Hello and welcome.
Some people enjoy guided meditations.
Some people enjoy silent meditations.
And there are some people who would like to enjoy a meditation that begins with some guiding and then just continues in silence.
This guided meditation is a launchpad,
Starting with some guiding to help you settle and become present and see what's going on.
And then with less and less guiding,
Transitions into silence.
And the guiding will end,
The track will end,
With no bell,
With no apparent ending,
So that you can continue sitting in silence as long as you like.
Now please give yourself permission for that to be whatever it is for you right now.
Beginning to arrive and settle in,
Perhaps by taking a few moments to stretch,
To loosen your body in any way that feels right,
And then to find whatever is going to be a comfortable position for you.
Again,
Maybe you're going to be sitting or reclining or lying down,
Whatever it is that feels right for you today.
And having settled into that position,
Taking a few full breaths,
Just breathing fully in to the wonderful capacity of your lungs,
And exhaling all the way,
Just feeling your body breathe.
You might gently allow your eyes to close at this point,
Or if you prefer,
You could have your eyes partly open with a soft and unfocused gaze.
Now letting your breath return to normal,
Not making any effort to control it or modify it.
Beginning to gather up your mind and bring it back,
Taking some moments to feel yourself sitting or lying in this spot,
Just noticing all the sensations of contact along the soles of your feet,
Along your seat,
Along your back,
The solid sensations of contact with whatever surface is so kindly supporting you here.
As you feel ready,
Taking a moment to bring your awareness into your body and just scanning your inner landscape and noticing whatever is present for you at this moment.
Any emotions or physical sensations,
Any energy or vibrations,
And whatever you notice.
Seeing if you can just take note of it and let it be just for these few moments.
Noticing however the energy of your mind is right now.
Perhaps your mind is feeling calm and peaceful.
Perhaps your mind is moving quite a bit,
Moving around,
Jumping around,
However you notice your mind is right now.
See if you can just let it be.
If it's jumping,
Let it jump.
If it's still,
Let it be still.
And as you feel ready,
At whatever pace feels right for you,
Gently gathering your awareness and taking some moments to find your breath somewhere in your body,
Wherever it is that you can most easily feel the physical sensations as your breath flows into your body and flows out.
And whenever you find that spot,
Wherever that is,
Seeing if you can bring your attention to rest there,
Like a bird landing gently on a branch.
Just feeling your body breathe,
Even if only for just one breath before the mind flutters off again.
Perhaps even allowing the breath to be just as it is,
Trusting that your body knows how to breathe and each one of these breaths is perfect.
You are just feeling each breath.
Whenever you become aware that your mind has wandered,
Just smile.
All this means is that you are a human being with a human mind.
And all human minds wander.
And whenever you feel ready,
Very gently hold your mind and guide it back,
Back to feeling your breath,
Even if only for just one breath before it wanders off again.
Even beginning to enjoy each breath.
If it feels right,
Just sensing the beginning of a smile inside your mouth,
Perhaps imagining beginning to greet each breath like a dear friend coming to visit you.
Hello,
My friend.
Please come in.
Breath after breath.
