If you are new to meditation,
No worries.
This practice is exactly that,
A practice.
It is entirely normal to feel anxious before starting a meditation.
It is entirely normal to feel anxious even during a meditation if you are a beginner.
Meditation,
Because it is a practice,
Means it will take time.
Practice will never make perfection.
But with practice,
You will acquire body knowledge.
What's interesting about body knowledge,
Especially when it comes to meditation,
Is every body has a unique body knowledge.
Not every body will have the same knowledge as another.
Your body knowledge will be different from someone else's.
How your body relaxes,
How you speak to your body,
Will be different than someone else's.
The importance is finding your unique soul.
The importance is connecting that version of you inside the body that no one else can connect with.
The one that holds all the truths to your body,
Your soul,
And your mind.
You are the only one who can hear these thoughts.
You are the only one that can feel what your body feels.
So meditation is a unique time spent for your individual self-care,
For the mind,
Your body,
And your spirit.
So to start,
The very first thing is to respond to the sounds of the breath that your body makes.
You don't have to do anything special.
You're just going to sit with the body and simply breathe.
Allowing your body to breathe in for as long or as little as it wants to breathe in.
This is what we will call the inhale.
And then to breathe out for as long or as little as the body wants to.
This is what we will call the exhale.
When you inhale,
Paying special attention to the body,
Some things you may notice.
Do your shoulders rise?
Does your chest or belly?
Is it hard or easy to do?
And just accepting that that is your body on the inhale.
Now taking a moment and noticing the body as it exhales.
Letting that air out.
Do your shoulders lower?
Does your chest lower?
Does your belly expand or contract?
Is it hard or is it easy?
Your body feels love with this time and attention.
Your body is unique.
Unique to you alone.
Taking time to notice your body.
To notice even the way that it breathes is important and a good work.
And now doing a gentle exercise.
Find a nice seated position.
Sitting in a chair,
Almost at the edge or the edge of a bed.
Put your feet flat on the floor.
The shoulders roll them back.
Raise your head nice and tall.
Your chin slightly elevated.
Your neck elongated,
Meaning nice and long.
Stretch that neck out.
Confidence posture.
I want you to notice how straight the spine is,
From the back of the head all the way down to the tailbone.
I want you to feel those feet on the floor.
They are flat,
Fully connected to the floor,
Even with shoes on or off.
I want you to put your hands where they are comfortable.
Do they want to rest to the side,
Open,
Palms up?
Do they want to be in the center of the body,
Clasped together?
Do they want to rest on the top of the thighs,
Palms face down or up?
Finding exactly what is comfortable,
Specifically and uniquely for you.
Now take a nice deep breath in with this posture.
You're breathing in from the toes all the way up to the top of the head.
Now exhaling fully,
Feeling the base of that spine at the tailbone,
Right where you're sitting.
Feeling how you're being effortlessly held up right now.
Taking another deep breath in,
And fully releasing.
And your last breath in,
Your head high,
And exhale,
Feeling the feet on the floor.
This right here was a successful meditation for you.
And you can repeat that exercise,
Sitting in that chair and taking nice full three-cycled breaths.
Full cycle is one inhale and one exhale.
This meditation meant for those of you beginning with meditations,
Finding a way to take these nice three simple breaths three times a day to get you started and more mindful,
More restful,
And uniquely discovering your mind,
Body,
And soul.
I like to always finish this with a thought of gratitude.
Something in this moment that I'm truly grateful for.
Something that pierces my soul.
Whether it's my sight,
My hearing,
The availability of water or food,
A clean shower.
Something that I am grateful for within this day,
This week,
This month,
Or even this year.
And bringing that simple thought to my mind,
Breathing it in,
And exhaling it out.
And when you are ready to begin about your day.
