Welcome to today's effortless meditation.
I acknowledge you for making time today to prioritize your wellbeing.
When you are ready,
Settling in and making yourself comfortable.
Seated with your back supported or lying down if you prefer.
If you are seated,
Placing your cushion in the center of your back can help keep your head upright and prevent you from falling asleep.
But if you do find yourself falling asleep during this session,
Acknowledging this is probably just what your body needs and treating yourself with compassion.
And at any time during the meditation,
Feeling free to adjust yourself to remain comfortable.
Now closing down your eyes if you haven't already and beginning by bringing awareness to your breath.
Placing your awareness on sensations associated with your breath.
Noticing where in your body you can feel it.
The air passing through your nostrils,
In your throat,
Your chest.
Maybe in the rise and fall of your shoulders or somewhere else.
Accepting your breath in this moment exactly the way it is.
Simply noticing it,
Whether it is deep or shallow,
Fast or slow,
Without feeling the need to change it in any way.
Remembering throughout this practice that the aim of effortless meditation is not to hold your awareness in one place or with a singular focus.
In effortless meditation we gently place awareness onto an anchor which at this present moment is your breath.
And at some point when you notice that your awareness has wandered away from the anchor,
Perhaps onto a thought,
An emotion,
A sound or a sensation in the body,
At that point of noticing.
Choosing whether to stay with that thought,
Emotion,
Sound or sensation.
Or if it feels right to you,
Gently and effortlessly returning your awareness to your anchor.
Now I invite you to scan down through your body,
Starting from the top of your head and moving your way down.
Noticing the sensations you become aware of as you gently rest your awareness on the different parts of your body.
Placing your awareness at the top of your head on your scalp,
Perhaps feeling all of the tiny muscles there.
Now moving your awareness to your face,
Noticing if there is any tension there.
Your forehead,
Between your eyes,
Cheeks,
Nose.
Allowing your jaw to loosen and your tongue to drop away from the roof of your mouth.
And now scanning down the back of your neck,
The front of your throat.
Observing any sensations and simply allowing them to be as they are.
Or if you choose,
Releasing any tension you're aware of.
Observing your shoulders and perhaps allowing them to drop gently away from your ears.
Moving down the length of your arms to your hands and fingers.
If you choose,
Allowing your fingers to uncurl and relax.
Now to your chest,
Noticing any sensations in your chest.
Any movement,
Any fluttering or pressure.
If you're feeling any tension there or that your breath is caught up in your chest.
Perhaps taking a deep breath in and releasing it through your mouth with a full exhale.
And then to your belly,
Any sensations there.
Maybe a feeling of fullness,
Warmth,
Tingling or maybe nothing which is perfectly fine.
Now placing your awareness into your hips and noticing if there is any sensation in the joints.
Stiffness or aching.
Down through the thighs,
Releasing any tension there.
Allowing your thighs to sink deeper into the seat or the support.
And then to the knees,
The front and the back.
The calves,
The ankles.
Finally to the feet,
Feeling all the little muscles and tendons at the top of the feet,
The bottom of the feet,
The toes.
Your feet relaxing and resting so gently on the ground.
Then taking one final sweep down through your body from your head to your toes.
Releasing any tension if that feels right to you.
I invite you now to join me on a journey.
Resting your awareness gently and effortlessly on my voice as an anchor.
And on any images,
Thoughts,
Emotions or sensations that arise.
Your awareness of my voice may be distant or vague.
You are not concentrating or intensely focusing on my voice.
Just lightly resting your awareness on it as an anchor.
And then gently bringing your awareness back whenever you happen to realize it's no longer there.
Picture yourself sitting on a sand dune.
You are surrounded by long pale strands of dune grass.
The grass is waving in the light sea breeze that is also keeping you pleasantly cool.
Your back being warmed by the gentle heat radiating from the sand behind you.
Not too hot,
Not too cool.
Looking out you see a beach stretching far,
Far away from you in either direction.
It is deserted with no one here to disturb your peace.
In front of you is the ocean,
Its waves gently breaking in the beautiful turquoise shallows.
And beyond them the deeper blue sea stretching out and merging with the sky.
At that place where it's hard to tell where the ocean ends and the sky begins.
Just a few fluffy clouds floating high overhead.
Such a timeless view.
If you wish you may run your hands through the sand.
Noticing as you do your hand breaking the warm surface.
And feeling the coolness below as your fingers dig deeper.
Lifting the sand and allowing it to trickle through your fingers forming a small pile.
Which in time will be gently erased by the sea breeze and the movement of the dunes.
Acknowledging the wonder of this landscape.
It has shifted and changed over millions of years to become exactly as you see it right now.
And it will continue to shift and change long after you have gone.
But for now as you sit here you are a part of this beautiful place.
Now returning your awareness to your breath and noticing your breath wherever it lands for you.
I invite you to rest your awareness there on your breath as your anchor for the next few minutes.
When you notice that your awareness has moved away from your breath to a thought,
A sensation,
An image or something else.
Just gently and effortlessly bringing your awareness back to your breath and resting it there.
Nod your proponent of endurance.
Your breath is simply a vehicle for turning your awareness inward.
Your awareness may wander from your breath and that is perfectly fine.
When you realize that your awareness has drifted away,
Noticing that and if you choose,
Gently and easily guiding your awareness back to your breath.
Your awareness may wander from your breath to your breath.
Your awareness may wander from your breath to your breath.
When you happen to notice that your awareness is no longer on the breath.
When you are ready,
Just gently and easily returning your awareness to your breath.
When you are ready,
Just gently and easily returning your awareness to your breath.
When you are ready,
Just gently and easily returning your awareness to your breath.
When you are ready,
Just gently and easily returning your awareness to your breath.
I invite you now to gently let go of your breath as your anchor,
Releasing any awareness of your breath and allowing yourself to rest for a few minutes and your mind to wander wherever it chooses to go.
If you like relaxing back and making yourself more comfortable,
You have nothing to do now but relax.
Now bringing your awareness back to your breath.
Deepening your breath and becoming aware of your body again.
Noticing your weight against supports.
Then keeping your eyes closed,
Introducing gentle movements to your fingers and toes.
Then extending the movement to your hands and feet,
Wrists,
Ankles,
Arms and legs.
Stretching and twisting,
Easing your body however feels best for you.
And thanking yourself for making time to introduce this meditation into your day.
And noticing how you are feeling,
Perhaps a bit calmer or something else.
And if it feels right to you,
Setting an intention to carry those feelings into the rest of your day and any interactions you may have.
In your own time,
With no rushing,
Gently opening your eyes and returning to your room.
.
