Welcome to this guided meditation.
Our practice today is all about creating a sense of balance and clarity for the mind.
The practice is all about effortlessness.
Start by finding a comfortable seat and that may mean sitting anywhere you want,
Maybe supporting your lower back,
But making sure that your neck and your head are free from leaning against anything.
Taking a moment to set yourself into your seat,
Be it on the floor,
On a chair,
Maybe even on your bed.
And if at any point the posture becomes uncomfortable,
Simply allow yourself to move and adjust so that you're comfortable again.
And so as I was saying,
Our practice today is all about effortlessness.
It's all about letting yourself be guided without any particular expectation on the outcome of the practice,
Without the need to force any experience that's not naturally happening on its own,
So that you can allow the experience to unfold just moment to moment.
Tuning into that sense of innocent curiosity for what is there for you without any particular preference or any need to have a good meditation.
Remember there's no such thing as a bad meditation anyway,
So you can just let yourself follow through and simply see what comes out for you.
As always,
Just taking a moment to settle into the body.
So if you need to make any last adjustments to your posture so you can settle a bit more into the stillness,
Feel free to do that now.
Allow for the shoulders to soften.
Allow yourself to feel the effect of gravity in your body.
Allow yourself to sink a little bit more heavier into the ground.
Softening the space in your jaw,
Your forehead,
Your fingers.
Seeing if you can soften a lack of any possible tension in the body.
Starting by taking a soft but deep breath into the nose and then opening the mouth and letting it out.
Do that again one more time,
Feeling into the nose and emptying out.
Feel free to do that a third time if that feels right for you.
And then with that exhale,
Just settling in.
Letting the breath find its natural freedom for now.
Turning your attention to the breath simply to observe.
Notice what is present for you there.
Remember as we observe the breath,
We're not qualifying it as good or bad.
So simply notice if the breath is long or short,
Is it deep or shallow?
Is it coming more from the belly or from your chest?
Simply observing.
From here,
Creating a sense of balance for your breath by inviting a soft counting in your head.
So you will inhale,
Counting up to four and exhale also counting to four.
Now you're absolutely free to choose the speed at which you count.
It's all about creating just a sense of balance.
Let me take you a couple of rounds to get to that sense of balance for the breath.
So just take your time there.
Make you feel comfortable where you are.
Feel free to linger a little bit more into the breath simply by maybe slowing down the rhythm of your count.
You're still counting to four for your inhale and your exhale,
But maybe there's space for a little bit of length in the breath there.
And if you're comfortable where you were,
Of course you stay there.
Now you can let go of that counting for the breath and let it return to a more natural rhythm.
Maybe notice how this natural rhythm may be already a little different than what it was just a couple of moments ago.
Now introducing a different counting in your head.
This time you will count to one for your inhale,
Two is your exhale,
Three,
Inhale,
Four,
Exhale,
Five,
Inhale and so on.
Counting your way up to 13 and if at any point you lose the count,
Maybe thoughts come in or any other distraction that makes you lose the count.
Know that it's,
You know,
Very common.
Simply go back to one when you notice.
If you go beyond 13 and keep going,
Same thing,
At some point when you notice,
Bring yourself back to one.
If you reach 13,
Come back to one and start again.
Trying to keep a sense of effortlessness in the practice,
Simply following the breath.
When you lose track of where you are,
Come back to one.
Once again,
You can gently let go of the count in your head.
Let the breath settle back to maybe a more natural rhythm.
Now gently starting to think the mantra aham.
A-H-A-M,
Aham.
And rather than a word that you're trying to repeat in your mind,
Allow it to be more like a faded sound.
Pulsing at the back of the mind almost by itself.
Aham.
If at any point you forget to think the mantra and you start thinking other things or you get distracted by noises around you,
Just know that it's totally normal.
It's a common thing to happen.
It's a part of the technique.
You don't need to release your thoughts.
You don't need to stop yourself from thinking.
Remember,
Our approach is all about effortlessness.
So when thoughts arise and you notice,
Simply bring yourself back to the mantra.
Aham.
As effortlessly as you can.
We will be there for a bit less than 10 minutes.
And I will let you know when it's time to come out.
Simply let the experience unfold on its own.
No preference,
No expectations.
Keeping your eyes closed.
You can gently let go of the mantra.
And for a moment,
Allow your awareness to turn back to the body.
Simply observing how you feel in your body in this moment.
Observing how the meditation has affected you.
And then inviting a soft breath through the nose,
Filling up the belly and the chest.
And a gentle exhale.
Feeling the contact of your body with the ground or with your chair.
Becoming aware of the space around you.
The sounds,
The touch of the air on your skin.
Gently start to move the hands,
The wrists,
Maybe the head a little.
And when you feel ready,
Then softly open the eyes and bring yourself back to your space.
Maybe taking a moment to really look around you and fixate your gaze on a detail,
Something that your eyes naturally get attracted to,
Before you softly bring yourself back.
