Before we start make sure that you are sitting somewhere comfortably.
That you're sitting somewhere where you can be undisturbed for the whole time of this recording.
Ideally keep your hips a little bit higher than your ankles.
So sitting on a cushion,
A yoga block or something similar can be a very good idea.
If sitting cross legged on the ground is uncomfortable for you,
Sitting on a chair works perfectly well as well.
Let your spine stretch out,
Your shoulders relax down,
Your neck being long,
Keep your chin parallel to the ground or even pull it in a little bit towards your chest.
Let your eyelids close down,
Relaxing down.
Take one deep inhale through your nose and draw your shoulders up towards your ears.
Let your shoulder blades roll down your back,
Open your mouth and softly let the exhale out as a way to signal to yourself the start of this meditative moment.
Then begin to turn your attention towards the sounds around you.
Notice if there are sounds around you that you would label positive,
Welcome to this moment,
A help maybe.
Like for instance let's say a bird song or even the sound of an air conditioning.
Then notice as well the sounds that you might label as disturbing or negative in this moment,
Like other people moving around somewhere or traffic,
Construction.
But let's agree on that it's all just sound.
It is the melody of this moment.
The moment would not be complete without it.
It is in whole.
Then bring your awareness as well towards the smells.
Notice first just how present you need to be in order to detect different smells really.
Observe how there are smells that might seem welcoming to you,
That you are drawn towards and others that you don't like and you wish were not there.
Once again it is a whole.
It isn't actually just smells,
It is the five elements expressing themselves in the now.
Feel the temperature,
Feel it with your skin and how perfect the temperature is right now for your body.
It is perfectly natural for us to label this way.
Like,
Dislike,
Go towards,
Stay away from,
I want more of,
I want less of.
As a survival instinct for our mind we tend to lean towards pleasure and avoid painful.
This is why very early in life we begin to make the same selection about our own traits.
So let's bring this observation also into ourselves beginning with the physical.
Scan your physical body feeling,
Each part of your body noticing if there's parts that are speaking more specifically to you,
Asking for your attention,
Maybe tensions,
Maybe pains,
Maybe pleasurable sensations.
But maybe also do you feel numb somewhere,
Are there parts of the body that you feel like you can't even really relate to?
Without labeling it as positive or negative,
Just observe,
Noticing how all of this is part of one whole that you label to.
Now more specifically to the parts that you may label something negative as a part that hurts or part of your body that you dislike or even where you feel like there's no life,
There's numbness.
Bring it into your awareness,
Focus on it as much as you can and whisper softly to yourself,
I am here with you now.
Bring your awareness now to the mental body,
The mind if you will,
The ways of your thoughts.
Notice if the mind is very busy at the moment these last few days.
Maybe it feels slow or lethargic.
What are the ways of your thoughts?
What have you been occupied maybe more than usual lately?
It is very difficult to not label here as negative or positive.
But instead of taking your thoughts as a proof of reality,
Observe them as a symptom of what's going on at the moment with you.
And whatever you might easily go and label negative as busyness in your mind,
Difficulty to stay present or simply negative thinking,
Fear,
Worry,
Give them space,
Don't push them away and whisper softly as you focus on them,
I am here with you now.
And finally,
Let's take a journey into the heart center.
When it comes to reading our emotional state,
It can sometimes be challenging to not use our thoughts,
To not put our words on how we're feeling.
If it helps,
Use colors,
Warm and bright colors or dark and cool colors.
And even better,
Where do you place the sensation of that emotional state?
In the body.
It is in the belly maybe.
Or is it in the heart center?
Maybe in the pelvis.
And anything that you would have a tendency to push away because you want to label it as negative,
Let it be.
The same way you always just wanted people to give you the space when you're feeling negative emotions.
Hold it in the space that is you and then whisper softly to it,
I am here with you now.
The journey of coming home begins with allowing each and one of the parts of ourselves to exist.
The path towards oneness,
Feeling whole that we all seek starts with acknowledging that even if we've labeled something as negative,
It still belongs to the part that is I.
Raise both of your hands,
The palms,
Straight onto your heart.
And just notice what's going on,
Notice the sensation,
What are you feeling,
What comes up as you do this gesture.
Remember that in your practice,
You begin to peel off the layers,
The labels of positive and negative,
So that you begin to tap into something more raw,
Something more true to yourself.
So connect to that sensation and repeat silently to yourself,
This is me,
This is me,
This is me.
Softly open your eyes and ideally turn your eyes towards something that you find joyful to look at as you open them,
Maybe nature if you have that possibility.
And repeat this meditation every morning.
Namaste.
