Taking some time now to make yourself comfortable,
Sitting or lying down.
I'll describe this meditation as if you're seated,
But feel free to lie down if you wish.
Comfort is very important.
So taking a moment or two to get comfortable,
Feet on the floor,
Hands on your lap,
Taking a gentle deep breath and closing your eyes.
Allowing the eyes to rest and relax.
Perhaps sending a little gratitude to your eyes.
They work so hard for us,
Especially in these days of excessive screen usage.
Really appreciating the relaxation that you're bringing into the eyes now.
We're going to start with a little body scan.
Moving upwards from the toes right up to the top of the head.
Slowly and gently moving through the muscle groups.
No need to change anything,
Just noticing what you notice as you place your awareness in your feet.
What do you notice when you rest your awareness there in your feet?
Remember that this is not about changing anything.
It's just noticing.
Move through the ankles into the calves.
Bringing your awareness into the calves and the shins.
Through the knees and into the thighs.
Into the hips now.
Noticing how you're connected to the chair.
Perhaps noticing the weight of your body in the chair.
Moving up into the lower back.
Up the spine and spreading your awareness into the larger muscles of the upper back.
Moving down and round into the stomach and into the chest.
And here we pause for a moment.
Bringing your awareness,
Perhaps for the first time today,
Into the breath.
The one thing that we all have in common is the breath.
No need to change anything in this moment,
Just noticing the flow.
Noticing how the in-breath and the out-breath changes the position of your stomach or your chest.
Perhaps even both.
Moving up into the shoulders.
Noticing how your shoulders feel.
And moving your awareness down through the arms.
Noticing what you notice.
Through the elbows.
Down through the wrists.
Down into the hands,
Fingers and thumbs.
How do your hands and fingers and thumbs feel as you rest your awareness there?
Moving on again into the neck.
Into the jaw and the mouth and the tongue.
Into the cheeks.
Into the nose where we pause once again to continue awareness of the breath.
If you breathe in and out through your nose,
Becoming aware now,
Perhaps,
Of the difference in temperature between the in-breath and the out-breath.
For many people,
There's a freshness of the in-breath,
A coolness.
And by contrast,
A certain warmth of the out-breath.
Moving into the temples and into the eyes.
Noticing if your eyes have relaxed a little more.
Into the forehead and into the scalp.
So from the top of your head,
Down to the fingertips.
Down to the connection that your feet have with the floor.
Noticing what you notice.
Noticing the sense perceptions that take you deeper within.
Perhaps,
Heaviness.
Heaviness slowly starting to appear,
Meaning the body starting to switch off.
Perhaps,
There's a stillness.
Perhaps,
Along with the sound of my voice,
There are other sounds that you can hear.
And just noticing what you notice.
And allowing whatever you notice to take you deeper within.
Deeper and deeper within.
Remembering,
Of course,
That if your mind wanders off into judgment or analysis,
Or off into little stories of the past or the future,
Then that's just fine.
You will notice it at some point.
And as you notice that your mind has wandered off,
You also notice you're observing.
Observing the thoughts.
And as you observe them,
You realize that you can step back,
Let them go,
And you can return to the breath.
Returning home to the breath.
Bringing you more into this moment of now.
Into this space that you're occupying here.
Deepening your experience of this.
As we go through our days and our weeks and our months,
We tend to hold on to things that no longer serve us.
Physical discomfort and unease that we carry.
Unneeded,
Unnecessary emotions that linger within us.
Tiresome and troublesome thoughts that seem to pop in from nowhere and cause upset.
I invite you to join me in a little thought experiment.
A visualization,
Or to be more accurate,
A sensualization using all of our senses.
Imagine that you're standing in nature.
Feeling calm and comfortable,
Safe and secure.
In front of you,
A large box with a lid at its side.
Notice what the box is made of.
How strong it is,
How sturdy.
Notice that the lid closes neatly,
Tightly.
Feel the box,
Pick it up,
Turn it round.
Notice its weight,
Its temperature,
What it's made of,
What the color is.
Taking the lid of the box off again,
You realize that this box is here for a reason.
You're going to remove everything that no longer serves you and put it in that box.
Physical discomforts and unease.
Emotional negativities,
Unneeded habits,
Behaviors,
Unnecessary thoughts.
Start unburdening yourself.
Removing what no longer serves you and putting it in the box.
Now here's what's interesting.
Whatever you remove and put into the box may be a color,
Or a shape,
Or a symbol,
Or a person,
Or a word,
Or a vibration.
Some you may recognize,
And some you may not.
Trust in the process.
Trust that whatever you're putting into that box is no longer needed,
No longer serves you.
It may have had a purpose in the past,
But not now.
If it helps as you do this,
Connect with your breath and use the gentle out-breath to help you release stuff into the box.
Let's spend a few moments releasing everything that's no longer needed into that box,
Whether it's physical,
Emotional,
Energetic,
Or mental.
You're starting to feel a little lighter,
A little freer,
A little more cleansed.
Fit the top of the box on now.
Use whatever mechanism you need to,
To make sure that top is secure.
You can glue it,
Or tape it up.
Use string,
Or rope,
Or chains.
Screw it down,
Hammer in some nails.
Whatever you do,
Make sure that lid is not going to come off.
It's secure.
Glancing to your right now,
You see a large helium balloon tied onto the ground with string.
Walking over,
You untie the balloon,
Feeling it gently tugging.
Bring it over to the box and tie the box on securely.
And you know intuitively that when you let go of that balloon,
It's just light enough to start lifting the box off the ground.
Realizing that this is an important thing for you to do,
And with the words,
I release all these negativities,
And I welcome freedom and peace into my life,
You let go.
And slowly,
Ever so slowly,
That box starts to rise straight up,
Passing your knees,
Passing your thighs,
Passing your stomach and chest,
Passing your eyes.
And now your eyes start to move upwards,
And you start to tilt your head backwards ever so slightly,
As that box slowly moves straight up.
And as it does,
You're feeling lighter.
A sense of freedom comes rushing in.
A sense of accomplishment and achievement.
Watching the box going a little higher,
And as it does so,
You're feeling more and more confident and powerful,
Happier and healthier.
The box continues on,
Slowly upwards,
Until suddenly it gets caught in the wind and it starts rising faster and moving away faster.
Watch it as it goes,
And as it does so,
You yourself are feeling happier and healthier.
More and more positive and optimistic.
There's a deeper and growing and expanding sensation of freedom.
The balloon and the box,
Higher and higher,
Smaller and smaller.
Getting further and further away.
Smaller and smaller,
Higher and higher,
Until suddenly,
It's gone.
Out of sight.
Gone.
And you feel a sense of weight being lifted from you.
As if a burden has been removed.
It feels so wonderful.
And you take some time to thank your inner mind for all the wonderful work it's done.
Giving yourself a little mental pat on the back for taking the time to release,
To unburden yourself,
To let go.
And setting an intention now to bring back these wonderful feelings of freedom and release.
Of confidence and optimism.
Of accomplishment and achievement.
As we now return to everyday sensations.
Bringing back clarity of thought,
Peace of mind,
Strong and steady nerves,
Relaxed and re-energised body.
Bringing back a reconnection to creativity,
Intuition,
And a sense of inner freedom.
Bringing back well-being.
So bringing awareness into your feet once again now,
But giving them a stretch.
Stretching out the hands and the fingers and the thumbs,
Perhaps even the arms up to the shoulders.
Taking a deep awakening breath in and out.
And when you're ready,
You can open your eyes and come back to the day.
