Welcome to this guided meditation.
Please find a comfortable seat either on a chair or a sofa or on the floor and if you are on the floor make sure that your hips are higher than your knees so sitting on the edge of a cushion or a small chair would be ideal.
When you are sitting on the ground make sure that your feet are not in a cross-legged position because sitting in a cross-legged position can make your feet fall asleep and that's distracting.
So just find an area and a space where you feel comfortable and calm and collected and I'll take a few minutes to allow you to get set up.
Okay I hope you are ready and we're going to begin by closing our eyes and go ahead and take a deep inhale and exhale even longer.
And I'm going to ring three bells to signify the beginning of our practice and at the end I'll ring three more bells to let you know the conclusion of our practice.
So keep your back straight and lifted and make sure your shoulders are resting above your hips and keep your chin up and slightly lifted and just begin to breathe normally.
And the object of our meditation is the breath and so whenever you feel your thoughts becoming quicker or you feel yourself kind of drifting off go back to the sensation of your breath and try to figure out where you feel it the most.
And bring your attention to the crown of your head and try to relax the crown of your head and feeling that relaxed sensation move to your forehead and to your brow.
It's as if that relaxed energy is smoothing out the wrinkles in that area.
Relax the muscles around your eyes and let your cheeks fall heavy.
And take the tension out of your jaw.
Bring your awareness to your neck either sides of your neck and just notice any tension that might be stuck there and imagine it melting away like butter down into your shoulders and drop your shoulders.
Bring your awareness to your upper back and send some relaxed energy to that area.
Bring your awareness to your lower back and imagine the muscles all becoming relaxed.
Bring your awareness to your chest and see if you can feel your heartbeat.
And can you feel the air moving your diaphragm up and down and your stomach in and out.
Begin to relax the hips,
Notice where your body touches the ground or the chair.
If you feel any pain just touch that pain with awareness and don't identify with it.
Feel relaxed calming energy moving to your hips and your thighs and your hamstrings.
Bring your awareness to your upper arms,
To your elbows,
To your forearms and now your wrists and let your awareness linger on the palm of your hands.
Now imagine any tension or stress or anxiety exiting your fingers in the form of bright blue smoke and when it exits your fingers it goes out into the atmosphere where it harms no one or nothing.
Bring your awareness to your knees and your shins and your calves and your ankles and then for a couple breaths dwell on the bottoms of your feet,
The soles of your feet and send some loving energy there.
And bring your awareness back to your breath.
And can you feel the breath in your nostrils moving in and out?
Maybe you can feel the breath in the throat.
Can you feel the breath filling the lungs?
Can you acutely feel that sensation of air filling the lungs and then deflating the lungs?
Can you feel the breath rising and falling in the diaphragm?
Maybe you notice that each breath is a little different from the last and where you feel it in the body is never the same.
Every breath is impermanent.
You can never hold on to it.
And each breath passes away.
Nothing in life is permanent.
Every situation,
Every thought,
Every feeling,
They come and then they go.
So get in tune with your breath.
It most certainly is your best friend.
And possibly for this very moment,
Can you make it your closest companion?
And with your eyes still closed,
I'm going to read a Buddhist meditation about fear.
Just sit.
Notice where you feel hard and sit with that.
In the middle of that hardness,
You'll find anger.
Sit with that.
Go to the center of the anger and you'll probably come to sadness.
Stay with the sadness until it turns to vulnerability.
Keep sitting with what comes up.
The deeper you dig,
The more tender you become.
Raw fear can open into the wide expanse of genuineness,
Compassion,
Gratitude,
And acceptance in the present moment.
A tender heart appears naturally when you are able to stay present.
From your heart,
You can see the true pigment of the sky.
You can see the vibrant yellow of the sunflower and the deep blue of your daughter's eyes.
A tender heart doesn't block out rain clouds or tears or dying sunflowers.
Allow both beauty and sadness to touch you.
This is love,
Not fear.
Thank you.
