For this meditation,
I recommend sitting on a soft surface.
Focus on your posture.
Try to straighten your spine,
Align your joints.
Try to find a comfortable position to sit upright.
Be sure not to slouch.
Place your hands gently on your knees.
Sit cross-legged if you're able,
Or whichever form you find works best for you.
Once you're comfortable and situated,
Close your eyes.
Take your first breath.
Relax into your exhale.
As you feel your body relax,
Your eyes are closed.
As you continue breathing,
Picture yourself in the most beautiful setting you can possibly imagine.
If you're struggling to find a peaceful place to sit,
Picture yourself amidst a meadow and hear the chirping birds,
The sense of the grass growing underneath you.
The different sounds,
The color of the sky,
The way the clouds are moving.
Close your eyes and try to imagine.
Or maybe you're sitting beside the mountain stream,
Deep in the valley in solitude.
Again,
You hear birds chirping.
You're in the forest.
Things are soft and quiet and dampened by the pine needles.
All you hear is the snow melt rushing through the stream.
Maybe you've also found yourself beside the ocean.
There's a cool laminar breeze coming off the water.
The sun is setting.
You can hear the seagulls.
The sky is orange and the soft sand beneath your body.
The sound of crashing waves.
Whichever scene that you've placed yourself in,
Take a moment,
Sit in that scene and breathe.
Breathe in through your nose,
Then breathe out through your mouth.
When you breathe in with your nose,
Pay attention to the air that's coming in.
Does it have a temperature?
Does it have a characteristic of scent?
When you have that breath in,
Take a moment to feel the breath in your lungs and hold that for a second or two before exhaling and relaxing.
With each exhalation,
You should find your body sinking a little more and a little more.
Relax your body.
If you notice an area of tension,
Focus on that area.
Don't fight the pain or discomfort,
But just recognize it.
What you'll find is as you set your attention to this area of discomfort and focus,
You shut off your mind.
Hopefully,
With each breath out,
You'll be able to relax this area and find relief.
Thank you.
As you continue your breathing,
Maybe you felt or noticed your mind start to wander.
Maybe you begun thinking about the tasks of today or the happenings of yesterday.
This is perfectly fine and normal in meditation.
What you'll notice if you focus on these thoughts is that there is a part of your consciousness that says these thoughts.
Your mind will actually talk to you.
Close your eyes if they're not closed already.
Tell yourself hello without speaking aloud.
Do that now.
What you'll notice is that there is a part of you that speaks within and there is also the part of you that hears within,
Just as any conversation.
If there is a part of you that is speaking and a part of you that is listening,
I want you to ignore the part that is speaking.
I want you to focus on the part that is just listening.
That same part of you that is just listening is also feeling and hearing and sensing various things around you.
This part of your consciousness is what will allow you to release anxiety and be in the moment and find yourself.
Who you are really deep inside.
Over the next few moments,
I want you to take the time to sit with those thoughts,
Close your eyes and identify the part of you that is listening and the part of you that is talking.
If the part of you that is talking is getting distracting,
Just let it go and don't focus on it.
Let it happen if it's happening,
But just switch your focus to the part of you that is listening and experiencing.
If you have emotions that come up during this time,
Focus on those emotions.
Identify their characteristics.
Where at in your body do you feel those emotions?
Is it uniform?
Is it just in your stomach?
Is it just in your head?
Around your chest?
Maybe down to your fingertips?
Different emotions will cause different sensations.
As these emotions happen,
I want you to sit in the seat of awareness,
The seat of sensing and ignore the parts of you that want you to focus elsewhere.
And notice those emotions and where they affect you.
The more you do this,
You'll come to find out that those emotions,
The emotions that you focus on will slowly dissipate and you'll allow that energy to pass.
What happens with most of us without taking this time for meditation and wellness?
As those emotions come through,
We push them away and we ignore them.
And we don't confront them and focus on how they're affecting our body.
If you avoid feeling these emotions and block them out because you're tired of feeling sadness or you're tired of being overwhelmed,
Maybe you're just full of anxiety.
If you push these emotions away and you block them out and you try to pretend that they're not there,
All you're doing is allowing them room to consume you.
So take a moment and focus on the emotions that are coming up,
How they make you feel and be okay with them.
It's okay to feel sad.
It's okay to feel overwhelmed.
It's okay to feel anxious.
These are all acceptable human emotions.
Maybe you experience one more than the other and that's totally okay.
It's what makes us all unique and all different.
Once you learn to feel these emotions and identify their characteristics and their characteristics and traits,
You become comfortable with sitting in them,
You will find peace.
It is at this moment of peace where I find myself amidst the meadow full of wildflowers with chirping birds,
Beside the ocean listening to crashing waves or in the mountain valley beside a rushing stream.
I sit and I focus in this moment of peace and I imagine myself meditating in those scenes.
Once you find yourself being able to identify the color of the sky,
The different contrast of the clouds as they form and move,
The birds that are flying overhead,
The trees that are around you,
How the soft breeze is gently swaying them,
And the chirps,
The multitude of birds that are so subtle and often ignored.
As you breathe in through your nose,
Imagine yourself breathing in the scent of fresh wildflowers and feeling the rays of the sun on your face.
This is a peaceful and comfortable place where you are free of judgment and the stresses of life.
So for the next few minutes,
Just sit in that space,
Identify your emotions and enjoy the scenery as you simply experience what you don't think,
Just feel.
Music Thank you for taking the time to meditate with me today.
I hope that you've found comfort and peace in a new setting to escape away to.
Namaste.
If you'd like,
You can sit,
Continue your meditation or end your session here.
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