Hi,
It's Pen.
I'm here to guide you through this happy hour meditation to ease your transition from your work day to your home life,
And to help you recharge your emotional and mental batteries.
Whatever you do for work,
Unwinding at the end of the day improves well-being in so many ways.
Perhaps most importantly,
Intentionally stepping away from your work responsibilities can help you be more present with yourself and with your loved ones.
Research has shown that leaving behind all the doings of the day can help reduce feelings of stress and anxiety,
Support a healthy work-life balance,
And prepare your body and your mind for a restful night of sleep.
Of course,
It's not always easy to find the time or the quiet space to put this into practice,
Especially if you have family responsibilities that begin as soon as the work day ends.
So you might want to think about doing this practice before you get home,
Or as soon as you get in.
And if you work from home,
It's just as important to take a little time to acknowledge and to honour the transition from work you to home you.
Are you sitting or kneeling comfortably?
Allow yourself any extra support you might need,
Whether it's a wall behind you or a bolster or cushion supporting your hips and your legs.
Find a position that will help you relax,
But allows your mind to stay alert and focused on the practice.
Gently close your eyes,
Or if you'd rather you can bring your gaze downwards with a soft focus on your lap or the floor.
Take a few long,
Slow deep breaths here,
Breathing in and out through the nose.
Can you make each breath longer,
Slower,
Deeper?
Pay gentle attention to how your body responds to these deep breaths.
Do you notice a difference?
A softness?
A release?
A sense of surrender?
Before you start the formal meditation practice,
I invite you to imagine that you're standing in front of a cupboard,
A large drawer,
Maybe an old-fashioned filing cabinet.
I'd like you to open it up and fill it with all the unfinished items on your work to-do list.
The unanswered emails and phone calls,
The difficult conversations,
The positive interactions,
The things you've been avoiding or didn't get round to,
As well as all the things you've achieved today.
Put them in this cupboard,
Drawer or filing cabinet and push it closed.
Silently repeat to yourself,
The workday is done.
This is my time.
This simple visual exercise can help you set and respect the boundary between your work life and your home life.
Be kind to yourself as you practice today.
If you've had a really busy or challenging day,
Your mind will naturally be full of work thoughts.
When you notice you've drifted away from the practice back to those work worries,
Gently and patiently guide your attention back.
It doesn't matter if you have to do it 10 times,
100 times or what seems like a thousand times.
This is all part of the practice of meditation.
You'll start the practice today with a body scan,
Noticing with kind,
Non-judgmental awareness any areas in your body that feel tight,
Tense or uncomfortable.
Whether you've been sitting for much of the day or on your feet for hours,
We all carry the weight of our work responsibilities in our physical body.
As you scan,
Invite this sense of softness,
Surrender and release into your body.
And if it helps,
You can silently repeat the word soft or release as your awareness moves.
Bring your attention to the very top of your head,
Noticing any sensations in the scalp.
Then down the back of the head,
To the sides,
The right ear,
The left ear.
And then round to the face,
Your forehead,
Eyes and nose,
Cheeks and mouth.
Noticing your jaw,
Allowing the mouth to open slightly if you feel that you're holding tension in your jaw.
Let your whole face be soft,
Inviting the muscles around your eyes and your mouth to relax.
Breathing in here and breathing out.
Breathing in and breathing out.
Bringing your awareness to the front of your neck,
The base of your throat.
Let them be soft.
Taking your awareness to your upper back and shoulders,
Feeling the sensations here,
Inviting a sense of letting go,
Welcoming softness,
Surrender.
Allow your attention to move from your shoulders down to your upper arms,
Elbows,
To your forearms,
Wrists,
Hands and your fingers.
Letting your attention just rest in your fingers,
Right hand and left hand.
Letting thoughts and feelings of your hands and arms dissolve.
Move your attention to your chest and abdomen.
Noticing the movement in your body as you breathe.
If your mind has started to wander,
Acknowledge this without any judgment,
Bring your awareness back to your body.
Observe and allow the sensations to be just as they are in this moment.
Putting your attention on your stomach,
Noticing feelings of tension or tightness and inviting it to soften.
Becoming aware of your back,
The upper back,
Middle back and lower back.
If you're holding any tension there,
Allowing yourself to let that release too.
Bringing your awareness down past your hips,
To your thighs,
Your knees,
Calves and shins,
Ankles and finally resting your attention on your feet and toes.
Noticing all the sensations you can feel in your feet.
Releasing your awareness of your feet and legs.
Becoming fully aware of your whole body,
From the top of your head all the way down to your toes.
Letting in the gentle awareness of the whole of your body for just a few more moments.
Guiding your awareness now and inviting it to connect to your body as it breathes.
Paying attention to the sensation of the breath as it comes in and leaves your body.
Noticing how and where you feel it,
Not trying to change it,
Just having an awareness of how your body responds to the in-breath and the out-breath.
You can follow each inhale and exhale from start to finish and see where your attention is naturally drawn.
Is it to the sound?
The sensation?
Is it your nose,
Chest or belly?
Is it the inhale?
Or the exhale?
Or that quiet space between?
There's no right or wrong answer.
It's your breath.
Your awareness.
Your experience.
Keeping your attention connected with your breath for the next few minutes,
Guiding it gently back each time you realise you've been distracted.
I'll keep a track of the time and when you hear the chime,
Release your attention from your breath and rest in gentle awareness.
I'll then bring the practice to a close.
Release your attention from your breath and invite your senses to begin to connect with the world around you.
Noticing sounds,
Near and far.
Allowing some gentle movement into the body.
It might feel nice to take a deep breath in and just let it go.
When you're ready,
Slowly opening your eyes or lifting your gaze,
Allowing your vision to connect with the world around you.
Wishing you an evening full of loving kindness and a restful night of sleep.
Until next time,
Goodbye.
