Well,
Let's set up for meditating briefly.
So always make sure your body's comfortable.
You try to keep distractions to a minimum.
Of course,
That's not always possible,
But anything in your control,
Your phones,
Your clothes,
Our glasses,
Our feet on the ground,
Or our seat in a place that's comfortable for us.
And as you begin to settle in,
Get a sense of your torso and your spine and begin to just real gently lengthen your spine,
Top of the head,
Towards the sky or ceiling.
And see,
Let's see if we can find a place where we're elongated,
But not putting in too much effort.
And then get a sense of your breath.
First,
Notice that you're breathing.
Notice that the breath is deep or shallow.
Notice that the breath is more in your chest or belly.
Put a very gentle smile on the face,
The corners of the mouth shifting,
Which helps allow the mind and body to relax into the practice.
And then as we deepen the breath,
Follow the breath down the front of the spine all the way down to the root of the body,
Floor,
The pelvic floor,
Your seat,
Whatever comes naturally for your mind as you breathe in.
And then as we breathe out,
Follow that breath up the front of the spine all the way to the crown of the head.
And wherever that lands is fine too,
The crown,
The space above the head,
The third eye area and the midbrain,
Anywhere you'd like to take that out breath up to.
That your inner awareness easily goes to is great.
So as we breathe in,
Sending the breath down towards the seat.
And as we breathe out,
Following the breath up the spine,
Up towards the crown of the head area.
And our breath might be slightly enhanced,
But not so much that it's a distraction.
So simply following the breath down as we breathe in and up as we breathe out.
We'll keep our awareness on that movement along the spine,
But also in a very gentle way.
So we're putting effort into the practice,
But nothing that would cause any tension in the mind and the body.
And we'll use this as our point of focus for the next few moments.
Gently deepen the breath into the belly.
Allow the breath to fill the belly,
Ribs and chest as you breathe in and long,
Slow breaths out as you contract the navel towards the spine.
And as you're ready,
You can very slowly begin to open the eyes,
Keeping the body relatively still.
And let's bring our palms together in front of our hearts,
Bowing to your own heart.
Namaste.
