Good morning.
Or good afternoon or evening,
Wherever you may be joining from.
I'm Shea.
I'm gonna give it just a few moments so people can join and get settled before we drop into today's meditation.
Hope everyone is having a wonderful morning or day so far.
I really appreciate you taking the time out of your day to just have a moment to yourself,
A moment for some breath awareness,
A moment to kind of let the mind settle and turn inward and just reflect on what may be going on,
What may be coming up.
Ari,
Good morning.
Again,
I'm Shea.
This is our fourth meditation for the series in May.
I do hope to continue this into June.
So stay tuned.
Give me a follow on Insight Timer.
Feel free to send a message.
And as always,
If you are called to leave a review or feedback,
I would love to hear about your experience with any of the live events that I'm hosting or any of the prerecorded yoga nidras or meditations that are there.
And as always,
This is a free event,
So a free meditation.
And I really enjoy having you here.
But if you feel called to donate,
Please know that those donations are accepted with very deep gratitude.
All right,
So let's begin our meditation today.
Go ahead and settle into your seat.
Whether you are seated on the earth,
A meditation cushion,
A chair,
A couch,
Just take a moment to Scan your body.
Notice if there are any areas that would like to shift or adjust.
Any joints that would like more cushioning or propping,
Especially if you're on the earth,
Maybe a harder,
More solid surface where your joints are.
Touching that surface,
Maybe a blanket.
Pillows or cushions.
Beneath your seat.
Your knees or your ankles.
As you're settling,
As you're adjusting,
Also begin to notice the relationship of your head and your heart.
Do you notice if your head is moving forward ahead of your heart?
So the head is leading.
You're leaning slightly forward.
Or maybe the head is following the heart.
You're leaning slightly back into the sit bones.
Can you begin to find that point of.
.
.
The midline.
Central point of balance where your head and heart align and your spine can grow tall.
Begin to feel your seat grow heavy with gravity,
Anchoring down towards the earth.
These qualities of Earth that are stable,
Steady.
Begin to sense those qualities move up the length of your spine.
So in your physical body,
You begin to sense these same earth qualities.
Of study.
Supported.
Sturdy.
Allow your face and your shoulders and your belly to be relaxed.
And as you continue to draw your awareness inward.
First,
Begin to notice what it is that your five senses are taking in from the world around you.
So maybe you start with sound.
Cast your awareness off into the distance,
And just let your awareness move from sound to sound.
Then you'll draw your awareness in and begin to notice the sounds that are in the room around you.
Now allow those sounds in the room around you and off in the distance to just fade into the background.
Bringing your awareness in a bit more,
Begin to notice the sound of your own breath.
Maybe this is easy to hear.
Maybe you have to listen intently.
The next time you breathe in.
Tap into the sense of smell.
Do you notice if there is a scent lingering in the air?
Maybe you're in your meditation space like I am.
Maybe there's incense burning or a candle.
That you can detect.
Maybe you've just brewed a pot of coffee or a cup of tea.
And then move awareness to the inside of your mouth.
Is there a flavor coating your tongue?
Maybe you just had a sip of that coffee or that tea.
And if there's a lack of flavor,
Maybe you just notice.
If the mouth is dry,
Or if there's saliva on the tongue and cheeks.
Whether the eyes are closed or gazing softly,
Begin to recall,
To remember,
To visualize the space around you.
Remember the shape of the room,
The color of the walls.
And what you're seated upon.
And finally,
Becoming aware of touch.
Notice the places where your clothing is resting on your skin.
Or your body is touching the earth,
Or whatever it is you are seated upon.
Now coming back to the awareness of your breath,
Bring your awareness to the tip of your nose.
And just begin to sense the breath moving in and out through the nose.
You don't have to shape or count or control the breath in any way.
Just begin to notice maybe that felt sensation at the tip of your nose.
Maybe you sense the breath riding the bridge of the nose upward as you breathe in.
Downward as you breathe out.
Can you begin to detect how the temperature changes?
How the exhale breath is slightly warmer than your inhale.
Now continue to follow the breath.
And on your next inhale,
As you follow the breath in through the nose,
Continue to follow it down into the space of your lungs.
And then on the exhale,
Following the breath from the space of your lungs,
And back out through the nose.
And you'll just continue to follow the breath in and out.
Down into the space of the lungs on the inhale.
Out through the nose on the exhale.
As you're following the breath,
Maybe you're beginning to notice,
Is there one side of the nose that seems to be more dominant or more open?
Maybe that's the right side of the nose.
Associated with the sun.
The masculine.
Action.
Passion.
Maybe it's the left side.
Governed by the moon.
Receptive.
Feminine.
Call me.
Or maybe you sense that both sides.
Are equally open.
Now bring your awareness to the sound of your breath once again.
Listening,
Noticing the volume.
You don't have to make it louder or quieter here.
You're just listening.
Begin to notice if the breath has a particular texture.
Maybe there are little hitches and breaks to the breath.
Maybe the breath feels smooth.
Maybe you notice the inhale and the exhale.
Are different lengths.
Or maybe equal in length.
As you continue to observe your breath.
There is no right or wrong,
Good or bad here.
You're just becoming curious.
About the qualities of your breath today.
The breath can give us so much insight in how our mind is maybe moving.
Or certain sensations that may be arising in our body.
And we can use this awareness.
To guide ourselves.
Through our practice and through our day.
So coming back to the sound of your breath,
Now we'll begin to refine the breath.
So if you are noticing that there is a texture to the breath.
Begin to smooth the breath.
As if the breath were paint on a paintbrush.
And you're trying to place a smooth,
Even,
Consistent layer of paint,
The brush moving upward on the inhale.
The brush moving downward on the exhale.
The Rhythm.
Is consistent.
The texture.
Becoming smooth.
There's some evenness.
That is arising in your breath.
Now bring your awareness to the tip of your nose.
And on the inhale,
Sense the breath moving through both sides of the nose and meeting at that space between your eyebrows.
As you exhale,
The breath moves from the point between your eyebrows back down both sides of the nose.
Breath moving in and up through both sides,
Meeting at the point between your eyebrows.
Exhaling from that point back down through both sides of the nose.
So the breath begins to move in this inverted V shape.
And you're not moving the breasts.
Your awareness just follows your breath.
So as you receive the inhale,
The awareness travels to the space between your eyebrows.
As you release the breath,
It moves back down through both sides of the nose.
And you can continue to see or sense or feel the breath moving.
Maybe you even begin to see this inverted V.
As two streams of light.
The inhale breath,
The two streams,
One moving through each side,
Converge at the space between the eyebrows.
And from that point of light,
Right between the eyebrows,
The exhale breath,
The light,
The V,
Moves back down.
Through both sides of the nose.
Please continue.
Seeing,
Sensing,
Or feeling the breath.
The next time you inhale and the breath converges at that place between the eyebrows,
Let your awareness rest.
At that point between your eyebrows for the next nine breaths.
Now bring your awareness to the crown of your head.
Awareness moves to the crown of your head.
And once again,
Awareness will follow the breath.
And this time,
As you inhale,
Awareness moves from the crown of your head down to your tailbone.
The exhale awareness moves from tailbone back to the crown of your head.
Inhaling,
Crown to tailbone.
Exhaling,
Tailbone to crown.
Again,
You're not moving the breath.
The breath is arising and dissolving naturally.
And your awareness moves.
Along the central channel of your spine,
Deep within the body.
Aligning with the movement of your breath.
The next time you exhale and the breath is moving up to the crown of the head,
This time it will move out through the crown of the head to about six inches above you.
So awareness moves to six inches above the crown of your head.
And your next breath in,
Awareness travels back in and down through the crown of your head,
Down the length of your spine to your tailbone.
Exhaling,
The breath moves up the length of the spine,
Out through the crown of your head,
And back to that point six inches above you.
Inhaling in through the crown of the head,
Down the length of your spine to your tailbone.
Exhaling,
Tailbone back out through the crown.
To six inches above you.
You know,
Continue awareness following the breath.
Along this central channel.
Sensing or feeling.
Or maybe seeing that stream of light once again.
The stream of light moves in and down on the inhale.
And up and out on the exhale.
The next time you're following the in-breath.
Down and in.
Let your awareness land at the heart space and just rest at your heart space.
Awareness resting at the heart space,
Deep behind the breastbone.
You'll hear my voice again in two minutes.
Gently begin to deepen your breath.
Slowly calling yourself back.
Back into your body,
Back into the present moment.
Begin to send your awareness and your senses outward once again.
Noticing the sound of your breath,
The sounds in the room.
And sounds off in the distance.
Feel the places where your body is touching the earth or clothing is resting on your skin.
As the breath deepens,
Do you notice a scent in the air?
As you swallow,
Noticing a flavor or moisture in the mouth.
And then finally,
Beginning to recall the space that you're in.
Imagining,
Visualizing the shape of the room,
The color of the walls.
And continue to guide yourself back more and more.
If you have the time and space and would like to stay longer in your meditation,
Please do.
For those needing to come back now,
If you have a favorite way that you like to end your meditation,
Please feel free to take that.
Otherwise,
You can slowly drop your chin towards your chest.
Bringing your hands together so that the palms touch,
Begin to rub the palms,
Creating some gentle heat.
Let your palms feel nice and warm if there's a place on your body that you would like to receive a blessing or anoint.
Allow your palms to rest there.
You can also bring the hands over your eyes,
Gently cupping the eyes and blinking the eyes open.
And slowly allowing the hands to settle back down onto the legs or into your lap.
