Come to a comfortable seated position.
Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth,
Allowing your breath to ground you in this practice.
Take a moment to notice how you feel.
Scan through the body from the crown of the head to the tips of the toes,
Noticing where the body feels uncomfortable,
Where there is particular tightness or tension,
Where the joints are stiff,
The muscles sore.
See if you can bring about a sense of ease and softness into the body.
Allow the body to relax into this moment.
I often like to work with an image of a smile,
To see the smile turning the corners of the eyes up,
The eyes light with the energy of a smile,
Softening the furrow lines between the brows,
Letting the eyeballs sink down towards the back of the skull,
Relaxing the muscles around the eyes,
Feeling that essence of a smile on the lip,
The corners of the mouth turning up,
Relaxing the muscles around the jaws.
Notice the effect that this smile has physically and mentally.
Let the quality of that smile spread down into the collarbones,
A broad smile across the chest,
The sense of dissolving this tension from the body with a smile,
Dissolving the tension like ice dissolves to water and water dissolves to air.
Relax the muscles of the upper arms,
The forearms,
The wrists,
Palms and fingers,
Dissolving any tension from the upper back,
The mid-back and the low back,
Releasing any gripping,
Any clenching in the stomach.
Allow the belly to be soft,
Sense the energy of the smile in the belly,
The feeling that each breath is received into a softening belly,
Sense the corner of the smile at the hip bones,
The smile across the pelvis,
And let that soft energy from the smile travel down through the thighs,
The knees,
Relaxing the tops of the knees and the back of the knees.
Relax the shins,
The calves,
Feel the smile between the ankle bones,
Relax the feet,
The toes,
The whole body embraced by this quality of a smile.
Soft,
Relaxed.
Gently begin to draw your awareness to the breath without feeling the need to force or change it in any way.
Notice your natural rhythm and tempo,
The air flowing in and out.
Let your senses awaken to the many sensations of the breath,
Like the cool air flowing in and the warmer air rushing out.
You'll notice how the air flows through one nostril more than the other perhaps,
Or sensing the nostrils flare and contract,
The shoulders rise and fold,
The belly expand and deflate.
It's only natural that from time to time our minds will wander,
Our minds will be distracted by many things like sounds around,
Or physical sensations in the body,
Thoughts of the past,
Or worries about the future.
Just know this is normal,
This is part of the process of meditation.
So when you notice that the mind has wandered or been distracted,
Simply acknowledge that,
And then gently guide your awareness back to the breath,
Letting this breath be like an anchor or a home base,
A point in which you can continuously come back to again and again.
Now call to mind an intention you would like to work with in this practice,
And then repeat this intention like a mantra,
Slowly,
Steadily,
Consciously,
With all of your focus,
Presence,
And attention.
And in addition to thinking the thought,
To thinking about your intention,
It's important that you feel the emotion of it.
So allow the emotion of your intention to be felt and experienced in this very moment.
Use all of your senses to draw the feelings,
The emotion of your intention to life.
Allow every cell of the body to feel the power of this intention.
Allow the emotion to flood through every particle of your body.
And each time you repeat your intention,
It grows stronger,
More powerful.
And if the mind wanders as it naturally will from time to time,
It's okay.
Just notice that the mind has been distracted and gently draw your awareness back to the breath,
Back to your intention,
Softly repeating it over and over again like a mantra.
Each time you repeat your intention,
You strengthen the neural pathway connections in the brain,
So that over time,
This becomes your habitual way of thinking.
And the more you repeat this positive intention,
The more you weaken old thought patterns that limit you,
That hold you back.
So continue to repeat this slowly,
Steadily,
With focus and presence,
Feeling every word you say,
Feeling the power behind your intention.
Every cell,
Every atom,
Every fiber of your being alive with the energy of this intention.
And then gradually allow the repetition of your intention to fade,
Drawing your awareness back to the tip of the nose and the breath flowing in and out,
Allowing a few moments for this intention to take permanent root in the very core of your being.
And without judging,
Without analyzing,
Take a moment to notice how you feel,
Notice the effects of this practice on your mind,
Your body,
And soul.
And as you begin to transition into the rest of the day,
Any time you find a negative thought or belief arise,
Simply state your intention powerfully.
Let it be your guide.
And don't just think it,
But feel it also.
Feel the emotion behind the intention and feel it grow stronger day by day,
Moment by moment.
Feel free to stay here as long as you need.
Otherwise,
Begin to think about bringing a little bit of movement into the body,
Wiggling the toes,
The fingers,
Rolling the head from side to side.
If it feels nice reaching the arms overhead,
Take a full body stretch.
Take a deep inhale,
Open the mouth and sigh it out.
Bring your hands together at heart center,
Bow your head in gratitude of this practice.
Whenever you're ready,
You can gently begin to blink open your eyes and come back to this wonderful day ahead.
Namaste.
