Start by taking some nice long deep breaths in and out of your nose.
Allowing these to be cleansing,
Nourishing breaths.
Signaling to your body,
Your mind,
And your spirit.
That this is the perfect time to let go of anything no longer serving you.
Any stress,
Any worry,
Anything that happened in your day before this meditation began,
Or anything coming later.
Allowing yourself to be centered in this present moment.
Connecting to your body and your breath.
Knowing that you're in the right place at the right time.
Doing just what you need to do for yourself.
And you can let your breath return to its natural rhythm.
Just moving in and out all on its own.
Not really having to think about it much at all.
And we'll take a moment now to relax your body from head to toe.
Because when your body is nice and relaxed,
It feels easier for your mind to follow.
As I mentioned a part of your body,
You can rest your attention there and focus on relaxing that part of you.
Starting with your scalp.
Feeling it let go and relaxed.
Inviting your forehead to let go.
Feeling the muscles around and behind your eyes relax.
Feeling your cheeks let go.
Feeling how your mouth softens and relaxes.
And then your jaw.
Even your tongue.
On your next exhale,
Feel your shoulders fall away from your ears.
Feel them drop and let go.
Feel your arms feel heavy.
And your fingertips rest in your lap or on your knees.
Your chest is filled with a sense of calm.
Your belly is filled with a sense of peace,
Relaxation.
Your hips sink into the chair,
The cushion supporting you.
And your right leg relaxes from hip to toe.
And then your left.
And we're now going to go into an even deeper state of relaxation.
So even though our body is nice and relaxed,
We can find even more relaxation.
And we'll create a pattern for ourselves in our mind.
You'll take an inhale in and on the exhale you'll let everything go just a bit more.
And silently repeat to yourself,
Feel,
Rest.
On each exhale,
You'll let your body go a little more and silently repeat,
Feel,
Rest.
So the pattern will sound like this.
Inhale,
Feel,
Rest.
Feel,
Rest.
Continue on your own,
Inhaling and on the exhale feeling your body relax even deeper and silently repeating,
Feel,
Rest.
Inhale,
Feel,
Rest.
Inhale,
Feel,
Rest.
Inhale,
Feel,
Rest.
If you notice your mind wandering,
Simply come back to feel,
Rest.
Inhale,
Feel,
Rest.
Inhale,
Feel,
Rest.
And you can let that go.
And we'll transition to the focus of having a longer exhale.
So I invite you to breathe in and silently count to three in your head and breathe out and silently count to four as you exhale.
So three,
Silently in your head,
You're going to count to three as you inhale and you're going to count to four silently as you exhale.
In for three and out for four.
Inhale,
Feel,
Rest.
If you notice you're distracted,
Simply come back to that longer exhale,
Counting to three as you breathe in and four as you breathe out.
Inhale,
Feel,
Rest.
Inhale,
Feel,
Rest.
And we're going to stay here for a moment longer.
And you can let that go.
And I'm going to ring the bell to close the meditation,
But I invite you to sit for another minute with your eyes closed,
Enjoying the stillness and the peace,
Letting yourself relax a moment longer.
This is a wonderful time to set an intention for the rest of your day.
Practice a moment of gratitude or say your own quiet prayer,
Whatever feels good to you.
Thank you.
You can begin to wiggle your fingers and your toes,
Stretch a bit,
Move in any way that feels good to you.
And whenever you feel ready,
You can slowly open your eyes.
