Welcome to your presence meditation.
My name is Audra and I will be your guide today.
Clear out everything from your space that you don't need so that it's just you and your seat.
Let's begin.
Root down through everything that is touching earth and feel how your body,
Your skin,
And your bones are connected to the earth.
Feel exactly where your roots are.
Notice that some parts of you are touching the earth and supported and other parts of you are lifted off the earth.
Become aware of what is touching and allow that to really ground you deeply to earth.
From there begin to build your posture nice and strong,
Stacking your hips and your skull all in one line.
Imagine your spine lengthening and lifting to the heavens.
Lightly close down your eyes and then take a deep breath in and lift up your sternum.
Let your collarbones go wide.
Exhale and roll your shoulders down and back as you slightly tuck your chin.
Come into a deep,
Slow,
Intentional breath.
When you pause to feel your breath,
It's an immediate bridge to the present moment.
And if your mind wanders,
Gently guide the mind back to the breath.
Take a moment to get really attuned to the sound of your breath.
Turn on your inner ears and listen in.
Use your breath to anchor your awareness in the present moment.
Feel how your breath causes your chest to expand and contract.
Feel for the length of your inhale and the length of your exhale.
Become fully aware of the quality of your breath.
Is it long and smooth and silky?
Or is it a little bit broken,
Start-stop,
Or strained?
Feel for what happens on the very end of the inhale.
You might feel more expansion through your ribcage or a slight tug at your low belly or throat.
Feel for what happens at the end of the exhale.
Get really curious about what happens with your breath.
Now gently expand your awareness to include your whole body.
Feel for how your clothes rest against your skin.
Are they loose?
Are they tight?
Now get a feeling for how the air in your space passes across your skin.
Can you feel the air on your skin?
Is it cool or is it warming?
Allow yourself to hear all the sounds in your environment.
Your breath.
A plane overhead.
Creaking of the windows or the floor.
Maybe your neighbor's dog barking in the distance.
Just allow yourself to absorb those sounds without trying to push them out or change them in any way.
Can you just allow yourself to absorb all the experiences you're having right now in your body?
Now bring your awareness to the front of your skull and then further back into the back of your skull.
So if your awareness is right in the front,
The center of your eyebrows,
Can you bring the attention and intensity and your focus further back of your brain?
Then maybe even deeper to the base where your brain and your spine connect.
And then begin to bring your awareness even lower,
As low as you can bring it into your chest,
Right about at your heart space.
Feel for your breath to move around,
Below and behind your heart.
Feel for any sensations or thoughts that come up when you bring your breath and your awareness into and around your heart.
And with every inhale,
Imagine your heart getting more expansive and a little bigger each time.
And with every exhale,
Imagine any blocks or walls around your heart.
They begin to melt.
Notice each inhale and exhale.
Use your breath to anchor your awareness in the present moment,
Again and again,
Giving the gifts of your total presence.
You can slowly blink open your eyes and stretch out in any way that feels good to you.
Take a huge breath in and big open mouth exhale.
One more deep breath in,
Big breath out.
As you go through your week,
What if you gave the gift of your presence and your total attention to everyone around you?
To your family when they want to talk about the day,
To your friends,
To your co-workers when they're explaining something.
Give the gift of your total presence.
What would be possible if you let your undivided attention fall on everyone you met?
Have a great week.
