Good morning world,
It's Ashley.
Each morning I come out onto my balcony.
It's like a treehouse.
I call it my personal bird sanctuary.
And I use the sounds of the birds to help me stay in the present moment.
So you may hear bird sounds and just allow them to help you stay present.
When you hear them just say listening or singing.
I love the sounds of the birds singing.
It reminds me to stay in that same joy that they seem to be in with each song.
So let's begin finding your comfortable seat.
Just allow the spine to grow tall.
Chin parallel to the earth.
Shoulders dropped away from the ears.
And let's first just tune into our breath,
Breathing in through your nose.
Exhaling letting everything go.
Bringing all of your attention to the breath.
Finally releasing,
Just waking up to this new day.
Breathing in this fresh air.
Let's set the intention to be present for this practice.
Those are our two things we're working with.
Attention on the breath and intention to be here.
Then just bring your awareness to the very crown of your head.
Just notice any sensations you feel there.
Maybe you feel heat,
Tingling.
Maybe your hair.
Maybe you feel nothing.
What does nothing feel like?
Just notice.
Just notice thoughts arriving as they will.
Think of them as commercials.
Just send them on their way.
Come back to the main program,
The breath.
Keeping that awareness on your breath.
Keeping our intention to be present here together for this moment.
Allow your attention to drop to your eyes.
Maybe they're closed or gazing down,
Just see if you can soften the eyes.
Soften the little space between the eyebrows.
Feel the air coming in through your nose.
Notice how it's cool when we breathe in.
It's slightly warmer when we breathe out.
Just allowing the body to breathe you.
Can you be with the breath this morning?
Moving your attention to your jaw.
Relaxing the teeth.
Clean your tongue and the back of your throat.
Let's check in with our heart today.
Breathe into your heart space.
Notice how you're feeling.
Welcome everything.
Let all emotions be okay today.
Bring your attention to your shoulders.
Notice if they've risen back toward the ears,
Maybe dropping them.
Scanning your awareness down both arms,
Into your hands.
Can you feel your hands?
Can you feel tingling,
Maybe blood flow?
How do you know you're alive this morning?
Just breathe into your hands.
Notice your seat,
Where you're connected to your chair or your cushion.
Find the base of your spine.
And as you inhale,
Let's breathe up the spine.
And as you exhale,
Just imagine the breath moving gently back down the spine to your seat.
Bring your attention to your legs.
Sweep breath and awareness down both legs,
Through your knees,
Down to your ankles,
Through the shins,
Down to the feet.
Maybe wiggle the toes.
Can you breathe into your toes?
Then bring your attention to the belly.
Feel the belly expanding as we breathe in.
As we breathe out,
The belly softens.
Then bring both hands to your heart.
When we place our hands on our heart,
It kicks in our parasympathetic nervous system.
Just breathe into the heart,
Feeling your heartbeat,
Maybe giving gratitude.
Our heart's keeping us alive and healthy.
And let's end this morning's practice with three things you're grateful for.
I'm always grateful for my morning practice,
This morning time out in nature with the birds,
The sun,
This beautiful earth.
I'm always grateful to be alive,
My health.
And I'm always so,
So grateful for my practice.
I'm so grateful for the opportunity to teach it.
So grateful for you who listens.
Thank you for sharing this space with me.
Just begin to bring to mind what you're grateful for this morning.
And slowly notice your energy,
Bringing your attention back,
Maybe opening the eyes,
Maybe stretching,
Twisting,
Just coming back to your space.
I hope you enjoyed this meditation,
Sending you all so much love and peace.
