Taking a few slow breaths,
Just setting yourself up so that you can be fully alert and present.
Maybe you want to put yourself on the floor,
On a cushion,
Something so that your spine is straight and long.
Something that will be supportive as we go into this meditation.
So that as you relax your body,
You're still alert and upright.
Softening your eyes closed or allowing for your gaze to be just directed inward is the most important thing.
Feeling yourself,
Allowing for each exhale to release any tension that you feel in the body.
Just breathing in and out.
Just noticing how your body is breathing today.
There's no need to manipulate the breath,
Just simply letting the exhales be full and the inhales be full.
When we breathe at a pace that's slower and that's mindful,
Where we feel the body and all of the subtleties of the body as we breathe,
We start to become in tune with ourselves.
This is what it's like to inhale,
And this is what it's like to exhale.
This is what happens in my nose as I inhale,
And in my nose as I exhale.
Tuning into what happens in the throat and the chest as you inhale,
And as you exhale.
And then what happens in the diaphragm as you breathe in and out.
And then seeing if you can expand the belly as you breathe in and contract it as you breathe out.
And then maybe you want to go down all the way to your pelvis as you breathe in,
Possibly breathing with the entirety of this being.
This body that houses your soul.
Possibly making room for yourself to bring life force in and out.
And every time you breathe out,
You relax the muscles and the bones.
Seeing your eyelids get heavy.
Feeling your jaw release.
Making yourself more and more comfortable as you drop inside.
And seeing if anything is arising in the mind.
Just making room.
Making room for anything that might want to come forward and greeting whatever's arising with a sense of openness.
Noticing if there's any memory that might want to present itself.
Or maybe there's a dream that you're remembering.
Or maybe there's just simply your body here.
Breathing,
Listening to my voice.
Feeling the breath moving in and out of the body.
No matter what is arising,
Seeing if you can notice all that you can.
And as you notice,
See if there's a place that you can rest where there's a gap.
Where there's space.
That place in between the breath.
Once you're full on the inhale,
There's a gap before the exhale.
And at the bottom of the exhale,
There's a space before the inhale again.
Let's see if we can linger in the space between.
Noticing what you're aware of as you swallow.
Allowing each exhale to relax the body with anything that arises.
Seeing if you can bring a kindness towards your experience.
Trusting that within this space,
We get to practice.
Noticing what happens in between the thoughts.
In between the bodily sensations.
Lingering in the space.
Practicing resting in the moments from one to the next.
The only way we can notice vibration is when there's space.
The only way we can hear music is when there's space between the notes.
The only way we can be aware of our thoughts is when there's a gap in thought.
That's just what we're practicing now.
How much can you slow down whatever is arising?
Seeing if you can elongate the experience.
Staying with each and every sensation.
For as long as it is there.
And then relaxing on the exhale.
There's nothing to hold on to.
And there's a lot to notice.
Perhaps noticing where you are lingering.
Just keeping an awareness there.
Seeing what wants to arise and stepping towards what's coming up.
Leaning in.
And if there's any efforting,
Letting it go on the exhale.
Noticing the places in between the inhales and the exhales.
Letting the body drop deeper and deeper into the space of deep relaxation.
Trusting that the movements in the body are exactly what need to arise.
From a place of deep wisdom.
From a place of repair.
From a place of bringing yourself here.
Bringing your subconscious and your conscious mind together.
Reminding this being,
This body,
This soul of yours.
A quote from Viktor Frankl.
Between each stimulus and response,
There is a gap.
And in that gap lies your freedom.
As you breathe,
Playing with that freedom.
Letting the body know that it's right here.
Feeling the breath.
Letting the body know that it can find this place of rest anytime.
I believe that rest is found when we have a quiet mind.
And a present body.
And that's what we've practiced here today.
Starting to bring some movement.
Into the body.
Maybe a stretch.
And just reminding yourself that you can create peace inside.
In those moments between.
And when you create peace inside yourself,
You create that for our world.
Thank you.
