Welcome to today's mindfulness affirmations.
Finding a comfortable position in which to sit or lie down for this period.
Make any final adjustments to get yourself as comfortable as possible.
Taking the time to close down your eyes,
Soften your gaze.
And as you do this,
Take a moment to acknowledge yourself for showing up for today's practice.
From here let's start by listening to the sounds that are furthest away.
Beyond the sound of my voice,
Beyond the sound of the music,
Beyond the immediate space that you're in.
See if you can really stretch your listening.
What are the sounds that are furthest away that you can hear?
As you're stretching your listening,
What you're really stretching is your awareness.
So allowing the sounds to help you locate yourself in the present moment.
Helping you find yourself in the here and the now.
Now see if you can contract your awareness and contract your listening to the sounds of the room that you're in or the space that you're in.
Bringing into crisper focus the sounds of the music,
The sound of my voice,
Any sounds of the space that you're in.
As you focus your listening and your awareness,
See if you can focus further still and contract your awareness to listening to the sensation of breathing in the body.
See if you can bring your attention to your immediate personal space and go from listening to the sounds to listening to the sensations,
The rise and the fall of the body as it's breathing.
Breathing in and breathing out.
Breathing in and breathing out.
Breathing in and breathing out.
Observing now where the sensation of breathing presents itself strongest in your body.
Perhaps the abdomen,
Maybe the chest,
Maybe the sensations of breathing are most present on the upper lip at the nose.
Come aware of this sensation and follow your breath all the way in and all the way out.
Breathing all the way in and all the way out.
Just continue this in your own time.
Breathing in and breathing out.
Breathing in and breathing out.
You may have noticed the mind wandering.
When the mind wanders,
It really offers us a golden opportunity to cultivate mindfulness and concentration.
Each time we notice the mind wandering,
We strengthen our ability to recognize our experience with awareness.
Each time we bring the mind back to the breath,
We're further strengthening our ability to focus on an object with awareness.
This is quite the gift.
Treat this as an opportunity rather than a problem and continue to return to the breath.
Breathing in and breathing out.
Breathing in and breathing out in your own time now.
Breathing in and breathing out.
Let's begin today's practice by bringing to mind yourself as you're seated here right now.
And as you're doing this,
Imagine or connect with your own deepest intentions for happiness,
Ease,
Safety and vitality.
You really don't need to dive into the stories of what will make you happy.
But connect with that natural,
Innate desire that you have.
You can open to this intention of your own well-being by silently offering yourself some affirmations.
In your head,
Slowly offer yourself the following phrases,
Perhaps finding it easiest to repeat after me.
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May I be safe.
May I be at ease.
You can offer these phrases silently in your head,
Saying them slowly enough that you can really connect with their meaning and the intention behind them.
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May I be safe.
May I be at ease.
You can bring to mind now a good friend,
Maybe a loved one,
A friend,
A teacher,
A mentor,
Or maybe even a pet.
And imagine or connect with your natural desire to see this person happy,
Vital and at ease.
This person wants and deserves to be happy,
To feel safe and to be healthy.
So extend them the kindness and your intention by offering this person a few phrases of your affirmation.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you be at ease.
I'm repeating these silently and really connecting to the intention behind.
And really connecting to the intention and the meaning behind these phrases,
These affirmations.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you be at ease.
And now perhaps bringing to mind a neutral person.
Someone you see perhaps regularly or don't know very well.
Maybe an acquaintance,
A co-worker,
A neighbour.
Perhaps someone who works somewhere you would go a lot.
Although you don't know this person well,
You can recognise that this person wants and deserves to be happy.
Again,
You don't need to know what their happiness looks like necessarily.
But you can offer this person affirmations of loving kindness.
Connecting with the intention to care about their wellbeing.
Let's repeat.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
Once more offering these phrases silently in your head and saying them slowly enough so that you can connect to their true meaning and the intention behind them.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
And may you be at ease.
And as you return to your breath,
Breathing in and breathing out.
Breathing in and breathing out.
And bringing some movement to your wrists,
Your fingers,
Your toes.
Perhaps even inviting a light stretch to awaken your body.
Taking a moment to acknowledge yourself for showing up for today's practice.
As you open your eyes and return to the day energised and revitalised.
May you be happy.
May you be at ease.
May you be at ease.
May you be at ease.
