Welcome back.
My name is Laura,
And this is Cultivate Your Wellness.
In today's meditation,
We will practice observing the body,
Observing the mind,
Observing what the ego wants to pay attention to.
And we will practice not separating ourselves from these things,
But just observing,
Learning more about who we are and how to navigate this world we live in.
We'll use the breath,
We'll use the stillness to center and ground and feel at ease.
Let's begin.
Finding yourself in a comfortable position,
Whatever works best for you.
Close the eyes if that feels good,
Or just soften your gaze in front of you,
Allowing yourself to gently land in this moment and turning your attention to the breath.
The breath is our constant anchor to the present,
Our pillar of existence.
It's the one thing that we know will always be constant as long as we're living.
And we can connect to it at any moment.
No matter where you are or what's happening,
You always have the breath.
And so we just feel the air as it comes into the body,
As it leaves the body.
Breathing the breath in and feeling the chest rise and fall.
Following the breath as it brings our attention into the body,
Giving us the space to notice what it feels like to just breathe.
The air feeling cool as it enters,
And a little bit warmer as it leaves.
Perhaps now you're beginning to notice other sensations in the body,
Checking in with the muscles of the face,
Around the eyes and your jaw,
The shoulders,
Your limbs.
On your next inhale,
Noticing,
And on the exhale,
Just inviting in some softness there.
Feeling some heaviness and grounding as the air leaves your body.
As you begin to fall a little bit deeper into the stillness.
Noticing the air.
Noticing the space.
Noticing the quiet.
And that if at any point the body feels the need to move,
That's okay.
We can still be in a state of relaxation and calm even when we're moving.
We just do it with intention.
We practice slowing down and becoming aware of each movement and likewise of each thought.
As the mind continues to wander,
Thoughts come and go.
They're always there.
Meditation is not about freeing the mind of the thoughts,
Just as it's not freeing ourselves completely from the ego.
Meditation is about noticing what thoughts come up.
What journey do they want to take us on?
And how do we respond to them?
Perhaps today,
You just attach the breath to the thought.
And with the exhale,
Let it go.
Even if this has to happen again and again.
Each time you remember to come back to the breath,
You come back to the present.
You're acting within the stillness and with your whole being.
With each breath,
Noticing the space,
Inviting it in.
Ever more space for us to inhabit within the body.
Whatever it is that makes us feel true to who we are.
Even if things become a little uncomfortable,
As they sometimes will,
Or something comes up we'd rather not spend time with.
Just like the thoughts,
We acknowledge they're there and come back to the breath.
With the inhale,
Feeling the space and seeing it grow.
Seeing that the discomfort is just a small part of the present and there's still room for you to be.
Inhale,
Notice.
Exhale,
Soften.
I'll give you a few more moments to explore the stillness on your own.
Though you may find the urge to resist,
Give yourself permission to feel whatever comes up.
I'll call you back when it's time.
Again,
Beginning to become aware of the sound of my voice and the sounds around you.
And as we bring this meditation to a close,
Offering gratitude to ourselves for showing up as we are today and always for ourselves.
Gratitude for taking the time to cultivate our relationship with the space within.
Making room for ourselves to grow and be.
And bringing in the breath once again.
Deep and intentionally feeling the air going in and coming out.
Inviting in gentle movements.
And when you're ready,
Opening your eyes.
Thank you for giving me this opportunity to guide you.
I hope you have a beautiful rest of your day.
Bye for now.
