Hi and welcome,
I'm Ellie and this meditation is here to help you find space from the noise of the mind.
You'll be guided gently through breath,
Body and thought awareness and reminded that not every thought needs your attention.
When you're ready,
Let's begin.
Take a moment to find stillness,
Whether you're seated or lying down,
Just let your body arrive and settle into the space around it.
Allow your hands to rest softly in your lap or by your sides.
Invite your shoulders to gently drop.
Let the breath begin to find you.
There's nothing you need to do right now,
Nothing to fix,
Nothing to change.
This is your space to just be,
To pause,
To soften.
If you haven't already,
Gently close your eyes now and begin to draw your awareness more closely to the breath.
Feel its quiet and constant rhythm within.
Not controlling the breath,
Just noticing it.
How it moves like a gentle tide,
Flowing in and out.
Allow the breath to carry you towards presence and remind you of your natural state of being.
Guide your awareness to your nostrils,
Hone your focus here.
Feel the sensation of the breath,
The cool air as it enters and the soft warmth as it leaves.
Notice the texture and depth of your breath.
Now expand your awareness to feel your whole body breathing.
Follow the breath as it fills the lungs,
Expands the abdomen,
Spreads across the lower back.
Sense the breath cascading down your arms,
Flowing through your legs,
Nourishing your entire being.
Feel the body breathing.
Widen your awareness even further to feel your body resting.
Notice the quiet pull of gravity,
The contact with the ground.
Notice anywhere that's tense and allow it to loosen if it wants to.
Start to softly scan up from your feet,
Moving your awareness through your legs,
Into your hips,
Your chest,
Your back and shoulders.
Feel down your arms and into your hands,
And back up and through your neck,
Your jaw,
All the features of your face and the crown of your head.
You don't have to force anything,
Just become aware of the sensation and space that's already there.
Now let's bring some curiosity to the mind.
Gently shift your attention towards your thoughts.
Begin to observe them,
Not with judgment or effort,
But with quiet awareness.
As thoughts arise,
Visualize them like news headlines popping up and calling out for your attention.
Look at me.
Worry about this.
Rehearse that conversation again.
Are you sure you did that right?
Sometimes thoughts are like clickbait,
Sensationalized,
Dramatic,
Designed to hook you in.
Just keep watching and noticing the tone of your thoughts.
Your ego mind knows that fear,
Stress and negativity keeps you engaged.
So it offers loops,
Patterns and stories.
But here's the freedom.
You don't have to click.
You don't have to follow every headline to its end.
Let yourself simply observe thoughts as they arise,
Without getting pulled into the story,
Without fixing or judging.
Let them pass like headlines scrolling by on a news feed.
Because you are not the headline.
You are the awareness that watches.
As you observe these thoughts without clicking on them,
Begin to also notice the space around them.
The quiet between them.
The stillness beneath them.
Even if some thoughts are louder than others,
Or there are more than usual vying for your attention,
Notice how awareness holds them all effortlessly.
Just like the web holds every headline.
Like the sky holds the weather.
Like the ocean holds every wave.
You are that awareness.
You are that sky.
Spacious,
Soft,
Unmoved.
Let yourself rest in that space.
There is nothing you need to figure out.
Nowhere else to be.
Just rest.
Just be.
Now take a deep,
Nourishing breath in.
And slowly exhale.
Begin to feel your body again.
The ground beneath you.
The air around you.
The quiet presence within you.
Know that this space is always here.
You don't need to fight your thoughts.
Just remember you don't have to follow them either.
Thank you for practicing with me.
And may this spaciousness stay with you throughout the rest of your day.
When you're ready,
Gently open your eyes and return.
