Hello and good evening everyone.
I am at Noosa Lebongan in Bali and it's a beautiful,
Beautiful island.
We have just arrived this afternoon and thank you so much for being here for this really gentle mindfulness practice.
It's the afternoon here,
So getting towards sunset.
It's a beautiful time of the day and I hope you had an amazing day too.
So we'll move through a mindful flow today which will include a beautiful movement to calm the body and mind and just relax us into the moment.
Then we move into some breath work practice and finally our mindfulness meditation.
So I invite you to make yourself comfortable.
If you can,
Maybe sit on a towel or cushion,
Something to elevate your hips.
But you can just sit on a mat if that feels comfortable for you and just allow yourself to arrive into this very moment,
Settling the body and mind.
Let's start with some gentle movements.
So moving our head to one side,
Looking over our shoulders,
But just as far as it's comfortable and then looking the other way and taking in your surroundings,
Especially if you are outside.
And just take your surroundings in,
Maybe noticing anything you haven't seen before.
Maybe not labelling or judging,
Just using our sense of vision.
And maybe just one more to each side.
We'll bring the head back to centre and we'll continue with some shoulder rolls.
Look towards the back,
Lift the shoulders up to the ears,
Really feel the shoulder blades moving along.
Now towards the front and let's stretch the arms out,
Clasping the hands together,
Palms facing outwards and breathe in,
Arm goes up.
You can take this as slow or fast as you wish.
The slower you go,
The more mindful and balanced you will feel,
More balanced,
Calm.
And one more.
Now let's raise the arms up beside ourselves,
All the way up to the sky,
Palms to touch.
And exhale,
Arms floating down all the way to the ground.
And again,
Breathe in and out,
Arms floating down.
Let's do a couple in your own time.
Maybe just one more.
Then one hand goes down to the ground beside you and move into a gentle side stretch.
Again,
You can move this side stretch with your arms if that feels comfortable.
Maybe a bit of cactusing the arms and come back to centre and to the other side.
And whatever feels good for your body today.
So maybe you can even do some arm circles and maybe one side feels different to the other.
Depends on what you need,
What your body needs.
And come back to centre.
Maybe let's just do one more side stretch to each side.
Come back to centre,
Palms to touch.
Breathe in and out.
Bring the palms to the heart centre really slowly.
And pause at the heart centre.
And maybe feeling some appreciation and gratitude for this moment,
This present moment together.
And gently release the hands to the knees.
The eyes may remain closed or just soften the gaze if that feels comfortable.
We will move into our breath work practice.
Then extended exhale.
So we will breathe in for four and exhale for six.
So let's take just a normal breath in and out.
You now breathe in,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Exhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
Inhale,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Exhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
And just do a couple of rounds in your own time with your own counting.
And you can really slow this down if you wish.
So inhale for four and exhale for six.
And you might even feel that the body and mind feels more relaxed,
Calm and at ease.
Now you may release this breath work practice and we gently move into our mindfulness flow.
You may keep the eyes closed.
And to begin with,
Notice any sounds around you.
Could be sounds nearby or really far.
And just notice them without judging.
Just let them be just as they are.
Now gently bring the awareness to the breath.
Noticing the natural rhythm of your breathing.
There's nothing to change or control.
Just simply observe.
Perhaps you notice where you feel the breath the most.
Could be as the air enters the nostrils.
The rise and fall of the chest.
Or the expansion of the belly.
And again just observe.
And any time you get distracted,
The mind wanders to thoughts.
Just imagine the thoughts as clouds in the sky and just observe them as they drift by.
And you can always bring yourself back to the present moment by coming back to the breath.
Now we'll stay quiet for a couple of minutes.
So we can practice training the mind to be in the present moment.
And any time we get distracted,
Just bring ourselves back to the breath,
To the present moment.
We stay curious and non-judgmental.
Now gently bringing the awareness back to the body.
Just noticing those physical contact points between the body and the surface beneath you.
Noticing any sounds around you.
Now let's take one more deep breath in together.
And a slow exhale out.
When you are ready,
You may gently open the eyes.
And welcome yourself back to the here and now.
Thank you everyone so much for joining.
I wish you a beautiful rest of your day.
And I hope you join me again soon for another mindful session.
Bye for now.
