Good morning.
Welcome to this guided meditation for relief from anxiety and stress.
Taking any seated position that supports your intention to remain focused and awake.
Beginning by simply focusing on the breath.
As the breath rises,
Crests and falls away.
Focusing on the breath grounds you in the present moment.
As you focus on the breath,
Become aware of the thoughts and feelings that are currently playing on your mind.
But just for our meditation now,
Simply not getting involved with any of these thoughts.
Naturally,
In the morning,
We try to plan the rest of the day.
Our mind filled with apprehension and prediction.
But just for this time now,
Simply not getting involved with any of this.
There will be plenty of time to plan and to think later.
But just allow yourself this time to remain fully present.
Truly feeling the sensations of the breath rising and falling.
Noticing that you cannot experience a previous breath or the next breath.
You can only experience now.
The next moment never arrives.
There is no future.
It's a myth.
The future can only exist in your mind as prediction,
Apprehension,
Worry and planning.
But these are simply thoughts that arise within the present moment.
So it's perfectly safe and perfectly responsible to simply let go of all of these thoughts for this time now.
Nothing to plan.
Nothing to fix.
Nothing to create.
Nobody you have to be.
Simply remaining here,
Focused on the breath.
Now you may find that your thoughts and feelings are quite noisy and this is okay.
There is no need to become frustrated by this.
The mind naturally does this to try and take your attention away from the present moment.
But just for this time,
When you feel that your attention has wandered away from the breath,
Simply return attention back to the breath and give it no further thought.
Really feel the breath rise and fall,
Noticing that in the awareness of the breath,
The breath naturally deepens itself.
Very good.
Now as you continue to focus attention on the breath,
Noticing thoughts and feelings continuing to rise,
But for now not getting involved.
Recognizing that thoughts and feelings come and go.
They are all temporary.
No thought or feeling has to have your attention.
Thoughts and feelings are like waves rising out of the ocean.
They rise,
They crest,
And then they fall away.
Some are quite small and rise and fall quickly.
Others are larger and more powerful,
But all thought and feeling eventually crests,
Crashes,
And falls away.
Choosing to reopen your eyes now if they have been closed and simply taking a few deeper breaths to recenter and ground yourself within this present moment.
Noticing that as the meditation begins to draw to a close,
Thoughts and feelings begin to rush in as though they have been waiting for their moment to claw your attention back.
And this is okay.
This is the mind doing what it does naturally.
But throughout the day,
Recognize that you can always return to this place of peace,
This space of the present moment.
After all,
It is always now.
Thank you for practicing this meditation.
Take care and be well.
