Hello,
My name is Chris McDonald.
I'm a licensed therapist and host of the Holistic Counseling Podcast.
And welcome to meditation.
See if you can find yourself in a quiet space,
Away from distractions,
Letting family members know that you're going to be taking this time for you.
Turn off your phone,
Notifications on your computer,
Anything else that could be distracting.
And see if you can find yourself a chair.
Sit up straight with your feet on the floor.
Or if you prefer sitting cross-legged,
Do that now.
Just try to settle in for a moment.
If you need to shift at all to get more comfortable,
Do that now.
See if you can gently move your shoulders back a few times,
And then just allowing your shoulder blades to go down your back body as you settle in a little more.
Just noticing for a moment the chair beneath you,
Supporting you,
Holding you up.
And just imagining the earth beneath you,
Also supporting you,
Holding you up.
And just notice a moment for your feet,
Where they're placed,
How they're feeling.
And just imagine them connecting you to the earth,
Feeling grounded as you tune into this meditation today.
And just scan up to your legs,
Your calves,
Just noticing any tension,
Any sensation that might be there.
Noticing your knees and your thighs,
Just being aware of what's present for you in this moment.
Noticing the middle of your body,
Your belly,
Your chest,
Any sensations that may be there,
Or if they're feeling calm.
Noticing your low back,
Mid back,
Upper back.
What about your shoulders?
Are you noticing any heaviness,
Any tension?
Noticing upper arms,
Lower arms,
Hands and fingers.
And moving up to your neck,
Noticing any tension or pain,
Your head,
Your back of your head,
Top of your head,
Just notice any tingling sensations as you bring your awareness there.
Signs of your head and your face.
See if you can soften your forehead,
Soften that space between your eyebrows,
Softening your jaw.
You can open your mouth a little bit to soften your jaw if you're feeling tension.
And connect to your breath.
Just notice your breath right now.
Notice if you have short breaths or deeper breaths in your belly without judgment.
Just seeing what's there.
Seeing your belly rise on the inhale,
Fall on the exhale.
And then notice your chest rising on the inhale,
Falling on the exhale.
Notice for a few breaths,
The rising and falling.
I want you to go back in that space in your mind behind your eyes,
That place of calm and peace.
The place where you can imagine.
Imagine for a moment that it's a warm spring day and you find yourself walking in the woods.
You're just noticing the leaves around you on the trees,
Gently swaying in the breeze.
You hear the sounds of your feet walking on the earth.
Feel your arms swinging gently back and forth as you walk alone in this space.
Smell the fresh air filling your lungs,
The sense of the forest around you,
The sense of the flowers.
And up above you see the blue sky,
Just a few clouds floating by.
And you continue walking,
Going up slight hill.
Feel that breeze on your skin,
On your face,
Blowing through your hair gently.
This place feels like a place of calm.
You feel very connected to the earth here.
And as you're walking,
You hear a sound.
You hear the sound of running water.
You decide to keep going,
Following that sound,
Gently veering off the path into another path,
Getting closer and closer to the sound,
The water.
You can hear it gently bubbling,
Very comforting as it flows down the mountain.
As you come to this space near the water,
And you see where the water's coming down,
Gently across the rocks,
All the way down.
You notice it in front of you where it gets a little bit deeper.
And hearing the sound,
You close your eyes and embrace being here.
This is a great place of stillness for you,
A place that you feel wanted and a place that you want to be.
You feel that connection to mother earth here.
You imagine roots coming from your feet into the earth,
Centered,
Grounded.
You belong in this place.
You gently open your eyes again.
Just watch as the clouds gently float on by,
Out of your visual field.
Your attention comes back to the water once again,
Floating on by,
Floating down the mountain until you can't see it anymore,
Into the deep brush.
See a few minnows floating in there,
Swimming.
You notice all the rocks in the water,
And the rocks that are glistening at the top of the mountain as the water gently cascades down.
You decide to take a seat right here.
What a perfect spot to stay and just be.
So much of your life is rushing,
So full of demands and stresses.
You sigh and take a breath in,
Exhaling out,
To finally be in this place of calm.
Just feel strange to you,
But in a wonderful way.
And then you notice your thoughts.
A thought may come up right now.
Am I doing this right,
This meditation?
Or maybe a task you might have forgotten to do today,
Or something you have to do this evening.
So just recognize that thought as just a thought,
And imagine it written on one of the leaves above from the tree.
And then you watch that leaf slowly fall down,
Floating,
Floating,
Floating down to the water.
Then you watch it as it lands in the water,
And floats on down the mountain,
Until it's gone.
So you make that intention to let that thought go.
Notice how your body feels as you let that thought go.
Notice any sensations of relief,
Feeling that deep in your body and your soul.
Once you let it go,
Released,
Come back to your breath.
And notice your breath once again.
Notice any shifts,
Or if it stayed the same.
Imagine all of this you know is without judgment,
Being present to whatever comes up for you.
And it's okay in this present moment.
So it's that intentional practice of staying here,
And not going into past things,
Or past mistakes,
Or future oriented,
Not what you got to do before tomorrow,
Or what you have to do after this meditation.
Using your mind,
Your presence,
And awareness to this present moment,
To just be.
Continue just sitting and listening to the water.
And as another thought comes up,
Just notice it.
And the same thing,
Repeat again,
Noticing written on one of the leaves on the tree,
See it floating on down.
You can notice the color of the leaf,
If it's green or yellow,
Red,
Or a mix,
And floating on by into the water.
Notice it without judgment.
Just mindfully aware of it,
Letting it go.
Then come back to your breath.
Try to anchor your breath,
Just noticing the tip of your nose,
Feeling the air coming in through your nose,
Out through your nose.
Or notice your belly rising on the inhale,
Falling on the exhale.
Continuing that following of the breath.
And as you gently look at the ground in front of you,
You notice an object.
And this is an unusual object that's very light.
And you pick it up and you notice it has an area that you can put something into it.
So this is a very special object.
This object will take whatever you want to let go of and release and take it away,
So that you no longer have to carry it.
So in your mind right now,
What is it that you want to let go of?
It could be an emotion like anger,
Sadness,
Or anxiety.
Or maybe it's a behavior.
Maybe you have a bad habit or you procrastinate.
You want to just let that go,
Not deal with that anymore.
So you slowly release,
Put it in there,
You pick up the object,
Allow it to fill,
And imagine that release from your body of whatever it is that you want to let go of.
And you place that nice gentle light object into the water.
And as you see it floating and it seals it up,
It holds on to what you want to release.
You watch this object as it floats on down,
Past the rocks,
The fish,
Gently bobbing and waving as it goes down the mountain,
Releasing.
Come back to yourself as you watch it disappear.
What do you notice in your body?
What do you notice in your heart?
What sensations do you notice coming up?
Just be present with that,
Without judgment.
Just see what's there,
Allowing it to be.
Notice if there's any relief or any other emotion.
Because it can be a mix of emotions.
To see what's present for you.
I will take one minute just to sit in silence and just listen to my voice when I come back and I'll let you know when we'll continue this meditation.
I'll let you know when we'll continue this meditation.
I'll let you know when we'll continue this meditation.
Take a slightly deeper breath in and exhale.
How was that minute for you?
Sometimes it's hard to sit in that silence,
But it's much needed to get you out of that busy mind,
Back into your body,
Back to present moment awareness.
You gently stand up,
Look around,
Noticing again the colors you see all around you,
The objects,
The trees,
Rocks,
The leaves,
Birds,
And the sky.
Can you say goodbye to this place,
But know you can always come back here for a one minute meditation just to give yourself this time and space away from all of the responsibilities and difficulties you face each day.
And you start to walk away from this place down the mountain,
Gently walking back the path,
Still noticing the sounds around you,
Tuning into the sense in the air,
The fresh air in your lungs,
Hearing again your feet walking on the path,
Your arms gently brushing side to side,
And you feel a giant smile on your face as you feel a bit lighter,
As you start to let go of something that was holding you back.
I know that this will be an intentional practice for yourself to continue on this journey.
And you come down the path,
Gently coming back into the room you're in,
Into yourself,
Feeling again the floor beneath you,
Feeling that centeredness of being present,
Noticing your legs,
How they're feeling now,
If you need to move them,
And your shoulders,
Your face.
And when you're ready,
You can gently wiggle your fingers and toes,
Bring your awareness back to where you are in the room right now,
And gently blink your eyes open when you're ready,
Or you're welcome to stay in this meditative place,
Stay in that space behind your eyes for a few minutes more until you're ready to come back.
And if your eyes are open,
Just take a look around your space,
So turning your head all the way to the right,
Seeing what you notice,
Shapes,
Colors,
And gently looking forward.
And then look all the way to the left,
Noticing shapes,
Colors,
Objects,
And then your eyes all the way back to center.
How do you feel?
And just give yourself some loving kindness for taking the time out of your day to be here today,
To be present.
And I hope this meditation was helpful for you.
For the more you can do these practices,
The more benefit you will receive from these.
And I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day.
