Falling leaf meditation So getting into your comfortable meditation posture Starting with a sense of uplift,
Dignity and openness Now taking a deep breath in Breathing out And feeling the weight of your body going down into the ground Noticing the contact points where your body meets the surface you're sitting on Feeling your feet on the floor And feeling held and supported as you sit And as you do this,
Giving yourself full permission to be here and now Knowing that there's nothing that you need to do right now,
There's nowhere you need to be This is your time now,
Just to sit,
Recharge and gain a little more insight into your inner world Now placing your attention on your breath,
Your breathing And noticing your breath at your nostrils Feeling the cool air coming in and the warm air going out as you breathe Simply resting your attention there and allowing that busy mind to settle And as you sit with your breathing,
Noticing the short pause between your in-breath and your out-breath And your out-breath and your in-breath And really tuning into these little moments of space before the next in-breath or out-breath And allowing them to guide you towards stillness Now continuing to rest your attention on your breathing,
Breath by breath and moment by moment And as you sit with your breath,
Noticing the short pause between your in-breath and your out-breath And as you sit with your breath,
Noticing the short pause between your in-breath and your out-breath And as you sit with your breath,
Noticing the short pause between your in-breath and your out-breath And as you sit with your breath,
Noticing the short pause between your in-breath and your out-breath And as you sit with your breath,
Noticing the short pause between your in-breath and your out-breath And as you sit with your breath,
Noticing the short pause between your in-breath and your out-breath And as you sit with your breath,
Noticing the short pause between your in-breath and your out-breath And as you sit with your breath,
Noticing the short pause between your in-breath and your out-breath Now allowing your breathing to move into the background of your awareness And using your imagination to bring to mind a single leaf at the end of a tree branch And this is your leaf,
So you can imagine it any way you like Maybe it's a leaf from your favourite tree And this little leaf has grown from a tiny bud,
Nurtured by its tree It's grown up full of vitality and life It's weathered the seasons,
Clinging onto its branch during the storms,
The rain,
The cold And this little leaf has endured the intense heat of the sun And now the call of autumn comes,
And your leaf is in its most beautiful state Showing its most vibrant colours,
Of rusty gold and crimson red It's time for your leaf to be released from the branch to which it's clung so tightly So your leaf gently lets go of its branch,
Begins to glide downwards And is taken by the wind's wings on a journey towards its home,
Its place to rest And in the same way your leaf releases itself from its temporary home You too can let go of yours,
Releasing yourself from all that you hold onto tightly The events and dramas of your past,
The catastrophes,
The difficulties you endured Letting go of the times you didn't have any answers,
Or didn't know who to turn to The times you felt helpless or lost,
Or when you felt you couldn't cope Letting go of everything,
And travelling alongside your leaf As it floats,
Twirls and glides its way,
To its place to rest And as your leaf continues to dance in the gentle breeze Its past becomes more and more distant,
The clinging on through the storms,
The wind,
The rain The uncertainty of what each day would hold,
All slowly fades Until all that's left for your leaf is this moment of lightness,
Of lift,
Of freedom And just like your leaf,
Your path begins to fade,
The plans that didn't work out The times when the clouds were so dense,
You forgot the sun was there It all melts away into the distance,
And you too are left with just the present moment Feeling light,
Uplifted,
And free from all that you've carried on your life's journey so far And even if the present moment doesn't seem okay right now,
Knowing that the universe will unfold as it was intended At the beginning of its creation,
And your life will unfold just as it should Without you needing to get involved Trusting that your leaf can guide you back to your home,
Your safe place,
Your place of peace And now taking a deep breath in,
Breathing in a new lease of life into your body,
A new beginning And breathing out,
And letting go of what you carry from the past,
And what you fear from the future Know that neither exist in this moment And as you continue to breathe and let go,
You become as light as your leaf Dancing in the breeze,
Floating on the wind's wings,
And gliding down towards a place to rest,
Your home A place to be still,
To be who you really are,
Returning to your source Like a river,
Returning to the sea A place to be still,
To be who you really are,
Returning to your source You You You You You You You And now your leave comes towards the end of its journey It gracefully does a final twirl or bow And is released from the winds wings Floating gently down down down to the ground Returning to the place where it came from And as your leaf comes to rest You to find your place To just be in your own presence Just how you are Feeling any sense of stillness and becoming the leaf at the end of its journey Dying before you die in order to become who you truly are Which is simply conscious awareness awake But not caught up in life's dramas Letting go of all that you cling to Coming back to your true self Held and supported by the ground where you can now rest And continuing to sit with your breathing Without adding anything to this moment Being of just your breath And whatever arises From this place of conscious stillness You You You You You You You You And we don't need to wait to find our place to rest It's there in every moment of our lives But we don't always know it's there The past has an open door And we can leave any time But we often choose not to And the future should be left alone For the universe to decide on We can still do our lives work Follow our dreams,
Our ambitions But letting go of clinging to how it will all turn out And trusting that you can work with whatever arises With the conscious awareness you cultivate in meditation And allowing your life to be the aliveness of this moment Whether you perceive it as good or bad And bringing this awareness out into your daily life So each time you notice that you're not in harmony Or against the present moment Just like your leaf Consciously falling back into stillness And doing this again and again Now letting go of the effort that you've been making And gently bringing your senses outwards Noticing the light through your eyelids Maybe feeling the air moving over your skin And expanding your awareness out to sounds And then taking a deep breath in Breathing out And gently opening your eyes As we end this meditation
