
Three slow inhales followed by three beautiful sigh-like exhales,
All at your pace.
Now stay with your breath and allow it to flow in its most natural state,
Not needing to change it or do anything.
Where are you feeling it in your body?
Is your belly completely relaxed?
Soften it a little more and begin to notice the breath reaching here,
Just this.
Let's begin to guide the breath into a deeper,
Slower rhythm.
So we're going to silently count the breath,
Aiming for a slightly longer exhale.
So we're going to start very gently,
In for three and exhaling for five.
So the kind of rhythm is one,
Two,
Three and then extending that count to a five as you exhale.
Let's begin.
Notice the belly gently expanding on that inhale and then softening down during your exhale.
Two more.
Now begin to extend it a little more,
Inhaling for a count of four,
Exhaling for a count of six.
Three more cycles.
How does it feel now to extend the breath a little more?
If it feels forced or strained,
Stay exactly as you are,
Otherwise inhaling for five now and out for seven.
Three more cycles.
Now let all of the counting drop away.
See what rhythm feels good for you.
Stay with the flow of your breath,
The rise and the fall,
Just this.
Now begin to drop any effort away from the breath.
Allow yourself a few breaths here until you feel you've stopped guiding it completely.
Allow your body to simply breathe.
Easy,
Effortless breath.
Now you feel your breath is flowing effortlessly.
Take a moment to notice how you're feeling.
Everything you feel is valid.
You may be feeling many emotions but allow the strongest emotion to be present now,
The one that maybe feels a little heavier.
As you notice it,
Continue to breathe freely with the soft belly.
Does it feel like that emotion sits anywhere specific in your body?
Does it move into your jaw?
Do you feel like this emotion sits in your shoulders,
In the hollow of your throat,
In your heart?
Is it lower down?
Is it in your solar plexus or gut?
If you feel this emotion is in a particular part,
Move your awareness here and also your breath.
Try not to go into the story of why you are feeling what you are feeling.
Just sit with the emotion,
Notice it and begin to be aware of the energy inside the emotion and continue to breathe freely,
Gently into your soft belly.
Breathe into the energy of the emotion.
How is the energy feeling?
Does it have less charge?
Is it easing a little?
If it is intensifying,
As you allow it to take some space up,
As you allow yourself to acknowledge it,
Can you breathe into it without reacting to it?
It may intensify a little and then begin to dissolve.
If it feels just too overwhelming,
Know that you can just stop.
Now feel like your breath is in the whole body again.
Allow it to flow and move freely.
Start to feel the energy dissolving,
The charge.
Know that you are allowing the emotion to move through you.
You've welcomed the energy and emotion.
You've allowed it to have some space.
Start to notice how you're feeling now.
Maybe lighter,
More grounded.
Can you choose to recognize that in this moment you feel safe,
Grounded and connected?
Can you allow yourself to feel and acknowledge that you've created a space within you and you have transformed your energy?
Take your awareness back to your breath again.
Feel it moving with complete ease.
Now we're going to change the breath slightly.
We're going to take three small inhales to completely fill the lungs and then one longer exhale.
This can be through the nose or mouth,
Whichever you prefer.
If you prefer to breathe out through the mouth,
Imagine you breathing out slowly through a straw to give yourself longer and a little more control.
So it will sound like this.
Start to find your rhythm with this.
Three small inhales to fill the lungs and then one longer exhale out through your nose or mouth.
Let's begin.
Start to find your rhythm.
Try not to speed up.
Keep your belly soft.
Three more cycles and as we move into these last three,
Start to feel like you have the beginnings of a soft smile coming into the edges of the mouth into the face.
One more cycle.
Now release the breath again and allow it to flow.
Now in your mind's eye,
Begin to visualize yourself standing tall.
As you watch yourself,
You can see how relaxed,
Happy and at ease you are.
Start to really visualize yourself here.
Where are you?
Are you in your favourite place?
What is it you're doing?
Are you dancing?
Are you making something?
Are you running?
Are you walking?
Are you with anyone?
An animal?
How do you feel?
Continue to smile gently as you visualize yourself.
What are you wearing?
Visualize yourself so happy,
Relaxed and free.
Now begin to walk towards yourself and step into that happier state.
Feel yourself becoming connected to that energy.
Fully embody those joyous feelings and allow this energy to grow.
This happiness,
This love and joy,
It wants to expand within you.
Smile even more as you feel this happiness radiate out into every cell within you.
Feel like your whole body is smiling,
Glowing,
Shining from the inside out.
Whisper a few silent thank yous to your wonderful heart.
