Brief Systematic Yoga Meditation

Brief practice. Designed for beginners; but, suitable for everyone. In this practice you are guided to move awareness from the gross (physical body/breath) to subtle (energy body/mind) to directly experience the Center of Consciousness. This is the goal and definition of Yoga.

Transcript

Come into a nice and tall seated position.

Sit with your head,

Neck,

Shoulders and trunk straight and aligned.

Take a few moments and make sure that you're comfortable,

That there's nothing touching you that will distract you or draw your attention outward.

Then if you've not already done so,

Close your outer eyes.

Take a moment to reflect,

To reflect on the day either ahead of you or the day that has passed you.

Have a few moments to converse with your mind.

You may even want to ask your mind what is your heart's desire or acknowledge any urgent things that are rising up in your mental field.

We want our mind to be our friend.

Then you take whatever your concerns are and your worries and you can set them on a shelf.

Put them aside for a little while knowing that when you return to them they will be a little lighter.

Then be aware of your body.

Aware of the ability to move the body and that you're not using that ability at this time.

Be aware of the stillness.

Be aware of the stillness.

Deliberately entering into stillness.

We begin to scan the body.

You're an interior researcher.

As you allow your attention to move you may see with your inner eye or you may not see with your inner eye.

However you experience the body is fine.

You cannot do this incorrectly.

Begin with the top of your head.

Scan.

Survey the top of your head as if you were very curious about it.

You are that explorer.

Let the mind move all around into the forehead.

Eyebrows,

Eyes,

Nose,

Cheeks,

Mouth,

And jaw.

Become aware of the neck,

The shoulders,

The arms,

The wrists,

Hands,

Fingers.

For a moment feel the awareness in the tips of your perfectly still fingers.

Let your attention return up into the hands,

Wrists,

Arms,

Shoulders.

Then explore the whole back.

Let your awareness move.

Let it roam.

Move through to the chest.

Explore internally and externally.

The abdomen.

Deep into the abdomen.

Be aware of the hips,

Thighs,

Knees,

Lower legs,

Ankles,

Feet,

Toes,

Even the tips of the toes.

Let the attention return from the tips of the toes back into the feet,

Ankles,

Lower legs,

Knees,

Thighs,

And hips.

Explore the abdomen.

Let the awareness move all throughout the abdomen and the chest.

Become aware of the spine and of the back,

The shoulders,

And down the arms into the wrist,

Hands,

Fingers,

And the tips of the fingers.

Again into the fingers,

Hands,

Wrists,

Arms,

And shoulders.

Explore the neck,

Jaw,

Mouth,

Cheeks,

Nose,

Eyes,

Eyebrows,

Forehead,

Top of the head.

Then feel the whole body.

Feel the whole body just immersed in stillness.

Feel the whole body integrated in stillness.

Stillness within,

Stillness without.

Then become aware of the breathing.

Bringing attention to the upper abdomen right below the breastbone but above the navel.

There's a soft space there about the size of the palm of your hand.

Exhale,

Gently guide your upper abdominal muscles back toward your spine.

And on the inhalation,

Release them and let them go.

Again the exhalation is deliberate and you draw the upper belly back toward the spine.

The inhalation is spontaneous,

Natural.

You just let go and for a few moments focus on the breath,

Only on the breath,

Making it slow,

Smooth,

Steady,

And silent.

Continue to allow the body to remain immersed in perfect stillness.

Then exhale as if from the top of the head down to the base of the spine.

Inhale as if from the base of the spine up to the top of the head.

Exhale as if the breath were moving from the crown of the head down to the base of the spine.

Inhale as if the breath were rising from the base of the spine up to the top of the head.

Exhaling down,

Inhaling up.

In your mind's eye you might even visualize the breath as being a thin and milky white stream.

If you see the stream that's fine but if you do not see the stream that is also fine.

Exhaling down,

Inhaling up.

Now allow the attention to come to the nostrils.

Feel the sensation of the breath as it's entering and exiting the nasal passageways.

Allow the attention to converge at the bridge between the nostrils.

Be aware of the feeling of the breath at the bridge between the nostrils.

All of your awareness on the cognitive sense of touch,

The feel of the breath at the bridge between the nostrils.

Allow the mind to behave naturally,

Letting the thoughts come and go.

But gently,

Gently and consistently holding the attention on the feeling of the breath at the bridge between the nostrils.

If a good thought rises up,

Don't grasp it.

Be aware of it,

But bring the attention back to the feeling of the breath at the bridge between the nostrils.

If a bad thought comes,

Let it come up,

Let it rise,

Don't suppress it.

But hold the attention steadily on the feeling of the breath at the bridge between the nostrils.

As we go into the silence,

You may continue to hold your attention on this one sensation,

The breath at this one point,

The bridge between the nostrils.

If you're more seasoned,

You may choose to allow your attention to move down into the chest or to the space between the eyebrows,

Respectively.

But remain in your space.

Remain in your space,

Not wandering left or right,

Up or down.

Letting the thoughts come and then letting them go.

You cannot fail or do this incorrectly.

Then observe the silence at the center of consciousness.

Reflect on the relative quietness of your own mind.

Notice the smoothness and evenness of the breath.

Feel the stillness of the body.

Gently.

Open the eyes.

Reviews

Wonderful meditation, very centering. Thank you! 🙏🏾

Wonderful grounding practice with just the right balance of instruction and silence. Namaste

I love the feeling of calm that comes afterward 🙏🏾namaste

There was a few awkward pauses but over all the mediation is great

Very nice meditation

I love your clear, smooth, encouraging voice. Will definitely use this again! Thank you!

Absolutely love this meditation - tone, please, focus 💜

Woah this was a beautiful journey for me

Wow! That was brilliant. The guidance was wonderful and I felt I could maintain my focus easier. Feels good to have breathed. Thank you Avril.

Nice, clear guidance. Would be lovely at the end of a yoga session. Thank you

Lovely. Thank you.

So relaxing, didn't realize it was over. Wow!

Very nice. Really helped me focus on the stillness within.

Good technique to use in your own personal practice.

A really authentic, supportive guide through foundational mediation techniques, in a concise practice. Thank you!

What a helpful, systematic tool. As someone who is a relative novice at meditating and at trying to quiet my ever racing mind, this was perfect. Looking forward to trying the longer version. Thank you, Avril!

Thank you for this guided meditation!

Great instruction and visualisation. Thank you!