Hello and welcome to this meditation to center your heart and mind.
I'm Maria and I'll be your guide throughout this practice.
You've done the hardest part just by showing up.
So take a moment to give yourself some gratitude,
Maybe a little love,
For showing up to this practice.
We'll start by noticing your breath,
Going in through your nose,
Going out through your nose or mouth.
Notice if your inhale is longer than your exhale.
Notice your jaw,
The muscles of your face.
Do they feel tense or tight?
Notice your shoulders.
Notice anywhere else you might be clenching or holding.
I invite you to stretch your neck,
Relax those shoulders,
Take any other movement that your body might be needing.
This practice is about mindful awareness of how we're feeling.
Maybe we're feeling off balance or off-center and often if we feel that way there might be something in our bodies that we haven't attended to.
So just notice how you're feeling and I'll invite you to take that feeling and you can just notice it or you could use that as a tool.
So if you're feeling some sadness,
Maybe that's something you need to let go,
Feel and let go.
Put on a sad song,
Have a little cry.
If you're feeling angry,
Maybe there's a boundary that needs to be set or a hard conversation to have.
If you're feeling lonely,
Maybe that's an invitation to reach out to a friend.
Maybe you notice that you're just feeling hungry,
So you pause this meditation and go get a snack.
Again,
You don't need to do anything but just a gentle invitation to take care of yourself.
Let's take a deep breath in,
Maybe the biggest breath you've taken all day.
And as you breathe out,
Just let something go.
Let it go.
We'll do that two more times.
So breathing in through your nose,
Breathing out through your nose or mouth.
One more time if you haven't already.
Deep breath in,
Maybe this time you sigh it out.
And for the rest of this meditation,
We'll be practicing three types of breath to ground us.
So I will explain the first type,
You'll hear a bell.
And then I'll explain the second type,
You'll hear a bell,
And so on.
So for the first type of breathing,
For all three of these,
You can close your eyes or soften your gaze.
Be seated or lying down,
Whatever feels best for you.
For your body.
For the first type of breathing,
We'll breathe in and out through our nose.
We'll notice how the air feels cooler going in and warmer coming out.
Just noticing in and out through your nose.
You'll begin to let that go.
For the next breath,
We'll start to notice how when we breathe in,
Our chest can expand.
So we're practicing breathing into our heart.
Or bringing awareness to our heart.
You can place a hand on your heart if that feels good.
Notice any tension or tightness as your chest expands on the inhale and contracts on the exhale.
Feel your heart beating in your chest.
Maybe the warmth of your hand on your heart.
Go ahead and begin to let that go.
Just notice how you feel.
And for a third and final type of breathing,
We will place our hands on our belly.
Or you can place one hand on your stomach and one hand on your knee or the floor next to you.
As you breathe in,
Breathe all the way down filling up your belly with air.
Noticing how it expands and breathing out noticing how your belly contracts.
Breathing in to your belly breathing out.
And now,
Letting your hands rest gently wherever feels comfortable.
Just notice the natural ebb and flow of your breath.
Notice again your jaw your shoulders the rest of your body.
Notice how you're feeling.
Maybe you take this gentle awareness with you as you move throughout the rest of your day or your evening.
Maybe you can rest in the knowing that right now in this moment and in this moment and this one you are safe you are loved you are exactly where you need to be.
Send yourself some love again for showing up for this practice.
Thank you for meditating with me.
Until next time take such good care.
