Go ahead and find yourself where you like to be.
If you're lying down,
That's great.
Just elongate your spine.
If you're sitting,
That's beautiful.
Just make sure your spine is straight and upright.
Really want to get into this relaxed yet alert meditation posture.
Let's start how we always start with our three deep breaths.
Breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth.
Let's just also come into our body.
A lot of times we think of meditation as a mental exercise.
We're training our minds.
That's true,
But it's also an embodiment exercise.
Just come into the body.
Maybe start to feel the sensation in your chest,
Belly,
And shoulders of your breath moving through your body.
Start to feel the weight of your legs and arms.
Just the heaviness of your body.
A downward tug of gravity.
Let's set a simple grounding cord.
Something that connects your hips,
Bum,
Sit bones,
And buttocks.
Something that connects that part of your body into the earth.
Now with each out breath,
You're just allowing effortlessly.
You're just going to allow tension,
Mental formations,
Thoughts,
Conceptions,
Judgments,
Worries,
Body aches and pains.
Just going to let all that go.
There's plenty of time during the rest of your day to problem solve,
Plan.
Just allow gravity and that familiar sensation of being pulled to the earth.
Just use that to your advantage.
Just using that force of gravity to release negativity.
Anything that's not serving you today.
We're going to spend a good chunk of our meditation today going through the body.
Just part by part.
And your only instructions is to bring your awareness to that body part.
And feel into that body part.
And then use your grounding cord and your exhale to release any tension.
Anything that might be stuck,
Any old programming.
We store so much in our body.
Beliefs,
Trauma,
Joy.
So just anything that's not serving you in that body part,
We're just going to release down our grounding cord.
And we're just resetting in the present moment.
So in the present moment,
We have everything we need.
So we're just bringing our energy back to ourselves,
Away from old stories,
Away from the past or the future.
Let's just start in the crown of our head.
And our scalp.
Top of our head.
Again,
You're just breathing into that body part.
Allowing tension.
Tightness.
Our goal is just to relax the body as much as possible while still remaining awake and alert and upright.
And move into our forehead.
Our eyebrows.
Space between our eyebrows.
Move down to our eyes.
The eye sockets.
The eyelids.
Right below and underneath the eyes.
I know I hold so much tension behind the eyes.
You can even open your eyes,
Roll your eyes around.
And if you start yawning,
It's totally natural.
You're just really releasing what doesn't serve you today.
Cleansing your body and your spirit for yourself,
But also for everyone you're going to come in contact with.
The act of meditation is a very generous act.
Coming into your temples,
The sides of your face,
Your cheeks,
Your jawbone.
You might want to open and close your jawbone.
You can even pop your ears.
Release tension at the back of your jaw as it connects to your skull.
The back of your head.
Your mouth,
Your tongue,
Your lips.
And I'm just yawning because I'm just moving energy through the body.
Down into your neck.
Right where at the base of your head,
Top of your neck,
Top of your spine.
You can pull your head around if that feels supportive and gentle.
There's no efforting here.
Remember the grounding cord is doing all the work.
Gravity,
Earth.
So with each deep breath,
We're just letting your body unwind just bit by bit.
Coming into the high chest.
Your left collarbone,
Your left shoulder.
Your left shoulder blade and kind of like high back on your left side.
Your left armpit.
Your left bicep,
Tricep.
Your left elbow.
Your left forearm.
Your left wrist.
Your left hand.
Your left palm.
Your left thumb,
Pointer,
Middle,
Ring,
Pinky.
Your entire left arm.
Your right collarbone,
Right shoulder,
Right shoulder blade and upper back around the right side.
Your right armpit.
Your right bicep and tricep.
Your right elbow.
Your right forearm.
Your right wrist.
Your entire right hand.
Your right palm.
Your right thumb,
Pointer,
Middle,
Ring,
Pinky.
Your entire right arm.
And again,
Just let gravity tug at your bones and at your flesh.
The only intention you need to hold is that you're bringing your body and your energy into present time.
And you're letting go of what doesn't serve.
Moving into your beautiful and tender heart space.
The entire upper chest and torso.
Exhale any tension,
Any dis-ease,
Discomfort.
Feel your breath in that part of your body.
Moving down into your abdomen and your stomach and your intestines and all the organs that work so hard.
That are doing such a good job of keeping you healthy.
Moving down into your navel,
Your creative womb space.
Your pelvis,
Your groin,
Your buttocks.
Check to see that your grounding cord is still set.
Cord of light,
Tree roots,
Whatever it is.
With each exhalation,
You're releasing anything that doesn't serve.
Go back to the upper back,
The mid-back,
The low back,
And the bum.
And just allow yourself to be supported and held.
Cleansed.
Gently move your attention into your left thigh,
Quad,
And hamstring.
To your left knee,
Shin,
And calf.
Left ankle,
Left top of foot,
Left bottom of foot.
Big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe.
All the toes,
The whole left foot,
The whole left leg.
To your right thigh,
Quad,
Hamstring.
To your right knee,
Your right calf and shin,
Your right ankle.
Right top of foot,
The right bottom of foot.
To your right toe,
Second toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Fifth toe.
To your right foot,
The entire body.
Head to toe.
See if you can bring your awareness now to the interior of your body.
Just check in.
Just sort of toggle your awareness.
Maybe into the heart,
Into the chest.
Down each arm.
Down through your legs.
Now be aware of the exterior of your body,
Perhaps.
Sensation of the air.
Your face.
Feel the temperature of the air as you breathe in through your nose.
Feel the air,
The sensation of the tops or the backs of your hands.
The feeling of your bum or your body on your cushion.
Maybe you feel the sensation of the cloth on your legs.
Your instructions for meditation are to stay in your body.
If there's some sensation to pick for your object of meditation today,
That would be great.
Some sensation in your body.
It could be that feeling of the breath that moves in your belly,
In your chest.
It could be the temperature of the air as you inhale.
Whatever it is,
Whatever sensation you choose,
Just stay with that sensation.
When a concept or an idea,
Mental formation,
Plan,
Problem solving arises,
Just simply note it and say,
Okay,
I'll come back to that later right now.
I'm feeling the sensation in my body.
Thoughts will arise.
Just label them as a thought.
Let the thought go.
Come back to the sensation.
In our last minute of meditation,
Just reaffirm your commitment to feeling the sensation in your body,
Whatever you decided to feel.
Let's come back to your body,
To your breath.
