Welcome to this guided meditation,
A moment just for yourself.
Take a moment to settle down.
You can lower your gaze or gently close the eyelids if that feels good for you.
Allow your body to get comfy,
Allowing any final wiggles,
Adjustments,
Tickles and itches to be attended to.
Allowing yourself to settle down into stillness and as you do so see if you can straighten up just a little bit through the spine.
Having a nice straight back helps you to maintain presence and focus in this moment rather than checking out.
Relaxing the face,
Allowing the jaw to be soft,
The eyelids just gently dropped,
Forehead relaxed.
Lovely,
Well done.
To create a deeper connection to this body and to create a bit more space in the mind we'll take some deep belly breaths.
So as you breathe in I'll invite you to really allow the belly to expand on the in-breath and if your mind wanders off as we focus on the breathing just know that that's okay.
Just notice that's happening and lovingly let those thoughts go and come back to feeling the breath,
Noticing how it feels to take these deep breaths.
So in your own time a short exhale to begin and then breathing in through the nose allowing the belly to expand on the in-breath and then exhaling through the mouth.
Nice deep breath again in through the nose,
Feel your belly expand on the in-breath and then letting it go on the exhale.
Lovely,
Deep breath again in through the nose,
Feel the belly expand,
Now the chest expands and then exhaling through the mouth.
Lovely,
Just a few more like that.
Deep breath again in through the nose,
Belly expands,
Chest expands and then releasing through the mouth.
Final breath like that,
It's okay if you feel dizzy or lightheaded just taking that breath softly and deeply into the body once more and then exhaling through the mouth.
Lovely,
Well done.
Now allow your breathing to settle back down,
Just following whatever pattern or rhythm that is.
Notice any sensations after those deep breaths,
Maybe you feel lightheaded,
A bit dizzy,
Maybe you feel some tingling in the body,
It's okay to feel that it's just the body adjusting after those deep breaths.
Maybe you felt some tension in the chest or other parts of the body and just noticing that they're there,
It's okay to feel those things.
I'll now invite you to start to focus on your body breathing,
Just noticing the sensation of the cycle of the breath,
Not changing the pace of your breath but just watching it,
Noticing the in-breath and how there's a gentle rising sensation and then as you exhale there's a gentle falling that happens.
So as you breathe in,
The chest rises,
The belly rounds out slightly and as you exhale all of that gently drops back down.
If you wish you can take a couple of deep breaths just to connect to that sensation of rising as you breathe in and falling as you breathe out.
Noticing as the mind wanders off into thoughts,
That's okay,
Just lovingly let them go and just focus on the breathing.
Meditation is not about emptying the mind but focusing the mind and right now in this moment there's nowhere else to go,
There's nothing else that needs doing.
It's just time for you,
Time to connect to your body through the breath.
Staying connected to your breath you can use the words,
These labels of rising on the in-breath and falling on the out-breath.
So just noticing how the body is breathing,
Rising and falling,
Just finding your own rhythm,
Rising and falling.
You can say these labels in the mind,
Rising and falling,
Rising and falling.
Staying focused and connected,
Relaxing the body,
Relaxing the face,
Allowing the mind just to settle down,
Rising and falling,
Rising and falling.
You're doing so well,
Just for a few more moments just noticing your breath,
Noticing how it feels in the body,
Rising and falling,
Rising and falling,
Rising and falling.
Almost like watching a wave coming into a shoreline,
Just watching your body breathe as the breath rolls in and then gently flows out,
Noticing how it feels to breathe.
If any resistance is there in the mind,
Any challenging thoughts,
Impatience,
Frustration,
It's okay for that to be there.
Just breathing into whatever's here.
And as we come towards the end of this meditation practice,
Seeing if you can carry forward a deeper connection to your breath throughout the day,
Taking a moment to pause,
To notice how is your breathing right now and seeing if you can connect to the rising and falling,
This beautiful natural rhythm that's always here.
Keeping the eyes still closed as we begin to lift out of this practice,
Bring your awareness to your hands,
You can start to very gently wiggle the fingers.
If you feel like moving the feet,
You can gently move them too.
Does your body feel like stretching or moving?
Just doing so really mindfully,
Being gentle with yourself.
And when you're ready,
So very softly and gently opening your eyes,
Just really slowly letting your eyelids lift up,
Gently blinking them open,
Gradually letting the light,
The colours and the shapes come back into focus.
Well done and thank you.
