Welcome to today's meditation practice.
Our intention for the next 20 or so minutes of this practice is to settle the mind and body,
To investigate any discomfort and to tend to ourselves.
Let's take a few moments making our way into our meditation position for the day.
I do encourage you to sit with a straight spine as this allows you to remain alert and helps to focus your attention for the duration of the session.
Make any readjustments that you might need.
Relax your shoulders.
Adjust your chair.
If you prefer to be more reclined,
Just know that this can trigger the sleep response in the brain and makes it harder to stay awake once our relaxation response is activated.
And then we're going to start by gently closing down our eyes or half closing down our eyes and fixing our gaze on something in front of us,
Whatever feels most suitable for you today.
Now we're going to shift our attention by starting a meditation based on an acronym,
SIT.
This meditation can be done as short as a minute.
It can be done on your lunch break,
In transit,
Anywhere you'd like.
So the letters SIT stand for Settle,
Investigate and Tend To.
We're going to spend a few moments beginning to settle our mind and body,
Focusing in on our breath.
Observing whether your breath is short and staggered or long and full at this time.
Either way,
Try not to control or change your breath,
But just to simply observe.
Pay attention.
Which one is longer,
Your inhalation or your exhalation?
You might like to add a count.
Counting your in-breath and your out-breath.
If it feels right for you at this moment,
Just start to add a count onto your inhalation and your exhalation.
Helping make them a little longer,
A little fuller.
Where are you noticing your breath?
In your chest,
Where the air meets your nostrils,
The back of your throat,
In your tummy.
Now let's begin to settle the body by scanning through the body,
Starting from the crown of our head.
And imagining warm butter relaxing through the crevices of our brain,
Behind our eyes and nose,
Our jaw,
Down our throats,
Neck,
Shoulders,
Elbows,
Warming and relaxing each and every part,
Our fingers,
Our thumbs,
Our chest,
Around our heart space,
Dropping into our stomach,
Intestines,
Our hips,
Through our tops of our legs,
Our thighs and strings,
Through our knees and calves,
Our lower legs,
Ankles,
Feet and into every toe,
Warming,
Relaxing.
Take a few moments to settle the brain activity by visualising our brains and thoughts as a snow globe.
Our mind is like a snow globe and throughout our day and lives,
Our minds can act like a snowstorm,
Thoughts flying around in all directions.
So much going on.
We can allow the snow to settle,
Observe the snowflakes beginning to gently fall without your control.
Do not try and speed them up.
Just watch your thoughts and feelings begin to gently fall like a snowflake in their own time.
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Thoughts and feelings of anxiety or emotion and allow that to be okay.
Allow it to be there.
Watch it.
Investigate it with your magnifying glass.
How is your breath and body reacting to this attention?
How is your breath and body reacting to this attention?
How is your breath and body reacting to this attention?
How is your breath and body reacting to this attention?
Now we're going to move on to the third phase,
The letter T,
Which is for tend to.
Tend to your current calling.
Whatever it is that you've been investigating today,
Direct all of your attention to it.
Instead of pushing the discomfort away,
Tend to it with love and kindness.
You may want to choose a colour to send to a specific area.
Perhaps blue will soothe the sore muscle or yellow might warm up a heavy heart.
Nourish it like visualising a warm blanket,
Wrapping around,
Sending acceptance and attention.
Observe how your mind changes its attitude to your feelings once you begin tending to it,
Changing your relationship with it.
When you feel ready,
Arriving back to the sound of my voice or other sounds in your present moment in the space.
Float from sound to sound.
Begin gently rubbing your fingers together,
Wiggling your toes,
Swallowing a few times.
And when it feels comfortable,
Gently opening up your eyes and holding your gaze softly on a spot in front of you,
Before completely coming back to your surroundings.
You
