Welcome everybody.
Thanks for joining me today.
Today's concept is presence,
So being present.
A lot of folks have challenges being present even for short periods and when they try to meditate they're really challenged by just staying still and keeping their eyes closed and focusing on something.
So today I thought we would take a little bit of a dive into presence and how to practice being present more often.
So I'm going to invite you to find a chair so that you're sitting upright and go ahead and close your eyes to begin today.
We'll begin by taking a deep inhale filling up the lungs completely and exhaling emptying out the lungs completely.
Now that deep inhale and deep exhale can be used anytime that you feel that your mind has wandered or that you become frustrated with trying to do a meditation on your own.
I use it for a reset anytime when I'm meditating and I feel like I've lost my meditation.
Take a deep breath in filling up the lungs completely and exhale emptying out the lungs completely.
So two concepts here as we delve into presence and being more present.
Our physical body and our mind.
Our physical body is always in the present moment.
Our physical body has no ability to travel into the future or into the past.
It's always in the present moment.
Now our mind on the other hand has the tremendous ability to travel way into the future.
You can think about that.
You can imagine and visualize and even feel something that hasn't happened yet that's possibly going to happen in the in the future.
The mind also has the ability to travel into the past by recalling and attaching itself to memories.
For the most part I would say 99% of the time the mind is in the future or in the past but very rarely is it in the present moment.
So today we're going to try to with this guided meditation we're going to try to keep the mind present.
So there's no other goal today with this guided meditation other than to follow along and try to cultivate some presence.
So we're going to begin with another deep inhale followed by a deep exhale.
So since the body is in the present moment we'll begin with the body with the physical body.
I'd like you to notice the muscles of your face and perhaps allow the muscles of your face to relax.
Then I'd like you to think about allowing your shoulders to relax.
Then taking a deep inhale and as you exhale allow your belly to be relaxed.
Then perhaps notice your thighs,
Your lower legs and your feet and allow them to relax.
Then we're going to bring our awareness to our arms and especially our hands.
If your hands are folded in your lap that's fine but just notice if you're able to allow them to just soften a little bit more.
So now we're going to try to keep the mind focused on the physical body so that we can remain present.
If at any time during this guided meditation when I'm not speaking if you notice that your mind has wandered then just pause and gently come back to your body and your breath.
Remember that reset is taking a deep inhale filling up the lungs completely.
So let's do that now and then as you exhale emptying out the lungs completely.
So for the next couple of minutes think about your physical body that's in the present moment right now and try to remain aware of your physical body trying to be present with the body.
The body is relaxed and the body is still.
Perhaps if the body is relaxed and the body is still you could just bring your awareness to your breath.
Your breath is relaxed and the breath is flowing in and out of your body smoothly and comfortably with no effort on your part.
Breath flows in,
Breath flows out.
Body's relaxed and the body is still and our awareness is in the present moment focused on the body and on the breath.
Now the mind will wander,
Our awareness will wander away from our body and away from our breath and that's okay.
But when you notice that your mind has wandered you pause and you come back to the meditation at hand.
Inhaling filling up the lungs,
Exhaling and letting it go.
Your body is relaxed and your body is still and you're aware of your breath as it flows in and out smoothly and comfortably.
Notice once again that the muscles of your face are relaxed,
Head,
Neck and shoulders are relaxed,
Your belly is relaxed,
Your hips and thighs and knees are relaxed and your ankles and feet and toes are all relaxed and that you're aware that your physical body is relaxed.
The moment you notice,
The moment you realize that your mind is thinking about a memory of something that's already happened or projecting into the future,
The moment you notice that you pause.
Come back to the physical body,
Everything's relaxed.
Follow the inhale into your body,
Follow the exhale out of your body and take a deep inhale followed by a deep exhale and again a deep inhale,
Deep exhale.
Bring your awareness to your hands and notice that your hands are relaxed,
Your arms are relaxed,
Your shoulders are relaxed,
Your belly is relaxed and your legs are relaxed and you're able for short periods of time,
You're able to be present with the physical body and with your breath.
Take another deep inhale,
Exhale,
Relax and then wait and then watch and when you notice that the mind is thinking about something that hasn't happened yet or something that's already happened,
Know that your mind is not present with the physical body and with the breath.
So gently turn back to the physical body,
Take a deep breath in and as you exhale,
Relax.
Breath flows in,
Breath flows out.
Notice if there are any areas in your body that might still be holding or gripping or that are tense and try to allow those areas to soften.
Take another deep inhale and deep exhale.
Body is relaxed and the breath flows in and out of your body smoothly and comfortably with no effort on your part.
And then take another deep inhale,
Filling up the lungs completely and exhale,
Emptying out the lungs completely.
And as we wrap up our meditation on presence today,
Know and understand that meditation is not shutting off the mind or emptying the mind,
But more watching and understanding the mind.
Take a long slow inhale.
And as you exhale,
Allow your body to relax a little bit more.
And then you can blink your eyes open.
So thank you so much for sharing this time today.
I'm David Breen,
And I hope you enjoyed that.
If you have any requests for meditation,
Guided meditations,
Please let me know.
It's been my pleasure to share this with you today.
