A warm welcome to today's mindfulness meditation.
Begin by finding a comfortable place to sit down,
Either on a chair or on the floor with your legs gently crossed.
Allow your arms to rest on the legs.
Imagine there is a piece of string at the top of your head which is gently lifting you and lengthening the spine.
Allow a softness to envelop the shoulders.
And now,
Bring your focus to your breath.
Begin to notice the gentle rising and falling sensations.
If it helps,
You can place a hand on your stomach.
Just be aware of what your breath is doing without any judgement attached.
Try,
If you can,
To let go of control.
Allow your belly to be loose and free.
Allow your mind to ride the waves of your breathing.
And allow any thoughts that may come to your mind to simply pass you by.
You can acknowledge these thoughts and then let them go.
Imagine that these thoughts are shooting stars,
Here for a brief moment and then gone.
Remember that mindfulness isn't about making thoughts go away,
It's about observing them without becoming too attached and without holding on.
Through this practice,
We can develop our ability to not be weighed down by recurring thought patterns.
But for now,
If your mind seems to loop back to a particular thought,
Then know that this is completely normal,
Especially if you're new to this.
If or when this happens,
Just keep bringing that attention back to your breath or to my voice.
And now,
Just start to notice the points of contact between your body and the surface you are on.
How is your weight distributed?
Can you feel the clothes you are wearing or if there is a light breeze on your skin?
Observe this without judgment.
Gradually,
Now,
You can begin to experiment with your breath as you allow it to fill the very bottom of your belly and to expand in your chest.
Just notice the different physical sensations brought on by the breath.
Gently scan your body now and check in with each area from head to toe.
As you do this,
Simply notice how each area is feeling,
But again try not to change anything right now.
Observe and move on and try not to dwell on any of these sensations.
It's as if your awareness is a passing breeze,
Just touching different parts of your body for a brief moment before moving on to the next.
And now that you are becoming more calm and centered,
You can begin to check in with any emotions that might be arising today,
And we want to acknowledge them from an outside perspective,
But not to judge them or become too attached.
It is okay to be curious and to ask questions of ourselves so long as we do it with kindness.
You feel yourself becoming more aware of your body,
Your mind and your thoughts.
Be mindful of what you see and feel and let it be.
And now,
Give yourself permission to think whatever you want to think.
Let your mind have free reign,
But try to remember that whatever comes to the surface in these moments you can encourage yourself to observe and acknowledge in the same way that we have done earlier.
Just notice things simply as they are,
And now allow your focus to shift back to the breath.
Begin to bring yourself back into the room,
And when you're ready gently open your eyes.
Take a note of how you feel now,
And any differences that you notice from before.
By regularly observing our thoughts,
But not dwelling inside them,
We can begin to recognize those thoughts that are useful to us,
And those that are not.
It might be worth jotting a few things down as you embark on this mindfulness journey.
I hope you enjoyed today's meditation,
And I hope you have a wonderful day ahead.
Thank you,
And I'll see you next time.
