All right,
We're going to go ahead and begin and you can decide whether you would like to do this meditation either with your eyes closed or excuse me either seated or lying down and yes also the option with your eyes closed or maybe you have a slight gaze.
So for an order for us to feel that we're able to come to a place of letting go we do have to feel safe and so if closing your eyes does not make you feel safe or makes you feel uncomfortable in any way then you can choose to maybe open the eyes up slightly.
And then take any last minutes or so you want to be relaxed and comfortable.
If you're seated you also want to feel upright not slouching so well supported on your back.
And if you decided to lay down maybe you have something underneath of your knees especially if you have lower back pain.
So a pillow or blanket under the knees would be nice to help the back.
And then we're going to begin to bring our hands into a mudra.
A mudra just means hand gesture.
So connecting the pointer finger and thumb on both of your hands but we're going to turn the palms to face downward.
This is the jhana mudra j-n-a-n-a and it's correlated with grounding,
Feeling centered and steady.
Bring your awareness into your breath without changing it,
Elongating it.
Just notice how you're breathing as we're first beginning the meditation.
When you inhale do you feel it in the chest?
Do you feel a lifting in the belly with the inhale?
Getting a sense of how long your breath is and again don't feel the need to try to change it.
Just noticing in this exact present moment how you're breathing,
How it feels in the body,
If there's a difference between your right and left side of the body.
Sometimes we breathe a bit more on one side of the body so you might even feel that side filling up with air a bit more.
Just taking a moment to notice your breathing.
And now we're going to add on to our breath.
We're going to use a count of an inhale and then whatever that count is we will double the exhale.
So the next time you inhale begin to count the length and whatever number that is double the count.
Sometimes I think a good place to start is the inhale of a two or three or four.
You don't want to feel when you exhale that you're struggling at all.
And this breath pattern sometimes takes a couple rounds so you can find the numbers,
You can find the pace.
And each time you exhale allow the body to let go,
Release.
Maybe even directing the exhale into specific parts of the body that you feel like are holding on.
Areas that we tend to hold on to are our jaw,
Our shoulders,
Sometimes even the hands,
Even in the belly.
You find the sense of letting go,
The sense of surrender.
Take a couple more rounds of this breath pattern.
Now we're going to begin to see ourselves at an entrance of a forest.
And this forest looks like exactly how it would right now this time of year during fall.
As you begin to slowly and meditatively begin to walk,
You can hear the crunching of the leaves under your feet.
The pace is slow.
You have nowhere to go.
You have no expectation as to where this path will take you.
You're fully immersed in this present moment as you continue to walk through the woods.
As you continue to walk you see the beautiful trees surrounding you.
Some of them still have leaves,
Colors of brown and orange,
Red,
Even in some green.
You feel at peace.
You feel connected to this seasonal chain.
You can feel the warmth of the sun peeking through those trees,
Connecting with your body.
You can even take a moment to look upward with your eyes closed,
Feeling the warmth of the sun on your face.
And after you pause for this moment,
Continuing to walk.
Walking slowly.
Syncing up with the energy associated with fall.
The energy of summer is a little bit quicker.
More to do.
But as you walk during this season of fall,
Feeling the cooler air,
Seeing the beautiful colors,
Hearing the crisp leaves under your feet.
You slow your pace.
You feel at peace and at ease.
As you continue to walk,
You intuitively feel the need to turn right.
And you see a little path as you turn that way.
It hasn't been walked as much as the path we were just on.
But you see some have gone this way.
As you continue down this path,
You feel warm,
Even though the air outside is cool.
You hear birds.
And you continue to see the sun peeking through the leaves.
And straight ahead of you,
You see the most magnificent tree.
It looks as though it could be hundreds of years old.
And you feel called.
Take a seat right in front of it.
You sit on the ground with your back supported by this massive tree.
Releasing your head back into the support of the bark.
And enjoy this moment of slowing down,
This moment of just sitting and being.
It's almost as if you can feel the wisdom of the tree.
Feel the message of fall,
The message of surrender,
Of letting go.
You're creating space.
You feel at peace and at ease.
You just sit,
Being with your breath,
Sitting with the tree,
Taking in your surroundings in this present moment.
The longer you sit,
The more grounded you feel.
The more at peace you are with this stillness.
You're exactly where you should be.
Allow yourself in this place to be open.
Notice what you might hear.
Notice any visuals.
But more importantly,
You need to just lay back in the support of this tree.
With no expectation.
Allowing those expectations to fall just like those leaves from the trees.
Open and trusting.
Yet peaceful and grounded.
Knowing that you're safe in this space.
Enjoy this moment.
Enjoy your last moments here.
Use this opportunity to set an example for this season.
Continue to sit.
There's no rush.
We're not going anywhere just yet.
Now whenever you feel ready,
Slowly begin to stand.
Turn towards the tree and place your hands on the trunk.
Feeling grateful for this moment.
It's time to pause and be still.
And then slowly begin to walk that small path.
Even though you know you're going towards the exit,
You're not rushing.
You're just as present as when we first began.
Seeing the colors,
Hearing the sounds,
Feeling the warmth of the sun,
And the cool crisp air.
And then walk on that larger path where others have gone before you.
Feeling grateful for taking a path that may not have been walked as often.
Feeling grateful for the lessons that might have come,
Or even the lessons that have led you to this moment.
It's time to bring yourself back into the body,
In the space that you presently occupy.
You can feel your breath now.
Without changing or elongating,
Just notice.
And then draw your awareness to your heart space,
Center of your chest.
Whether you just want to mentally bring your awareness there,
Or even physically stack one hand on the other,
Or even hands to prayer.
It's acknowledgement of where your heart chakra is located.
When our heart chakras are aligned,
We feel love for ourselves as well as others.
Use this opportunity to send yourself love,
Gratitude,
Acknowledgement.
And then sending out love,
Someone whom which you might love dearly,
Or someone who might need it in this moment.
And from my heart center to yours,
I'm deeply grateful you joined me to see.
Namaste.
