So just sit in your most comfortable seat,
Sitting as an act of kindness to yourself,
Meditating as a gift to yourself.
And once you've found your comfortable seat,
Lean back fully against the chair.
Let your back be fully supported and feel your forehead relax.
Relax the tension between your eyebrows and all around the eyes,
The many muscles around the eyes.
Let that relax.
Release the cheeks.
Nothing to do,
Nothing to express right now.
Release your jaw.
Release even the mouth and release any tension in the neck and shoulders.
Let your chest be light.
Let the belly relax completely.
Feel the whole body resting easily.
As you release more and more your weight into the chair,
Accepting gravity,
Release the back.
Relax the back of your hips,
Keeping the skin on your face relaxed.
Also release the arms and the hands.
Feel the movement of the breath through your palms and fingers.
Feel the movement of the breath from the inside and feel all of life pulsating through you,
Noticing the soft expansion as you inhale and the deep inner strength as you exhale.
And now take a moment to acknowledge the intention of your meditation practice.
This practice will help you quiet the mind,
Focus the mind,
Prepare the mind for happiness no matter what happens,
And free the mind from suffering.
If you can be present in this moment,
You can be resilient in all moments.
So begin to tune into the sensation of breathing.
Notice this movement through your nostrils or through your chest or through your belly.
Connect to pure sensation,
The physical sensation,
And your mind will wander.
Let the mind wander.
Come back to the breath as soon as you notice the mind has wandered.
And we will stay with the breath for two minutes as an act of self-compassion.
Begin now.
Notice where the mind is.
If it has wandered,
Bring it back to following the breath,
Staying with the breath for another minute and a half.
Just enjoy following its rhythm in,
Its rhythm out.
Let the breath be in its own natural rhythm as it wants to be,
Staying with the breath.
If the mind has wandered,
With kindness,
Let the mind rejoin the breath,
Connecting more deeply to yourself with every breath.
And now that your awareness is more grounded,
More expansive,
Put your hands to your heart.
Put your hands right about where your heart is.
Feel into the heart and send the wish,
May I keep this heart safe in all circumstances.
May I listen to this heart and keep this heart safe.
No matter what happens,
May I give this heart what it needs and see everything that happens as a pathway to its own strength.
May I care for and nurture and protect this heart.
And may I share this heart with other hearts.
May I share the joy in this heart with other hearts.
And feel that hand to the chest for just one more moment.
And when you're ready,
You can put the hands down.
But from this place of awareness around the heart,
Ask yourself,
Where do I need my resilience right now?
Leaving space for an answer to emerge or not emerge.
You can even put a hand back to the heart if that feels useful.
Ask yourself,
Where do I most need my resilience?
If a lot of challenging things are happening to you,
Say thank you.
The world wants you to grow quickly and is giving you this opportunity.
One of the ways we stay resilient is connection.
So to end this practice,
Imagine someone who you want to send compassion to,
Who it's easy to send compassion to,
Who the heart just naturally wants to reach out to.
Keeping your forehead relaxed and your cheeks and your neck and your throat relaxed.
Imagine that person who has shown you love and care.
And feel your body release even more as you bring this person's face and this person's image to mind.
Bringing the image of this person smiling,
Bringing their face into your heart.
And feel the heart rejoice and open.
Wish for this person,
May you be happy.
Wish for this person,
May you be safe and cared for.
Wish for this person,
May you be peaceful.
May you always feel warm inside.
And now if you could wish them anything else,
What would you like to offer that person?
Sending the wish from your heart to their heart.
Maybe the wish for lightness or ease or strength.
And now imagine this person speaking to you.
Feel them looking at you and hear them say your name with all the warmth in the world.
Hear them say your name and just relax into that.
Feel that energy of being supported.
Knowing that in the presence of this person you can be completely yourself.
There is no judgment,
No need to pretend,
No need to be other than you are.
And now imagine this person saying to you,
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
I really want that for you.
May you be safe.
May you feel peace inside yourself.
And may there be peace outside yourself.
Receiving that wish from that person.
Again,
Resilience is connection.
So noticing what it feels like to be on the receiving end.
And as we come to the end of this practice,
Remember to acknowledge the success of this practice today.
Your experience of meditation will be different on different days.
Even as you cultivate more mindfulness,
Compassion,
And inner strength overall.
The success of your meditation is your sitting down and staying with the intention of the practice.
To be with your body,
Breath,
And mind in a way that will with time support your health,
Your happiness,
Your inner resource,
And your ability to act skillfully in this world.
Saying thank you to yourself.
Feel the air as it touches your skin.
And open up your ears to the sound of the bell.
