Morning Meditation To Welcome Yourself Into The Day

This meditation practice includes tuning into the breath, into the body, into the mind, and into the heart. This practice guides us to notice what we are experiencing in this current moment, and to give all these parts of ourselves a little bit more space and softness. We will use the breath as a tool to cultivate more spaciousness and softness for ourselves. Using mindful awareness and a visualisation technique, we’ll slow down the breath and smooth out the edges of the breath, tuning into its natural capacity for lightness, expansion, grounding, and release. Try this meditation everyday as a great way to start your morning or use it on days where you wake up with a little extra anxiety, sadness, or tiredness. However it is that you're feeling right now - your whole self is welcome here.

Transcript

Good morning and welcome to your morning meditation practice This is your time, Just for yourself. So take any movement, Whether it's stretching the arms overhead, Circling through the shoulders, Through the neck. Wriggling into the hips, Swaying into the torso, Giving yourself a little bit of space here to really settle in. And in this way, We allow movement to be an avenue towards stillness. Eventually landing and arriving. Softening and dropping into a space that allows you to open your awareness. Perhaps you're letting the eyelids become a little bit heavier or even closing down the eyes completely. Starting to spiral your awareness inwards. Landing here together. With a deep breath in and then open your mouth and let the breath out Let's take two more like this. Full-bodied breath down into the base of your belly. Expand the ribs and lungs. Open the mouth, Exhale, Let the air fully and completely out. Maybe with a sigh, Last breath like that. Inhale fully. And exhale fully. Allow your breath to simply fall back into its natural rhythm, Its natural pace. And begin to open your awareness. To what is alive within you right now. So you might notice how your physical body feels. The different sensations that are present in your body. You might notice the qualities of your mind. Sensing what is going on in your headspace. And you might draw your awareness to your heart space, Noticing any emotions, Any feelings that are lingering or rising and falling. Just like the breath without needing to change anything, Nothing to push away or shift, Nothing to figure out or overanalyze, Just an open awareness to what is here. And as you sense what is happening in your inner world right now, As you feel into these different parts of you, See if it's possible to give them just a little bit more space. To soften the holding around them, To soften the grip. Like the opening of a palm, Can you soften your awareness around whatever it is that you are noticing right now? One of the most accessible ways that we can call in this soft spacious awareness is with the breath. And so as you notice what is here, If you start to sense yourself getting pulled away or if you feel like your mind is running a little too fast, A little too far and wide, Then you might draw your awareness back into your breath. Just sensing the physical sensation of breathing, The felt sense of each breath in and out. And each breath out. Giving your mind something to anchor into, To rest into. You might feel wear in your body. You can sense the breath, Its texture, Its rhythm or pace. Maybe you can even sense the temperature of your breath. And you might stay with this gentle sensing, This open awareness. Or you might start to invite in a little bit more intention into each breath. Very gently slowing down the breath and smoothing out the edges of the breath. As if you could just soften the breath a little here How might you invite in the smoothest breath possible? Softening the edges of each breath in. And each breath out. Subtly slowing and deepening the breath. If this feels like a useful place to stay, Then you might stay with this focus on the breath, Slowing it down. Softening the edges of the breath. Or if you'd like to add on one final layer of awareness. Then what you could begin to do is imagine that you're breathing the breath. Down into these parts of you that are most alive right now. So if you sense tension in your body then you might imagine that you could breathe the breath down into that physical sensation. Almost like a wave of breath cascading through your body. Not washing away the sensation, Not getting rid of it, But just softening the edges. Breathing space into it. And so if you notice a fullness, A busyness in your mind, Then you might breathe space into the container of your thinking. This soft gentle breath like a waterfall. Gently washing over the thinking mind. Simply softening the edges. Of thoughts. If you notice intensity around the heart space, Certain emotions or feelings rising and filling up, Then you might too give those a little bit of extra space and softness. Breathing the breath down into the heart space or down into the part of you that feels the emotions here. And again we're not getting rid of anything, We're not pushing anything away or trying to breathe it out of us, Rather we're giving it more space. And it's in this space that the physical sensation, That the thought, That the emotion might even expand. It might take up that space. But if we stay with this feeling of soft, Gentle, Steady breath, If we keep breathing into what's here, If we keep giving what is here space, Then we'll see with time that that which is here will naturally change and shift and move in its own way, In its own rhythm, In its own timing. Welcoming in the belonging. Of all things. Whatever it is that you are sensing right now. Is there space to stay with it? To breathe into it. Knowing that at any point, If this gets a little bit too much, A little too intense, You can always draw your awareness back just to the breath. Simply sensing the physical sensation of your breathing. Just noticing that it's here. And then from there you might add on by slowing the breath down again, Softening the edges of the breath. Calling on this oceanic, Wave-like breath that rolls in and out. This constant ever-present wave of breath. And then if you feel cold too, You could breathe that breath into what is here right now. Like the waves of the ocean that wash across the shore. The breath rolling in and out, Breathing into the corners of your awareness. Breathing into the space of what is alive in you. Right now. We'll stay with this awareness for a little while without the sound of my voice. From wherever you are. Draw your awareness into the breath with a deep inhale. In a full exhale. Slowly, Slowly begin to bring movement back into your body. Rolling out the joints, Perhaps taking a full body stretch eventually. The sigh or yawn. Softening your focus as we gently let go of this practice. We'll take a moment here together to honor this shared space. You might thank yourself for choosing to show up and be here this morning. For dedicating the time and the energy into your sadhana, Your practice, And through that, Into yourself. Maybe there's something here that you've reminded yourself or cultivated from within. That you might even carry with you into the rest of your day. For now, Let's close this practice together. One last breath in. And out. Thank you. See you next time.