As you settle into your seat,
Allow the shoulders to relax and softly close the eyes if that's comfortable for you.
Just begin to take notice of the body.
Notice where you might be feeling some tightness or tension,
Some resistance to sitting in this way.
And anywhere that you feel that tightness in your muscles or in your body,
Just take a moment to pause and breathe.
Breathe breath right into those spaces.
And continue to settle into your position.
For this meditation,
We are going to do a body scan.
We'll be bringing our awareness to different parts of the body,
Feeling whatever tightness,
Tension or other feelings are present in those spaces and then channeling breath and relaxation into those spaces.
As we complete the body scan,
Then we should feel a bit more relaxed in our space.
So starting with the crown of the head.
Noticing how the crown of the head feels.
Forehead.
Eyes and temples.
Remembering that if you come across any tightness or tension in those spaces,
Pause there.
Breathe and relax.
And then let your body scan continue.
Scanning down through the rest of the face,
Jaw,
Throat,
Neck and shoulders,
Arms,
Elbows and fingers.
Feel the back,
The spine and all the muscles down your back.
Again,
Anywhere we found tension or tightness,
We're breathing into that space.
As we move into the low back,
The hips,
The buttocks.
Again,
Any place that feels tight or tense,
Breathe into those spaces.
Knees and calf muscles.
Feet and toes.
And then one more time,
From the crown of the head,
All the way down through the toes.
Take a few moments.
Find that tightness and tension and breathe into those spaces.
Whenever you finish that final body scan,
When it's no rush,
Don't let your mind wander.
Just sit in the breath.
Each inhale and each exhale.
Right at the tip of the nostril.
Take another deep breath in.
And let's eye it out.
At this point,
If you want,
You can place your hands over your heart.
Or maybe one hand on the heart,
One hand on the belly.
Just to more deeply connect with the body and the breath.
I'm going to begin to ask a series of questions.
And provide some thoughtful statements.
Your job is just to listen.
To reflect.
And just to see what comes up for you.
Be here in this space,
Just breathing.
Letting whatever comes up,
Come up.
The first thing I want you to do is think about what balance might look like in your life.
Remember,
Balance is not perfection.
Think of a scale.
It balances.
There's a little bit of movement from side to side.
Never perfectly still.
The slightest touch or bump or movement or change on each side causes the movement.
It's a dance of sorts.
Take that moment to think about what balance might look like in your life.
There can be many answers to that question.
There's no right or wrong.
Think about what would it feel like.
What might be some of the things that you do or stop doing.
You can actually pause the video.
If you would like right now.
Just take a moment to write this in your journal.
Or you can just simply sit.
When you're ready to move on to the next question.
Resume playing.
The next question is to think about what one small thing you could do today.
To help you move in the direction of balance.
You just thought about what balance could look like in your life.
So what's one thing that you could do.
One small thing that you could do.
To help you move in that direction.
Again there's many answers to this question.
We don't reach balance.
Through one action.
It's a journey.
It's many steps.
What might be one thing that you feel you could accomplish today.
One small thing you could do.
To move toward that direction.
Maybe it's a conversation with a loved one or a colleague about respecting boundaries.
Maybe it's about better self-care.
Going to bed earlier,
Drinking more water.
Getting in more steps.
Eating less sugar.
Maybe it's taking time for meditation.
Like this every day.
Maybe it's just for one moment.
Whatever it is,
Just take a moment to consider the small step that you could take right now.
To move you in this direction.
And again if you want to hit pause.
Hit with that question for a few minutes or journal on it.
Feel free to do so.
The third and final question.
Is really a question that you can continue to ask over and over again.
And that is what's one small step that you can take toward the state of balance in your life.
Tomorrow.
And of course you can ask that question the next day and the next day and the next day.
Not in the sense of creating a to-do list that's endless.
Just as more of a promise or a reflection on what is one thing that you want to do each day.
And it doesn't have to be the same thing every day.
It might be something different.
Or maybe it's the same thing for a little while until that becomes a habit.
And then it becomes a new one step closer.
However you choose to tackle it.
Just take a few moments here again with this third question.
Pausing if you want.
To journal and reflect.
And now we'll take a deep breath in.
Having answered those three questions.
To whatever degree reflected or journaled on them.
Just feel that sense of calm.
Relaxation.
Balance.
Whatever it is you're feeling.
Feel that radiating through your body.
Stay here in that feeling for just a moment again.
Maybe hands are on the heart.
Or one hand on the heart.
One hand on the belly.
Feel into that.
Allow yourself to recognize the power you do have and also the power that you don't have when it comes to balance in your life.
Remember that like all states of being being in balance is a temporary state.
It will come and it will go.
It's a dance.
Know that you have the ability to hold onto it and to bring it about more frequently through those small steps that you just spent time reflecting and journaling on.
Breathe that in.
Breathe in your power,
Your ability.
Breathe in the knowledge that you can make steps toward a more balanced approach to life.
When you're ready to wrap up this meditation take another deep breath in and sigh it out.
And feel free to sit in stillness until you're ready to begin to move the body and open your eyes.
The journey to balance and comfort begins with the first step.
And that step can be very small.
It's still a step forward.
The important part is to take a step every day.
Recognizing that there will be steps backwards as well.
Don't let those steps backwards prevent you from continuing to take a step forward as well.
Deep breath in.
Sigh it out.
