Hello,
Welcome to this meditation led by Claudia Silas,
A mindful movement and meditation teacher.
Let's begin today by finding somewhere comfortable to lie down.
Or if that's not possible you can sit.
But let's just check in and see that we're comfortable and supported.
You may want to use cushions,
Bolsters or blankets to keep you warm.
Adjust your body and wiggle around a little so that you can find the most comfortable position for this meditation.
Allow your neck to be free.
Allow your shoulders to be free.
Allow your spine and back to be free.
Allow your hips to be free.
And allow your hands and feet to be free.
The muscles in your face begin to soften.
The muscles in your arms and hands begin to soften.
The muscles in your legs and feet also beginning to soften now.
Relaxing any unnecessary tension that you may be clinging on to.
Begin to notice your breath without changing the breath in any way.
Just drawing attention to this space.
Notice how the breath rises and falls like a wave in your body.
Notice the fluidity,
The easiness of your breath.
Today's practice is all about finding flow.
It's going to help you unwind and unstick anything that may be stored up physically,
Mentally or emotionally.
Helping to bring a quality of easiness and fluidity.
So with your body settling and your breath flowing,
I want you to start building the image of a landscape.
And this landscape is centered around a stream of water.
Notice the nature.
And notice how this water is not very deep,
It's just a gentle stream in front of you.
Notice the colours.
Notice any sounds that you can hear.
Notice the colours.
Notice any sounds that you can hear.
Slowly starting to approach the stream,
Feeling your feet,
Your body,
Your body,
Your body.
Slowly starting to approach the stream,
Feeling your feet as they walk across the floor towards this stream of water.
Keep walking until eventually your feet touch the water and enter the stream.
Notice the sensation of water on your feet,
Around your ankles,
Between your toes.
Notice the flow of water as it runs across your feet.
And turning now to take your gaze down the stream and slowly begin to walk in that direction.
Walking through the stream which starts to grow bigger,
Deeper as you walk further down.
And you notice the sensation of water as it grows up your legs.
Continue to walk,
Feeling the water rise above your hips.
Notice again the landscape around you.
And by now your lower half of the body is submerged and you can feel the water moving across your lower body and the surface of the water against your hands.
Continue to walk slowly,
Deeper into the river so that you can now feel the water coming up over your hands and arms,
Over your belly and rib cage and up to your chest,
Neck and shoulders.
Notice that you're still breathing.
Notice that your body is still soft.
And just allow your head to drop back and your body to lift up so that you're floating on the water,
Floating on this river.
And notice the sensations of water across your body and in your hair.
Notice the landscape and nature around you from this new position,
Perhaps a clearer view of the sky,
The sun.
Notice how the water holds you as you lay.
Notice how the water holds you as you lay.
Notice how the water holds you as you lay.
Begin to feel the edges of your body,
Gently becoming one with the water.
You're now moving down the river as one with the body of water,
Moving at a pace that feels right for you.
Notice the easiness,
The flowing quality in your breath and body as you are one with this body of water.
Notice yourself as the river begins to expand,
The banks widening,
The floor is deeper and you are picking up pace with the river that flows energetically.
You are the river,
Flowing,
Flowing,
Flowing.
You may notice that leaves and debris fall on the surface of the river.
You continue to float and glide along with them but they are not part of your water.
The leaves and debris that fall and rest on the surface are your thoughts.
They are there and you notice them but they are not part of you,
Part of your river.
We have some separation.
Notice also that there are rocks underneath you and currents moving around you.
These rocks and currents,
Your underlying emotions,
They're but separate.
Aware of their presence though as you continue to flow down,
Flow freely.
Notice that you are starting to slow down.
The river is becoming a little smaller,
A little slower and you are noticing your breath a little bit more as it rises and falls like a wave.
Slowing down so much so now that you pause,
You come to stillness.
And you begin to notice yourself again as separate from the body of water,
Becoming more aware of your physical sensations,
Perhaps sensations on your skin or internal sensations through your muscles,
Bones,
Organs.
Feel yourself lifting up out of the water and your feet returning to the floor.
See the landscape from this angle.
As you gently,
Slowly,
Taking one breath at a time,
Begin to walk out of the water and back up to the bank where you began.
The water beginning to trickle down your body as you exit the water.
And just gently coming to stillness and allowing the image of this landscape to dissolve.
Bring more awareness back into the space around you with your eyes still closed but just becoming more aware of the sensations of your body against your support.
Or any sounds that you can hear in your space.
And starting to move your body a little in whichever way feels most natural to you.
Maybe it's wiggling,
Stretching,
Squeezing or you could just shift entirely into another position so you can pause again for a few moments.
You may want to stay lying down for a little while longer but if you would like to come up and finish sitting and you're not there already,
Start to do so slowly now.
Taking one hand onto your chest,
One hand onto your belly and noticing that flowing breath underneath your hands.
You're going to take three clearing breaths in through the nose,
Out through the mouth,
Big breath in and let it go out through your mouth.
Two more like that.
All the way to the top of your inhale and all the way to the edge of your exhale.
And a final breath.
Please pause here as long as you need to before coming back into your space and continuing with your day.
Thank you for practicing with me.
