Welcome to this OM mantra meditation.
Please make your way into a comfortable seated position.
Whether this is sitting cross-legged on the floor with a cushion under your hips or even on a chair,
You can sit forward in the chair a little bit making sure your spine is free and your back is straight and centered.
Whichever position you choose please ensure that your back is as straight as it possibly can be.
If you need to take some support then please do so but if you can manage without support then that is fantastic.
Very gently begin to come into your body.
Begin to notice your hip bones and the weight of your hip bones sinking into the ground or the chair.
Really allow them to be heavy.
And imagine a beautiful thread or cord reaching out of the crown of your head.
Someone is gently,
Gently pulling on that thread.
And notice how as that elongates the spine your chin will tuck ever so slightly to allow the back of the neck to be long.
Your chest will be slightly forward.
The mid-back will be straight and strong.
Relax your shoulders.
Relax your jaw and relax your forehead.
Allow yourself some time to become calm and steady.
Your seat should be steady,
Comfortable and balanced.
And as you become steady,
Comfortable and balanced begin to let go of all the plans that you have for today.
All of the things that you've done to get here,
They don't matter now.
This is time for you to let go.
We can deal with everything else later.
Now is the time to be present.
Present moment awareness is really the gift that meditation teaches us.
Bring a gentle imperceptible smile to your mouth.
And notice how as you do this all the muscles around the face and the jaw relax.
And as you deepen into that relaxation,
Give yourself a resolve.
I will be here.
I will be present for the rest of this meditation.
Now beginning with your awareness at the top of your head,
Try to relax all of the little muscles around the skull,
Around the forehead,
Around the ears,
The jaw.
Bring your awareness to this area of the head and allow it to relax.
Softly make your way downward towards your neck.
Relaxing your neck,
Allowing it to be straight against gravity with relaxation in this area.
And then moving a little further down to the shoulders,
The tops of the shoulders and the tops of the arms,
Allow them to be heavy.
Bring relaxation into this area.
Working your way down the arms to the elbows,
The lower arms,
The wrists,
Sends some relaxation to these areas.
And then finally to your hands,
To your fingers,
To your palms.
And in doing so,
You can feel free to also take any mudra that you wish,
Any hand position you wish.
Allow the fingers and the palms to relax completely.
And then rotating your awareness to your back,
Your back,
Which will be working a little bit,
But allow it to find ease in its strength as you make your way from the upper back to the mid back and all the way down.
All the way down to the lower back,
Allowing any unnecessary tension to evaporate.
And then slowly bringing your awareness up a little again to the front side of the body,
To the chest,
To the abdomen.
Allow these two areas to relax.
And notice how by rotating your consciousness to these areas of the body,
Just your awareness will enable the relaxation to happen.
And then moving once more to the hips,
Notice if any tension has developed here and try to let it go.
And then moving once more to the hips,
Moving gently to the thighs and the knees.
Relax your thighs,
Relax your knees.
Releasing.
And then moving downward to your calf muscles and shin bones and your ankles.
Relax them completely.
And then finally coming out,
Bringing your awareness to your feet.
Allow them to rest here.
Allow them to relax their feet.
Relax entirely.
The very act of watching the body relaxes the body.
And now that your body is grounded and light,
We can bring our awareness to our breath.
And notice how by making space in the body,
We also make space for our breath.
I'll invite you to begin to observe the natural breath.
Try not to regulate the breath.
Just watching and witnessing the natural flow of the breath in and out through the nostrils.
This is known in Sanskrit as pranavikshanam.
Watching the breath on its natural path.
Not regulating,
Not changing,
Just witnessing and observing.
Try to stay with the breath.
And if your mind moves away,
Bring it back gently with a smile,
With kindness.
To the watching and witnessing of the breath.
Stay with the breath.
Stay with the natural witnessing of the breath.
And if you notice your mind has moved away,
Guide it back very gently with a smile on your face.
Gently,
Subtly stretch your back.
Become aware of the temperature of the breath.
Notice the coolness of the inhalation and the soft warmth of the exhalation.
Notice the difference,
The coolness.
And the warmth.
Begin to observe the brief gaps between the breaths.
The very brief gaps at the end of the exhalation before the inhalation.
And the same at the top of the breath.
Now that the breath is very subtle,
Very smooth and even,
We will introduce a mantra,
The sacred mantra of OM.
And silently,
As you exhale,
I'll invite you to chant the mantra,
OM.
Silently,
With your exhalation,
You will chant OM.
And become aware even deeper of the silence at the end of the exhalation.
The silence of the inhalation.
And you'll notice how over time,
The mantra and the mind will merge with the silence.
As we mentally chant the sacred mantra of OM.
Stay with the mantra of OM.
And if you notice your mind is moving away,
Guide it back very softly with a smile on your face.
To the breath and the mantra.
Very gently stretch your back once more.
Become very aware of the brief gaps of silence at the end of the exhalation and the end of the inhalation.
And notice how this silence merges with the silence of the inhalation.
The only sound,
The only vibration and resonance being the mental chanting of the mantra,
OM.
Allow your mind to be completely entwined with the mantra.
Bring this subtle and gentle smile back to your mouth.
And now we can begin to let go of the mantra.
Let go of the observance of the breath.
And drop the entire content of the mind as you slowly glide into your inner silence.
Into the deep peace within.
Notice how as you watch the silence,
You are the silence.
Very gently rotate your awareness to the breath in your nostrils once more.
Bring your consciousness to the breath in your nostrils.
And observe and witness the breath,
Incoming and outgoing breath here.
Slowly begin to deepen your breath into the abdomen.
Begin to take some deep,
Breathy breaths.
Actively moving the abdomen outward with your inhalation.
And then allowing it to contract as you exhale.
And with every exhalation,
Begin to become aware of your surroundings.
Come back into your body.
Begin to feel where your body is touching the floor or the chair.
And keeping your eyes closed,
Visualize yourself sitting in the room.
Become aware of the outside sounds.
Slowly,
Slowly coming out of the meditation.
And if you wish,
I'll invite you to end this meditation by chanting OM one time and three shanties at the same time.
If you'd like to join me,
Then please inhale now for OM.
And keeping your eyes closed,
Please begin to subtly,
Mindfully,
Slowly move your body.
Very gently bringing some micro movements back.
And then whenever you feel ready and you feel completely back in your body,
You can begin to blink your eyes open.
Thank you so much for practicing with me.
Enjoy the rest of your day.
Namaste.
