Welcome to your meditation.
Find a comfortable place to sit or lay for your practice and invite yourself into a place that doesn't require more effort or any problem-solving.
Just time to be.
Jim Fielding talks about a concept called blazing and grazing.
This idea that there's a time for discipline and working intensely when required,
Known as blazing.
But equally as important is time for grazing.
A time to disconnect from work and recover so that we can prevent burnout.
This is a time for grazing.
That relaxation time that recharges our batteries so that we can show up more fully for our responsibilities and for ourselves.
Let's get started.
Close your eyes if you'd like and if there's any movement that you need to take before settling into stillness,
Feel free to do that now.
Rolling out the wrists if you were typing all day,
Stretching the spine if your back is feeling a bit sore.
Opening the mouth and wiggling the jaw if you tend to clench your teeth during intense moments.
On your next inhale,
Shrug your shoulders up by your ears.
Pause at the top for a moment.
Feel the bit of tension and then exhale and soften your shoulders.
Release tightness.
And when you're ready,
Start to relax into stillness.
Imagine for a moment that you're taking all of your responsibilities and setting them up on a little shelf in the corner of your mind.
I like to imagine a pile of books with lists of my to-do's along with my laptop,
Just setting them on a shelf for later.
You'll get back to them,
But right now is a little bit of time just for you.
This grazing time is necessary for sustaining your energy in life.
As the saying goes,
You can't pour from an empty cup,
So this is time for refilling that cup back up.
Start to notice how you're feeling right now.
Notice how you're feeling in your mind and your emotions.
Notice what you're feeling in your body.
There's nothing to forcefully change,
Nothing to push away.
We're just becoming aware of what's here right now.
Now ask yourself,
What is it that you would like to invite into this moment?
It could be ease,
Relaxation,
A reboot for your system,
Maybe a little more excitement or creativity.
Anytime your mind wanders back to the responsibilities on the shelf,
See if you can gently remind yourself of what you're inviting in.
Maybe even saying to yourself,
I'm inviting,
And your word or phrase.
I'm inviting ease.
I'm inviting balance.
I'm inviting myself to feel uplifted.
So just keep that invitation in your mind.
Now start to bring awareness to your head and begin to soften any tension.
Relax behind your eyes.
Soften through your cheeks.
Release the hinge at your jaw and let there be some space between your upper and lower teeth.
Start to bring that release of tension into your shoulders,
Softening them down away from your ears.
Letting that softening wash down your arms,
Elbows,
And into your hands.
Take your awareness inward from your hands to your belly.
If you find a holding of tension there,
Relax the muscles of your belly,
Signaling to your nervous system that there's no need to fight,
No need to run or freeze.
Digestion can take place more easily and rest can calm any lingering feelings of stress.
Start to breathe into your chest and notice the rise and fall of your chest as you breathe naturally,
Easily.
Let your awareness move up and over your shoulders to your upper back and imagine any tension in your upper back beginning to release.
Like a rigid ice cube on a hot day,
That stress begins to loosen from your muscles and melt away.
Relax behind your shoulder blades,
Through the muscles along your spine.
Relaxing through your lower back and hips.
Your legs begin to relax all the way down to your feet.
And all of the stress and tension that you've gathered for days,
Weeks,
Even years,
Starts to melt down your entire body and out your feet,
Releasing,
Letting go.
You no longer need to carry this tightening.
Just breathe as you relax your body into the feeling you're inviting in.
And gently repeating it to yourself.
Now imagine,
With the tensions having been released or starting to,
Imagine there's more space within you,
More space in your mind,
More space in your body.
More space to breathe.
And with this space comes more capacity in your energy to move through your days with a little more ease.
Imagine an uplifting feeling begin to fill your body.
A lightness,
A calm enthusiasm,
A focused clarity being poured into your feet,
Into your legs,
Your torso,
Your arms,
And your head.
And extend your spine just a little taller as you feel this lightness and uplifting energy fill your body,
Activating a feeling of being recharged.
Inhale and exhale into this relaxed spaciousness,
This rejuvenation of your energy,
A rejuvenation of your ability to move through your day with a little more balance.
Breathe into this expansiveness filling your mind and body.
Start to notice how you feel now.
In your body,
In your mind and emotions.
No expectations,
No judgment.
If you feel just 1% more relaxed,
1% less stressed,
1% higher capacity than you felt when we first started.
Then that's a win.
And if you're feeling tired or sleepy,
Know that that's normal.
If we rarely take time to close our eyes and rest besides when we're getting ready to sleep,
Our body just needs a little bit of time to adjust to integrating moments of recharge in our day.
And we can't expect a handful of minutes to refill our cup 100% if we haven't taken time in days,
Months or decades to recharge.
So be gentle with yourself.
And know that more moments of grazing more often in your life will have a profound impact on your ability to maintain a healthy balance within.
So keep showing up for yourself.
Prioritize time to set your responsibilities aside.
Because the more often you recharge,
The more energy you'll have to show up when it matters most.
Take a long,
Deep breath in,
Filling yourself up with aliveness.
And as you exhale,
Open your eyes and move into the rest of your day.
And remember,
Taking time for grazing is not unproductive.
It's essential in refueling your energy for the moments when you're blazing.
Take time to go on a hike with no phone,
Read a book or meditate.
The benefits will come back to you tenfold.
I hope this practice was helpful for you,
And I look forward to spending more time filling our cups back up together.
Have a wonderful day.
