Just For You - 15 Mins

This is the 1st of 8 sessions where we gently explore and start to enjoy creating a powerful healing meditation ritual. The theme is "Finding Mindfulness Through Change". No meditation experience needed.

Transcript

Hello there and welcome to our first episode of our meditation series.

So we are going to go through an eight-week program,

Eight weeks of relaxation,

Eight weeks of rejuvenation,

Eight weeks of you coming back to you.

My name is Josephine and Josie and it's an honor to be here with you today and I want to really thank you so much for taking this time out to unplug and rewind.

Now over the next eight weeks our sessions are called 15 at Friday,

Friday 15 we're going to take 15 minutes out just to let go of the day,

Cleanse the mind and come back into a breath,

Back into our body.

If you have meditated before,

This course is for you.

If you have never meditated before,

This course is for you.

If you love meditating,

Guess what,

It's for you.

If you are unsure about meditation,

How it really works,

If it's for you,

If you're finding it really hard,

Put an arm in the sky,

This course is also for you.

And so what I'm going to do over this eight-week journey is I'm going to introduce you to eight different meditation styles and I'm doing this so that hopefully by the end of it you would have experienced so many different styles,

So many different mythologies that you'll feel at least one of them feels quite comfortable with you and it will feel a little bit more like home,

Something you really look forward to doing if you're not there already.

Today we are going to do a mindfulness meditation and just a heads up,

Meditation is not about not having any thoughts.

That is the greatest myth and it's what stops most people from not even attempting to take the time out to try out meditation.

It was what happened in my own life,

It took me 10 years,

Honestly a very long time,

10 years to finally,

Finally I attracted a teacher that was like Josie,

It is not about not having any thoughts.

Because I felt like I was always failing at meditation,

Being a perfectionist I was like,

Oh this thing is difficult.

So anyway,

We're gonna have eight different themes and you are fully allowed to have as many thoughts as you like.

You are completely perfect and allowed to be here and invited to the meditation club.

If you're feeling amazing,

If you're feeling upset with life,

If you're feeling heartbroken,

If you're feeling on top of the world,

However you're feeling,

Meditation is for you,

It is your time for you.

So without further ado,

Let's get started my loves.

So first things first,

Make sure you're comfortable.

You can do this lying down or you could come into a seat but make sure wherever you are,

You are really comfortable and you are undisturbed.

So put your phone on silent or close the door,

Put an extra jumper on,

Get a pillow,

Whatever you need to do to feel more at ease.

And our meditation today,

As I mentioned,

Is about mindfulness and we're gonna do a journey through the senses and also we have an underlying theme which is change,

Embracing change.

So I know you guys like plants and flowers,

So do I.

The thing about nature is that it is,

The essence of nature is change and it's the same for us as a human being.

So we would not expect a rose to look fresh and blooming and sprouting at all times,

Right?

We expect that at some point the rose is gonna start to shed its leaves and the leaves are gonna start turning a different color as this one is doing right now.

And one day we'll wake up and the rose,

The leaves have completely been shattered and the rose is just a teeny tiny little bud of seeds,

Right?

And we accept that and we embrace that.

And then when it comes to our own life,

Quite often we have this idea that we should feel on top of the world at all times.

Or that if we're going for a big change that perhaps we didn't wish but it is happening,

Whether it's a change in physique,

A change in your environment,

A change in your relationships,

A change with your work,

Whatever it is,

Whatever change you're currently going through,

I think we can be really hard on ourselves.

So just a little reminder that change is the only constant,

The only constant we actually have in this lifetime on this planet is change.

Everything changes,

Just like the flowers and the plants and everything else in nature,

So do we.

So with that in mind,

I welcome you making yourself comfortable now in the ways that you know best and go ahead and close your eyes.

And as you close your eyes down,

I invite you to give yourself permission to put everything on hold for a moment,

Just imagine as you're dropping your eyelids down and on your next exhale,

Can we relax the shoulders,

Relax the belly.

And as you exhale next time,

Just imagine you are pressing pause on all of your to-do list,

Anything to do with work,

Pause it,

You can see yourself clicking a button.

Everything to do with personal relationship,

Put it on pause,

Press that button.

And then anything to do with home life or finances or dreams,

Passions,

Anything,

Any narrative that your mind is busy with right now,

See if you can just visualize yourself pushing that little button and just pushing pause.

And then once that is said and done,

Bring all of your awareness into the abdomen and just take a few moments to land here in the belly.

Deep breath into the belly,

Noticing how the belly feels.

And as you exhale,

Let it go.

And again,

Deep breath into belly,

Noticing how the stomach feels.

Maybe there's some tension,

Maybe you feel super relaxed,

Doesn't matter,

It's all good.

And as you exhale,

Just see if we can soften a little bit more.

And then go ahead and wriggle your toes and see if you can really ground down through the little toe,

Second toe,

Third toe,

Fourth toe and the big toe.

And just feel noticing how the earth is holding you right now.

And so now you are a little bit more connected to the body.

And then I invite you to just start to pay attention to what you can see.

What are you seeing?

I know your eyes are closed,

But just notice maybe you're seeing some colors,

Maybe there's some shapes,

Maybe there's just a sense of lightness or darkness,

Brightness or shadow.

Just ask yourself,

What am I seeing right now?

Maybe you're having an inner vision,

Maybe you're just sort of visualizing something,

Maybe you're daydreaming about something.

What images are in your mind right now?

And we don't have to judge them.

And we don't have to fix them.

But just see what you see.

What are your physical eyes seeing behind those closed eyelids?

Get excited,

Just notice.

Maybe you're seeing structures and patterns,

Colors,

Maybe nothing.

And either is completely okay.

And then noticing what your mind is seeing,

Your mind's eye.

What is the story right now?

What are you seeing?

What images are coming to you?

No need to analyze,

Criticize or fix,

But just notice it.

Just let it be,

Let it be what it is.

And then take a breath in and let that go.

And then go ahead and just start to notice the taste in your mouth.

Maybe it's yours,

Maybe it tastes really good,

Just noticing.

How does it feel to be you right now in your mouth?

What is the taste?

You can also open your mouth,

Stick your tongue out a few times,

Just noticing,

Just tasting,

Tasting your inner landscape.

And if your mouth is open,

Then tasting your outer landscape,

Just noticing what are the tastes here?

Maybe run your tongue on the inner edges of your teeth,

The front of the teeth,

Back of teeth,

Just noticing.

And then let that go,

Taking a breath in.

And as you exhale,

Let go of all the taste,

Inner taste,

Outer taste.

And then just start to notice the sounds.

What sounds can you hear?

Maybe some sounds that are really far away,

Outside of your house or the office.

What's the furthest away sound you can hear?

The furthest away sound,

Just noticing.

And then go a little bit closer.

What sounds can you hear within your,

The room you're in right now,

The building you're in?

What sounds can you hear really close by?

And then finally,

The sound of my voice.

And then can you pay attention only to the sound of your own breath?

Just noticing,

Breathing in through the nose,

Out through the nose,

Just noticing,

Allowing,

Allowing life to breathe life into you.

No needing to change it,

Nothing to analyze,

Criticize or fix.

But just notice it.

Listen to your own sound.

Just for a moment,

I will be quiet.

And without changing anything about your breath,

Just really listen to it,

Really listen to it.

Inhale and exhale.

Just pay close attention to the sound of your own breath.

What does your breath sound like?

Just noticing.

And then bring your full awareness into your heart.

And see if you can hear your heart.

I know that sounds weird,

But just try it out.

See if you can hear your own heartbeat.

And if that feels very weird,

Place your hands onto your ears and then close up your ears.

And then listen to your own heartbeat.

Try and you can see if you can do it without changing,

Analyzing,

Criticizing or needing to fix anything.

But just for a few more moments,

Let this be the most exciting experience of your life.

Just listen to the sound of your own heartbeat.

And then let that go.

Take a deep breath in.

And as you exhale,

Feel your shoulders dropping away from your ears.

Relax your belly.

Just take a moment.

Just notice how you feel now.

Again,

You don't have to analyze it or change it.

But just take a moment to just feel it.

How does it feel to be in your body right now?

Just noticing.

With each exhale,

Can you feel your head drop into the heart a little bit more?

Let's do that again.

Take a deep breath into your mind.

Whatever is going on in your mind,

Drop out of the head,

Drop into the heart.

And then take a deep breath into your heart.

Whatever your heart is feeling.

As you exhale,

Drop from your heart through your belly and into the earth.

Let go.

And finally,

Whatever you're feeling in the body,

Take another deep breath into the body.

And as you exhale,

Release all stress and tension from the body out through soles of feet into earth.

Let go.

Empty,

Empty,

Empty,

Empty,

Empty.

And then just notice the sweetness of the breath that follows.

Take a moment with your eyes closed.

Relax the jaw.

Allow for the lips to gently slide apart.

Allow for the tongue to surrender into the lower part of the mouth.

Just for a moment,

Let life breathe life into you.

Just recognize that in this moment,

Right here,

Right now,

With me and you,

Everything is okay.

Take a moment to recognize that in this moment,

Life is choosing to keep you alive.

Even if you tried to hold your breath and not take another breath,

Life wouldn't let you.

That is how much life believes in you.

Regardless of religion,

Regardless of belief systems,

On an evolutionary scale,

Life believes in you so much that even if you yourself decided to try to not take another breath,

Life would get in the way.

That is how much life believes in you.

Believe in yourself.

I believe in you.

Let those words land.

Let life breathe life into you.

See if you can mentally step out of the way a little bit and just come into a state of noticing the sweetness,

The beauty of the fact that life is choosing to breathe life into you.

And I know it sounds so simple.

And yet,

Without that breath,

We cannot survive.

We don't live to see another moment,

Let alone another day.

So let's take a moment.

Let's place one hand to the heart,

One hand to the belly.

Relax the shoulders,

Relax the belly.

Take a super deep breath in.

Exhale,

Sigh something out.

And again,

Another deep,

Deep,

Deep,

Deep,

Deep breath in.

Breathing in love,

Possibility,

Creativity.

New moment,

New opportunity.

Exhaling out any residue of stress.

And then just a normal breath in and a normal breath out.

Sensing your body in space.

On your next exhale,

Really allow yourself to drop into the embrace of your environment.

So on your next exhale,

Feel your body have weight.

Drop your weight into whatever furniture is holding you right now.

Whether that's the earth,

The floor,

A bed,

Chair,

Whatever it is.

Drop a little deeper.

Sing a little deeper.

And then roll your shoulders back a few times and let's open the heart so that we meet the world heart first.

Not head first,

But heart first.

Bring your hands to your heart.

Take a deep breath in with me.

And as we exhale,

Let's bow down.

And we share a really beautiful Friday afternoon and evening.

May you know you are loved.

And may you always know that life believes in you.

Life loves you.

Life supports you.

And as long as life continues to breathe life into you,

It means life has a reason and a purpose with you.

Believe in that purpose.

Believe in you.

I believe in you.

You can blink your eyes open slowly.

You're back in the body.

It was an honour to meet you here today and I cannot wait to be back with you next Friday.

Till we meet again.

Be well.

Thank you so much everyone.

See you next week.