This meditation practice is best done lying down,
So lie down on your bed,
On a mat,
Or on a rug in a place that you will be undisturbed and gently close your eyes and notice if there are any adjustments or distractions that you could eliminate before you start your practice.
As you settle in,
Notice how you're opening the body to receiving messages,
Without labelling them good or bad,
Simply beginning to attune to the body's messages and what can you do now to bring yourself fully in to the present moment,
Physically scanning the body to make yourself more comfortable,
What are you letting go of as you arrive here?
There's a mindset shift as you begin your practice,
Letting go of the external distractions of the world,
You have chosen to be here in this moment,
How do you want to use this time?
Feel into your response,
I'll give you a few moments to set your intention now and begin to notice your breath,
The breath even,
Smooth,
Flowing continuously,
No pauses between the inhales and exhales,
Begin to notice the space around you,
All 5 senses opening to the space around you and feel the touch of air on your skin and the surface the body is resting upon and notice any smells or lingering fragrances in the air and now sound,
The sounds close by,
The sounds further away and all the layers of sound,
The sound of your breath,
Maybe even the internal sound of your own voice,
Mental chatter,
Notice all of these internal and external sounds and notice any colours or images behind your closed eyelids and now the tongue and taste and begin to notice the space all around you,
The space in front of you,
Behind you,
To the left and to the right,
Allow everything that you hear,
Think,
See or feel,
Be just as it is and notice what's present here,
This simple feeling of being open,
Mind,
Body,
Heart,
You're safe here with yourself.
Now bring attention to the sensations in your mouth,
Sense your entire mouth,
The tongue,
The jaws,
The teeth,
The lips,
The upper lip,
Lower lip and the space inside the mouth,
Draw your attention up to the left ear,
Right ear,
Welcome the sensation of both ears at the same time and feel into the space around the ears,
Sense the space in front of the nose,
Left nostril,
Right nostril and the air flowing in and out of both nostrils,
Soften the eyes,
Left eye,
Right eye and sense the eyelids covering the eyes in soothing darkness and allow the eyes to drop back and relax.
Now bring your attention to the middle of your forehead,
Left cheek,
Right cheek,
Left temple,
Right temple and soften the forehead,
Skull,
Sense the back of the neck,
Throat,
Right shoulder blade,
Left elbow,
Left wrist,
Left palm and feel into each of the fingers one by one,
Now the right shoulder blade,
Right elbow,
Right wrist,
Right palm and each of the fingers one by one and now feel into both arms at the same time,
Draw your attention to the chest,
Ribs,
Heart,
Upper back,
Spine,
Abdomen,
Feel your abdomen and chest as you breathe and take a moment to sense your entire torso,
Allowing everything to arise and fall just as it is,
Without intention to change anything.
Draw your attention to your left hip,
Left thigh,
Left knee,
Left ankle,
Left heel,
Left top of the foot,
Sole of the foot and each of the left toes one by one and now the entire left leg,
Now bring attention to the right hip,
Right thigh,
Right ankle,
Right heel,
Right top of the foot,
Sole of the foot and each of the right toes one by one and now the entire right leg and allow your attention to wander throughout your entire body,
Front of the body,
Back of the body,
Left side,
Right side,
Inside and outside and feel into the spaciousness of the body and begin to notice your breath,
The gentle rise and fall of your breath during inhalation and exhalation,
The breath rises,
The breath falls and the body functions by itself.
Now draw your attention to your navel and notice the rise and fall of the abdomen as you breathe and begin to shape the breath,
Inhale for 4 and exhale for 8,
The chest stays still,
Belly rising for 4,
Falling for 8,
Continue to do this for the next few minutes and let go of this counting of the breaths and come back to breathing normally,
Notice what's present now,
This spaciousness,
The body dissolving into space,
No boundary,
We're slowing everything down so we begin to notice the spaces in our life,
The spaces to enjoy our life and also recalibrate what feelings or emotions are present right now.
When we're able to put our feelings and emotions into words it diminishes our emotional reactivity,
Note any emotions that may be present,
Scan the body,
Legs,
Pelvis,
Belly,
Chest,
Heart,
Throat,
Shoulders,
Head,
If you notice something,
Excitement,
Sadness,
Relief,
Tension,
Whatever is present,
It is just an emotion,
A chemical response that comes and goes,
A messenger to guide us and take a moment to review your day or your week and all the different emotions you may have experienced,
Aliveness,
Boredom,
Happiness,
Anxiety,
Gratitude,
Sadness,
Peace,
Tiredness,
Don't label them as good or bad,
Just notice them,
See this full range of emotions that are available to you in this human experience,
All these physiological changes in the body that make up our emotion and notice how you have emotions but how you are also aware of your emotions at the same time and how your emotions are changing,
Sometimes contradictory,
Swinging from like to dislike,
From calm to anger,
From happiness to sadness but yet your awareness of your emotions never changes,
It might not be easy to know why you're in a certain mood and what put you there,
This is when we use meditation to get to know ourselves better through inquiry,
Perhaps there is a particular emotion calling you,
An emotion that is recurring or a nagging emotion that's just there under the surface,
Become aware of it,
Welcome it and if there are many emotions that are arising,
Pick the one you most want to be with now and if nothing is arising you can continue to sense and feel into the body,
Where do you feel this particular emotion in your body,
It might be faint at first or it could be strong,
Notice if there's any refusing of it,
Any defense against feeling it,
What sensations are present,
Maybe it feels sharp,
Pronounced,
Throbbing or it could be light or heavy,
Intense or dull,
Use your own words,
Now what is this emotion,
Is there a specific word,
A word with a precise meaning that could be used to describe this emotion,
Be as exact and precise as you can with your choice of word,
Acceptance of our emotions and allowing them to be here allows for wholeness and healing to happen,
Integrating the parts of ourselves that seem negative or painful,
Our shadow side allows for transformation,
You're safe here with yourself,
Remembering emotions are physiological chemical and when we sit with emotions for 90 seconds they will pass naturally,
So as best as you can sit here,
Present to all the sensations in the body this emotion is bringing up,
Using your breath to anchor yourself,
The breath rising and falling as you feel into this emotion and begin to notice a time when your mood shifts,
Bringing to mind a memory of when you suddenly felt some changes in your emotional weather,
Ask yourself what happened by feeling this way,
Who was I interacting with and what was I doing before I felt this way and we recognize what our triggers are and we're able to get to know ourselves better,
Prepare for situations or make adjustments or changes and sometimes it's emotional baggage from the past that still needs to be integrated,
Totally unrelated to the current situation,
Is this a pattern,
Have you felt like this before,
How often and with whom,
A connection to the trigger might come right now or over the next few days,
Be open,
Curious,
No judging,
Now give yourself time to be here,
Connected,
This is your time,
A time to be wholly you,
Meeting yourself,
Resting here,
Allowing the body to soothe itself,
Peaceful,
Welcoming everything just as it is,
Breath coming and going,
Now take a moment as you slowly come back to your body and mind lying on the mat and review the journey you have just taken,
Begin to sense the room around you and the feeling of beginning to move back into the world and now take several deeper abdominal breaths,
Begin to wriggle your fingers and toes,
Take a full body stretch or move your body as you need to,
Bend your knees and gently roll onto your right side taking a moment to rest,
Push yourself up into a seated position,
Scan the body,
Notice what's present now and remember to take this experience with you,
This ability to slow down and respond to life rather than react,
Taking your time and when you're ready,
Begin to reorientate yourself to your surroundings and slowly blink your eyes open and closed,
Coming back to your wide awake and alert state.
