Wherever you are whatever you are doing for this meditation I invite you to sit or lie down.
You get to close your eyes or find a soft steady gaze.
Your mind has been working so hard all day to get through all the things you've had to do.
Sometimes it can feel as though the mind is working against us.
But really,
It's doing what minds do,
Trying to make sense of the world around you,
Trying to keep you safe.
So it's not surprising that it won't stop.
Let's explore settling the mind together.
Noticing how you're feeling in this moment.
If you've chosen this practice,
Perhaps your body is feeling tired.
Maybe even exhausted.
Shattered.
The body may be telling you it needs to rest.
You would like a moment to stop but The mind is racing.
There's always so much to do.
The mental load making it hard to switch off.
Perhaps even meditating feels like another thing.
On your to-do list,
Something you have to find time for.
What if you saw the next few moments simply as your time to rest?
No matter what your thoughts are telling you right now,
There is nothing else you need to do.
You don't need to try to meditate.
You don't need to stop your thoughts if your mind feels busy or restless or like it just won't switch off.
For now Let it be.
Letting your mind wander.
Letting your thoughts be free.
Without looking at a screen or scrolling or having anything to do.
Just be.
How does it feel to let the thoughts be?
No need to push them away,
Distract or resist them.
Now let's give the mind something to follow.
Becoming aware of the support beneath you,
The invitation is to settle another 1% into that support.
To let go just a little more.
And then ever so gently bringing awareness to the eyes noticing any tightness or tension and inquiring into the possibility of softening around the eyes.
Bringing awareness to the jaw,
Noticing any tension or tightness around the jaw and inquiring into the possibility of softening around the jaw.
You might let the lower teeth come away a little more from the upper teeth.
Allowing the shoulders to release down away from the ears You are safe here to soften.
And you have time.
Now allowing your awareness to go from the thinking mind.
All the way down the body.
To your feet.
Feeling the connection of the feet to whatever they are touching.
Aware of the breath here the invitation is to imagine the breath flowing all the way down to your feet.
And from your feet back up to the crown of your head.
Exhaling all the way down to your feet Inhaling all the way back up to the crown of your head.
The breath sweeping through the body in a soothing wave-like motion.
There's no way of doing this wrong.
And you don't need to do it perfectly.
Aware of the body breathing each inhale each exhale.
Inhaling… Exhaling.
.
.
You are meditating.
Each in-head arriving.
Each exhale softening and perhaps the next few breaths unfolding by themselves.
And if your awareness wanders to your thoughts,
To your to-do list,
To a future conversation allow it all to be.
Each time you notice,
You can gently return to the breath.
Not because you're doing it wrong,
Simply because you've noticed.
And noticing is the practice.
Noticing is enough.
Resting here for a few more moments.
Nothing to achieve or work out.
Just this breath.
In this moment.
And when it feels right allowing yourself to take the biggest inhale you've taken so far today and the longest slowest exhale perhaps sigh it all out Letting the days soften Letting it all be and then bringing some gentle movement to the fingers and toes being intentionally slow.
How slowly can you move?
You can achieve the same result in the same amount of time,
Just moving a little slower.
Here the invitation is to move a little slower into the rest of your day.
If you can,
I know it's not easy.
Thank you for sharing your practice with me.
Together we can gently retrain our habitual patterns of thinking.
So remember you can come back to this practice whenever it feels helpful.
