This meditation practice is best done,
So lie down on a bed,
On a mat or on a rug,
In a place that you'll be undisturbed and gently close your eyes and notice if there are any adjustments or distractions that you could eliminate before you begin your practice.
What can you now do to bring yourself fully into the present moment,
Making 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.
Now draw your attention to the breath and the body.
Take nice,
Slow,
Deep breaths.
Take a deep inhale and feel your belly rise.
Exhale and let your belly sink.
Continue to breathe and relax as I count down from ten to one.
Ten.
Feel your head and neck sink into the mat.
Nine.
Relax the muscles in your face.
Eight.
Feel your shoulders and shoulder blades melt into the mat.
Seven.
Relax your arms and hands.
Six.
Feel the back of your ribs touch the mat.
Let your lower back relax into the mat.
Four.
Feel your buttocks sink into the mat.
Three.
Relax your pelvis,
Legs and thighs.
Two.
Feel your calf muscles on the mat.
One.
Let your feet fall out to the side.
Continue to breathe deeply.
Take a deep inhale and as you exhale,
Let your entire body fall completely heavy onto the mat.
And again.
Deep inhale and exhale.
Completely letting go.
Let your body fall heavy.
Sinking deeper and deeper.
Just letting go.
And open your senses to the room around you.
Feel the temperature in your skin.
Notice any sounds,
Smells,
Memories or images.
And notice the space all around you.
The space in front of you,
Behind you.
Feel into the space all the way to the left.
Now to the right.
And invite stillness into the body.
The body quiet.
Still.
Tranquil.
And 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.
Body open.
Mind open.
And feel into the spaciousness of the body.
The body light.
Relaxed.
Spacious.
Open.
Relaxing the head,
Face,
Eyes,
Neck.
Releasing any tension in the shoulders,
Arms,
Hands,
Fingers.
And notice any sensations in the hands.
And the spaces in between the finger.
Now softening the chest.
Abdomen.
Hips.
Feel into the thighs.
Back of the knees.
Ankles.
Feet.
Sense the space around the toes.
And feel into the space in between the toes.
Body relaxed.
Mind relaxed.
And feel into the space outside the body.
And the space inside the body.
And shift your attention back and forth between both.
The space inside the body and outside the body.
And feel into both at the same time.
The body dissolving into space.
And notice what's present there.
Nothing to do.
Nowhere to go.
And welcome all the roles that you play in life.
You might play the role of mother or father.
Employee.
Executive.
Doctor.
Partner.
You have many roles in your life.
You might also identify with the country you're from.
A religion.
The unique qualities of your personality.
And you also identify with your emotions.
Thoughts.
Memories.
Who are you if you are not these?
Notice how the mind might explore or resist.
Let each role go one by one.
Let them dissolve in your awareness.
And draw your attention to being aware of these roles.
And then noticing awareness.
You are all of these roles and identities.
But you're also aware of them.
Notice how you have a body.
But you're not your body.
You're aware of your body.
Notice how you have emotions.
But you are not your emotions.
But how you are aware of your emotions.
Notice how you have thoughts.
But you are not your thoughts.
And how you're aware of your thoughts.
Notice how you have roles.
But you are not your roles.
But how you are aware of your roles.
And allow these roles to dissolve.
And begin to identify with awareness.
What qualities make up awareness?
Freedom.
Expansiveness.
Spaciousness.
Openness.
Lightness.
And now begin to welcome back your ego personality.
Who you are.
And notice this ability to have a self.
And also the awareness that you are more than just this self.
Set the intention to notice this awareness.
At different times of the day.
This non-local self.
And the freedom you can find in simple awareness.
And now begin to take several deeper breaths.
Bringing some gentle movement into the fingers and toes.
And slowly begin to reorientate yourself to the room.
Blinking your eyes open and closed.
Coming back to your wide awake and alert state.
