Welcome to a 25-minute meditation on centering.
I'll guide you through this practice and I'll leave you ample space to explore your own meditation practice and acknowledge what comes up for yourself.
If you haven't already,
Go ahead and get into your comfortable seat so that you feel supported.
Maybe your hips are elevated above your knees.
I'm sitting on a block or a blanket or maybe there's a prop behind your back.
Always know that it is your meditation practice.
There's no way you can do it wrong.
Just be in curiosity for yourself.
Go ahead and close your eyes and feel your shoulders stack over your hips.
So notice if there's a slight lean forward or backward,
Try and find that neutral place where your shoulders are right over your hips and your head is right on top of your shoulders.
Take a deep breath in,
Open mouth,
Breath out.
Take two more breaths like that,
Settling into your physical body.
And gently breathe in and out of your nose.
I will offer up ample space for you this morning.
Really explore your practice.
Tuning into the tools that work for you.
And with your awareness on just your natural breath,
The gentle rise and fall of your inner and exhale.
Take a breath here to do a full body scan.
How does your body feel today?
Not working to fix or change anything,
Just notice that you're feeling better.
And now take a moment to scan emotionally.
How are you today?
Just notice the tightness in your back or your neck.
Take a moment of awareness.
And now take a moment to scan emotionally.
How are you today?
Again,
Nothing to change,
Nothing to fix.
In our busy lives,
We can often rush past how we are.
Noticing and acknowledging any emotions without labeling them can help you set yourself up for your day.
And now start by bringing your awareness down to your right foot.
We'll start by doing our body scan on the right side of our body.
And now bring your awareness to your right hip.
Nothing to fix,
Nothing to figure out.
Nowhere else to be except right here with your attention on your physical body.
And bring your awareness to your right ribcage.
Notice the gentle rise and fall of your breath.
And bring your awareness to the right side of your chest.
Maybe it's your right shoulder.
You don't have to be too picky about where it lands,
Just wherever it naturally holds your attention.
And if you notice any tightness on this side of your body,
Imagine that tightness like a piece of ice.
And with each exhale,
It turns more into water,
Softening and melting.
Maybe that sensation occurs quickly,
Or maybe it's a slow and steady thaw.
And bring your awareness up to your throat,
The right side of your neck.
And gently shift your awareness to the right side of your head,
Could be your forehead.
Again,
No need to try and get it right.
Wherever your awareness lands,
Let it rest and breathe.
Allow a sensation of softening to happen through your jaw,
The muscles in your face.
Bring some space between your teeth,
Top to bottom.
And now for a moment,
Bring your awareness six inches above the crown of your head,
Starting to bring right and left side together,
Centering just for a moment.
And we'll start to walk our awareness back down the left side of our body,
Just noticing any subtle differences,
But maintaining presence might feel different than the other side,
And that's okay.
And bring your awareness to the left side of your head.
And feel the left side of your face soften.
Relax your jaw again if it's become tense.
Let your eyes gently be closed.
And bring your awareness down to the left side of your neck,
Your throat.
And remember,
If you drift off into thought,
That's okay.
And now for a moment,
We use these anchoring points in our body to bring our awareness back,
Back to our physical self,
And back to our present moment.
And work your awareness down to your left shoulder or your left side of your chest.
Allowing that softening to happen,
That melting of ice.
And let that softening travel all the way down to your hands.
You keep your awareness on your shoulder or your chest.
And then bring your awareness to your left rib cage,
Your left diaphragm.
And let that softening travel all the way down to your chest.
And shift your awareness to your left hip.
Feeling again grounded and rooted to where you are seated.
And awareness moves down to your left foot or your left knee,
Whatever is touching the earth.
And now tune into the wholeness of your physical body.
Feel the entire left side of your body.
And the entire right side of your body.
And now find your center,
Your spine line where your right and left side meet.
And allow your breath to travel from your feet all the way up to above the crown of your head,
Traveling along that spine line.
And all the way back down to your feet.
Taking full body breathing.
Allowing yourself in this moment to feel whole and complete.
Trusting that you are on the path on your journey.
There's nothing you need to figure out in this moment.
No other place you need to be.
And as you sit here in your wholeness,
Both physically and emotionally,
If you find your mind wandering,
Use the tools that work for you.
And then as you inhale,
Start to feel the energy from your body.
If you find you have a busy mind today,
Start counting your inhale and your exhale.
And then start again at one.
Just come back to one,
Bring that inhale starting down at your feet.
And then start again at one.
And then start again at one.
As your mind continues to wander,
You can focus your awareness on one spot of your body.
One anchor point.
Maybe your energy feels stuck or radiant.
Becoming whole is the goal.
So noticing where that energy may be stuck or abundant.
And sitting with that for a few minutes.
Fully expressing,
Fully acknowledging.
Letting go of power in this practice.
Letting go of any expected outcome.
Truly turning inward and trusting yourself.
And then,
Just relaxing your intuition.
And for these last few minutes,
Settling into that gentle rhythm of your breath.
And trusting the flow state of your inhale and exhale.
And then,
Just following any physical sensations that are occurring to happen.
Just let go of any thoughts.
Nowhere to go.
Nothing to do.
Letting go of any thoughts.
Letting go of any thoughts.
Letting go of any thoughts.
Letting go of any thoughts.
Letting go of any thoughts.
And for the last few moments,
Bring your awareness above the crown of your head.
And let your mind wander as it might.
And bring your palms together at your heart center.
And let your right hand press into your left hand and your left hand gently touch into your right.
Coming together at your heart center.
Trusting and knowing that you are whole,
Just as you are.
Deep breath in.
Deep breath out.
And then,
Your right hand,
Just relax your fingers and press open palms up to the sky.
