Hello and welcome to this beginner's meditation.
Here you will get into a relaxing meditative state with a couple of simple techniques that anybody can do.
Many people assume that meditating or being in a meditative state means having no thoughts at all and being completely still.
But unless you are one of those rare people that has reached complete enlightenment and peace,
Being in such a still,
Constant state is extremely difficult for almost all human beings.
The actual meditative state happens when we interrupt our train of thought and bring yourself back to the moment.
After some time,
Or for any amount of time,
It could be 5 seconds or it could be 5 hours,
Thoughts will come back and will grab your attention away from you.
This is completely normal and part of the ebb and flow of meditation.
What you have to do is gently bring yourself back to the present moment without judging your thoughts.
That is meditation.
Consciously and continually bringing yourself back to the present moment over and over.
There are many ways to do this and we will start with one of the easiest and most effective techniques,
Conscious breathing.
Get into a comfortable position,
Sitting or laying down,
And take 3 deep and strong breaths.
One fully in and let it go.
Two inhale and exhale.
Three take one more deep breath in and exhale slowly.
Great.
Now let's focus on our belly.
You don't have to do anything special or concentrate hard on it.
Just observe your belly rising and falling.
Allow for your entire body to fully relax.
Consciously make your belly expand and rise with each inhale and fall with each exhale.
Notice how easy it is to focus on your breath while you move your belly.
A thought may come and take your focus away and that's fine.
Just bring your awareness back to your belly gently and without judgment.
Remember the goal is not to keep yourself without thought.
You only need to bring yourself back to the present moment of focus after you notice a thought has taken your attention.
So thoughts are essential here.
Thinking thoughts are what brings you into the present moment.
Keep bringing yourself back to the belly.
Make it rise and fall.
Inhale belly out.
Exhale belly in.
Put your focus on your chest now.
Make it rise with each inhale and fall with each exhale.
Feel your ribcage expand easily when you breathe in and get smaller when you breathe out.
Thoughts may come.
It's okay.
Just bring yourself back to the breath.
As you let your breath become natural,
Just feel your chest and belly moving on its own now.
Don't force your body to breathe in any certain way.
Just breathe.
Noticing every detail about how your breath feels.
Good.
Now put your focus and attention on your nose.
Feel all the sensations around your nose area and how the air feels entering and exiting your nostrils.
Notice how the air feels to you.
Is it cold or is it warm?
When you breathe more deeply,
You can feel the air flows quickly and when you breathe more calmly,
The air slows down.
Now switch your focus to your neck and throat.
Let your breath go at its own pace and observe the sensations of the air entering and exiting your throat down into the lungs.
Does the air feel warm or cold?
Keep breathing and observing the sensations of the air passing through your body as far as it goes.
This may distract you and that's okay.
Gently bring yourself back to the breath.
Good.
Now whenever you are ready,
Just relax and let your mind wander to whatever it wants.
You have finished your meditation.
Very well done.
Just one more thing.
Notice how you feel entirely right now.
Understand what your mind is like and feel how your body feels.
Now compare this to before you started your meditation.
You are experiencing the benefits of meditation right now.
Good.
Now switch your focus to your neck and throat.
Let your breath go at its own pace and observe the sensations of the air passing through your body as far as it goes.
Good.
Now whenever you are ready,
Just relax and let your mind wander to whatever it wants.
