Cultivating Stillness

Cultivating stillness is not perfect stillness. The path to stillness involves acceptance of where you are at any given moment. This guided meditation fosters acceptance, surrender and relaxation. It is amazing how far a little awareness of your breath and your surroundings can take you!

Transcript

Find a quiet place where you can get comfortable, Either seated, Or laying down, Or standing. Choosing a place that is quiet and just beginning to lengthen your inhalations, Lengthen your exhalations, Bringing your awareness to your breath, Bring your awareness to your body. Is there any adjustments you can make so that you are even just a little bit more comfortable, A little bit more relaxed? Can you straighten your spine, Tuck your chin slightly, Feeling your neck as an extension of the spine, Bring your shoulders up to your ears, Roll them back, And glide your shoulder blades down your back, Feeling them reaching towards your sitting bones. Feel yourself supported by the surface beneath you. Bring a sense of ease into all the joints of the body, The shoulders, The elbows, The wrists, The hips, The knees, Ankles, And toes, Bringing your awareness back to the breath. Are there any differences in your mind or your body now compared to when we started lengthening our inhalations and exhalations? Picture your body in the space it is occupying. Is it completely still, Or is it moving with your breath? Is your mind active? Is it in the distance, Or is it with your breath? Cultivating stillness is not about being perfectly still. It's about surrendering into your being, Connecting with your breath, With your body, With your mind, With focused awareness. Cultivating stillness is calming some of the noise, The busyness, The excess, And you make your next inhalation the longest inhalation, The deepest breath that you have taken all day. Let it out with an audible sigh, Breathing in fresh energy, Breathing out to surrender, Breathing in to connect, Breathing out to surrender, Knowing that you can connect to this place at any point in time. Begin to be aware of the space you are in, Bringing your attention to any scents or aromas in the space, Any sounds close to you or in the distance, Bringing some gentle movement to your fingers, Your toes, Maybe some movement to your shoulders and neck, And just carrying forward this cultivated stillness into the rest of your day.