Taking a moment now to get comfortable and settled,
Either sitting or lying down,
Your back nice and long and straight,
Your front nice and soft,
With lots of room for a nice flowing breath to come from your diaphragm.
Just settling in now and getting comfortable,
Relaxing.
This time is all about you.
We're going to start in a moment by taking three nice deep breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth.
Breathing out with a nice big releasing sigh if that feels right for you.
So let's begin.
Taking a nice big deep breath in and exhaling,
Feeling any tension you've been holding just beginning to roll right off the body.
And again,
A nice big deep breath in and exhaling,
Releasing that and taking a moment to enjoy how that feels.
And one more time,
A nice big deep breath in from the belly and exhaling,
Letting that go and sinking into the ground.
Just letting yourself relax right into it.
Letting it hold you,
Just letting go.
And just breathing normally now for a few moments,
Allowing the mind and the body to just begin to settle.
We're now going to set an intention for today's meditation,
An intention for these busy hectic lives that we often lead,
An intention for simply pausing and taking a breath.
We're taking a step back from the chaos to just breathe,
To exhale,
To release in those moments when you might be holding that breath in as tightly as your emotions.
Taking a moment now to just feel into that intention for just remembering to breathe,
Feeling into what it means for you in whatever way feels most right for you.
Maybe thinking about where in your life you're just needing to slow down,
To just relax into stillness and to just breathe and be present.
Maybe it's at home,
Maybe at work,
Maybe even in your mind when all those thoughts are racing.
Thinking for a moment now,
Where in your life are you needing to just breathe?
And just letting that intention take shape in a word or maybe a sentence,
Maybe an image and feeling that intention.
Connect gently now with each soft beat of your heart and just resting here for a moment,
Connecting with that intention.
And now taking your intention in whatever way it has chosen to form for you and repeating it to yourself now three times.
And now taking a nice deep breath in and exhaling,
Sending that intention traveling out on a wave of nice light positive energy and just letting it be known that this is your desire for this practice today.
And knowing there is nothing more you need to do.
Just allowing that intention to unfold for you in the way that it's meant to.
And placing the awareness now on the breath,
Just following it gently and easily now as it flows in and out through the nostrils.
And just resting for a moment here in this space.
We're going to now begin drawing the senses further and further inward through a series of long,
Slow,
Deep breaths in through the nose and through the mouth.
Let's begin.
We're now going to begin drawing the senses further and further inward through a series of long,
Slow,
Deep breaths in and out through the nose.
So let's begin.
Beginning to breathe slowly now,
It's nice long inhales and nice long exhales.
Just long and deep and slow.
Slowing the body down,
Slowing the mind,
Bringing them together in the same space and gently beginning to entangle yourself from your thoughts and coming together,
Mind and body in the present moment.
Placing the awareness now on the breath and just following it as it flows in and out to the nostrils.
Becoming aware of the feeling of your body pressed against the ground.
Feeling more and more aware of the ground supporting the body with each long,
Slow breath.
Becoming aware now of the belly rounding and the ribs and the chest rising on the inhale.
Becoming aware now of the chest falling,
The ribs lowering and the belly flattening on the exhale.
Just noticing and following this movement and flow of the breath through the body for a few moments like this now.
And trying to see now if you can make the exhale just a little bit longer than the inhale.
Just drawing it out just a little bit more.
Just slowing the mind and body right down and connecting them with the breath.
Noticing if the mind begins to drift and gently bringing the attention back to the breath.
Noticing any sounds in the distance.
Noticing any sound that might be closer to you in the room.
Noticing the temperature of the air against your skin.
Noticing the sounds of the air as it enters and leaves your nostrils.
Just continuing to draw out the exhale just a little bit longer than the inhale.
Drying further and further inward with each slow,
Long exhale.
Just allowing yourself to drift gently inward on each long,
Slow breath.
Noticing how the breath feels as it enters and leaves your body.
Noticing the temperature of the air as it enters and the temperature as it leaves.
Just a little bit warmer.
Settling into the quiet darkness and stillness behind the eyelids.
And just feeling the quiet beating of the heart in your chest now.
Slowing,
Calming.
Hearing its soft,
Gentle beating.
And just resting here a moment.
Breathing normally and easily,
Gently following the breath as it flows softly in and out.
There is a quote that says,
When you own your breath,
Nobody can steal your peace.
The breath has a beautiful power to soothe,
To literally breathe life into the body.
The quality of the breath also reflects our inner states.
When we are anxious or upset,
The breath comes quick,
Short.
So much so that we sometimes say that we can't catch it.
And when we are relaxed and calm inside,
The breath comes long and deep,
Slow,
Easy.
Just flows.
The breath has a direct connection to the heart and vice versa.
When the heart beats quickly,
The breath comes quickly also.
When the heart beats slowly,
The breath mirrors its cadence.
And something so naturally wonderful is that the breath can tell the heart to calm,
Give signal to the whole body and mind to just relax.
Telling it that everything is okay,
That everything is safe.
In today's practice,
We will experience the power of the breath to soothe and calm the body and mind as together we quite simply just breathe.
So let's begin placing the awareness again on the breath and just following the gentle movement and flow of the belly rounding and the ribs and chest rising on the inhale.
The chest falling,
The ribs lowering,
The belly flattening on the exhale.
And just noticing this again for a few moments,
Connecting with it.
On the next inhale,
Noticing the breath filling up the belly,
Filling up the chest,
Creating space.
On the next exhale,
Noticing the feeling of the breath flowing throughout the body,
Soothing it and calming it.
Breathing in,
Filling the body with the breath.
Breathing out,
Soothing the body with the flow of the breath.
Just noticing and feeling the breath like this for a few moments.
Just connecting with it.
This time on the inhale,
Noticing the heart beating just a little bit quicker as the body fills with the breath.
And just pausing at the top for a few beats.
And now on the exhale,
Just noticing the heart beating just a little bit slower as the breath soothes the body as it flows through.
Just noticing this for a few moments.
The heart beating a little bit quicker on the inhale.
The heart beating a little bit slower on the exhale.
The breath filling up the body and creating space.
The breath flowing out through the body and soothing it as it passes through.
And taking a moment now to visualize that breath flowing as a soft white light.
Just imagining the breath now as a soft white light for a moment.
And now taking a nice long slow inhale and imagining that soft white light filling up the belly and the chest.
Just pausing for a few beats now at the top.
And now exhaling,
Imagining that soft white light drawing slowly back into the body and seeing if you can direct it,
Can draw inwards into the heart.
And just continuing this now for a few moments.
On the inhale,
Imagining that soft white light filling up the belly and chest.
And on the exhale,
Imagining that soft white light drawing slowly back into the body,
Drawing it inwards into the heart.
And now on the next long slow inhale,
Imagining that soft white light not only filling up the belly and chest,
But now pushing out to fill the very outer length of the body all the way to the very tips of the toes,
To the tips of the fingers,
To the crown of the head,
Filling up the whole body,
The whole body.
And just pausing for a few beats at the top.
And exhaling,
Drawing that soft white light now back from the outer length of the body inwards into the heart.
And again,
On the next long slow inhale,
Imagining that soft white light slowly filling up the whole body,
Feeling it fill the torso,
Feeling it fill the legs all the way down to the tips of the toes,
Feeling it fill the arms all the way down to the tips of the fingers,
Feeling it fill the neck,
The head,
And pausing at the top.
Maybe seeing if you can move that soft white light up and down the length of the spine,
Maybe moving it up to the space between the brows and just resting it there for a moment,
Focusing it there.
And exhaling gently now and continue breathing like this now,
Continuing with this visualization of the breath for three minutes,
Soothing the body and mind,
Calming them and bringing them together.
Maybe repeating silently to ourselves these words as we do.
On the inhale,
Silently saying the words,
The body breathing the breath.
And on the exhale,
Silently saying the words,
The breath breathing the body.
The breath breathing the body.
After three minutes,
I will slowly guide you back with the sound of my voice.
Many thoughts arise.
Know that this is completely normal,
Completely okay,
Completely human.
Just notice them,
Acknowledge them,
Release them,
Returning the attention back to the breath,
Flowing in and out with this soft,
Soothing white light.
The body breathing the breath on the inhale,
The breath breathing the body on the exhale.
So let's begin and enjoy.
Stress level change.
Two minutes.
And releasing that awareness now and just breathing easily and normally now,
Resting as we begin the process of closing our practice and turning the senses back outward.
Noticing now how the breath feels in the nostrils.
Noticing the temperature of the air on the inhale.
Noticing the temperature of the air on the exhale.
Just a little bit warmer.
Noticing the sound of the breath as it enters.
And the sound as it leaves.
Becoming aware again of any sounds in the room,
Any sounds further in the distance.
Noticing how the temperature of the air feels on your skin.
Noticing the feeling of your clothes against your skin.
Becoming aware again of the ground supporting you.
Just feeling into the ground again now.
Noticing now the outline of your body back here in this physical space.
Envisioning the room.
Just coming back.
Back to this physical space.
Drawing the senses slowly,
Gently back outward.
Remembering again your intention from the beginning of this practice and just taking a moment to feel into that intention again now.
And now repeating that intention to yourself three times.
We're going to close our practice today with three nice deep energizing breaths.
In through the nose and out through the mouth.
Let's begin.
Nice big deep breath in.
And releasing that.
Coming back to this space.
The energizing power of the breath.
And again a nice big deep breath in.
And release.
Feeling refreshed,
Connected,
Calm,
Embodied.
One last time.
Nice big deep breath in.
And releasing that back here now in this space.
When you own your breath,
Nobody can steal your peace.
I invite you now,
When you're ready,
To gently slowly open your eyes.
Thank you for sharing your practice with me today.
Namaste.
