Welcome to this meditation.
I'm your guide Billy and I'll be leading you through today's meditation.
So let us begin by getting into a comfortable position,
Either sitting in a chair in a dignified posture with your back away from the back of the chair,
Chest proud,
Feet flat on the floor,
And hands wherever they're most comfortable.
Or if you prefer,
You can lie on the floor with your feet uncrossed,
Falling away from each other,
Arms at your side.
And now that you've found a comfortable position,
I invite you to close your eyes,
Or if it's more comfortable you can simply lower your gaze.
Let's take a moment to settle in using our breath.
With a long,
Slow,
But even inhale through the nose,
And then slowly letting that air back out at the same slow,
Even rate through the nose on the exhale.
Taking a few deep breaths like this,
Inhaling slowly and evenly,
Exhaling slowly,
Focusing on filling your belly with air,
And then slowly and evenly,
Gently letting your belly fall on the exhale.
Now find the natural rhythm of your breath,
Still taking in the air through the nose,
And filling your belly with that air.
And on each exhale,
Letting the air pass through the nostrils gently,
While softening the belly.
Using these breaths to quiet the mind,
By just focusing on each inhale,
And each exhale,
Allowing yourself to simply just be.
And during this practice,
You'll notice that your mind may wander,
Or get lost in thought.
Just know that's very normal,
It's what the mind does.
So when that does happen,
Bring awareness to where the mind went,
And then gently bring your attention back to our intended focus.
And using the breath here,
Invite both awareness and relaxation into the body and mind.
So as you breathe in,
Lift the spine upward,
And bring energy into the body.
And on the exhale,
Let everything go.
On the inhale,
Letting your body get taller,
Without reaching for anything.
And on the exhale,
Letting the jaw soften,
Letting the shoulders drop away from the ears,
And letting the muscles of the belly soften.
Start opening your awareness to include any sensations in the body that you might be feeling.
Just mindfully observe those feelings for a few moments.
Just notice what are the experiences in your body right now,
The sensations.
Open yourself up to being aware,
The awareness of what those sensations are,
And where you're feeling them.
Make a note if you're labeling those experiences as good,
Or right,
Or bad,
Or wrong.
And you don't need to encourage or discourage any of these judgments,
Any of these labels.
Just notice what labels come up.
Not assigning them a long description,
But just something simple.
And take note if the mind starts judging.
Maybe it's judging this experience.
Maybe it's judging something that happened earlier in the day.
Maybe you're finding yourself worried about some future event,
Or ruminating on something in the past.
And you find yourself judging either yourself,
Or the past event,
Or the future event.
And again,
Just notice those judgments.
Allow yourself to be non-judgmental of the judgments.
And just note what comes up.
Now let's shift our focus,
And invite the sense of hearing into your practice.
And when you hear a sound,
Just recognize that you're hearing,
That you are listening.
And if a judgment arises around the sound,
Or because of the sound,
You just recognize that there's judgment there.
You don't have to necessarily do anything about it.
Just acknowledge that judgment is there,
And just see the judgment.
Now open your practice up to hearing,
Or feeling something in the body,
Or being hooked into a thought.
And whatever comes up,
Remain aware of your experience.
Note what thoughts,
Or feelings,
Or labels,
Or judgments arise as those sounds,
As those feelings,
As those thoughts arise.
Whenever a judgment arises,
Just name it,
And then leave it be.
And resist the tendency to push it away.
But there's no need to engage with it any further,
Other than the observation.
And as we bring this practice to a close,
Allow yourself to come back to your breath,
Feeling the air pass through the nostrils on the inhale,
And on the exhale,
Expelling the air evenly and naturally through the nose.
And when you're ready,
I invite you to open your eyes,
And take inventory of the sensations of your body,
And bring awareness to your surroundings.
