Hello and welcome.
It's Faye here.
I'm here to guide you through gentle stretching practice and then move into a guided meditation inviting in gratitude and joy.
If you prefer to do the meditation practice lying down,
I will let you know when we get to that part.
But we'll start with the easy stretches.
So we'll begin by finding a comfortable seated position.
You can find this seated position by either being in a chair or sitting on the floor with a blanket or cushion under your hips.
Begin to settle into your seat.
Taking a deep breath in through the nose and exhaling from the mouth.
One more time inhaling through the nose and exhaling from the mouth,
Allowing the eyes to soften or maybe fully close.
Allow your hands to rest comfortably in your lap.
Begin to imagine heaviness in your sit bones,
Allowing you to be firmly grounded in your seat.
Feel your spine lengthen as you gently extend from the crown of the head.
Soften your shoulder blades down your back,
Creating space between the ears and the shoulders.
Can you bring awareness to how the breath feels as it moves through your body?
Continue breathing in and out through the nose or return to a breath that is comfortable for you.
And on your next inhale,
Slowly begin to melt the right ear to the right shoulder.
Pausing for just a moment and finding a slow and even exhale.
Allow yourself to release any tension that may be hiding in the face or the jaw.
And on your next inhale,
Slowly lower your chin to your chest,
Exhaling and letting it all go.
Noticing how the breath is moving through your body.
Perhaps you begin to notice sounds or sensations of your breath,
Maybe in the back of your neck,
The sides or front of your neck.
Now inhaling your left ear to your left shoulder,
Pausing for a moment and then exhaling slowly and evenly.
Noticing if this side feels different or maybe just the same.
Continue breathing in this half circle motion as slow or as fast as you'd like,
Allowing yourself to pause when you find something that feels good.
I'll offer you two other variations if you'd like to add them in on this practice.
If you'd like to add an additional stretch to each side,
When your head is tilted to one side,
So if your head is tilted to the right,
You'll energetically spread the fingers of the left hand parallel to the ground as if you're pushing the ground away and then slowly begin to push it out and away from your body,
Keeping your fingers spread apart as if you're painting a wall with your palm.
Only raising your arm to about shoulder height.
You'll feel a nice stretch in the neck and the arm and the fingers.
Move slowly and carefully only to where it feels good for you.
If you practice the stretch on one side,
Be sure to practice the stretch on the opposite side.
Another variation you might try is beginning to make full circles with the neck rolls.
Imagine using your nose to draw circles right in front of you.
A breath you may follow might be as you inhale through the nose,
Slowly trace the top half of the circle and as you exhale,
Slowly trace the bottom half of the circle.
If you choose to do these full circles,
Do a couple full circles on one direction and then slowly begin to change directions to even out the neck.
Returning to neutral,
Inhale deeply,
Allowing your arms to raise to the sky.
Exhale and allow your shoulders to soften away from the ears and begin to cross your arms over your body as if you were giving yourself a hug.
Feel free to stay here or if it's comfortable for you,
Begin to use your hands to gently massage the neck and shoulders.
Using your fingers,
Apply pressure to different spots in the upper back,
Shoulders and arms.
Pausing for just a moment to notice how this self massage feels on your body.
Notice if you feel areas of tightness or tenderness or maybe just pause being aware of how it feels to be in your own embrace.
Unraveling the arms and making any small adjustments to your seat in order to create a long and spacious spine.
If you're seated in a chair,
Place yourself closer to the edge of the chair to allow your feet to be firmly planted on the ground.
We'll begin taking a few seated twists,
Align your shoulders over your hips,
Softening the front side and allowing your belly to relax.
We'll inhale and raise our arms up to the sky,
Allowing your shoulders to lower back down and away from the ear.
As you exhale,
Begin to gently twist to the right,
Allowing your right hand to fall behind you on the ground or the chair.
It might be resting right behind your seat or maybe on the chair armrest.
Your left hand may be resting on your right thigh.
If it's comfortable for your neck,
Allow your eyes to gaze over your right shoulder.
Pausing for a moment,
Noticing how this feels in your body and being mindful to only move where it feels good.
If there's any pain or discomfort,
Begin to slowly return back to a place of comfort and ease.
Take a deep inhale through the nose as you draw your arms up and over your head.
And as you exhale,
Slowly twist to the left.
Allow your left hand to be placed behind your hip or on the chair's armrest.
The opposite hand can find the opposite knee or thigh.
If it's comfortable for you,
Allow the gaze to look over the left shoulder.
Do these side twists just a couple more times at your own breath.
Bring mindful awareness to the stretch as you intentionally move with your breath and feel how each side feels and noticing how your breath feels as it guides you.
If thoughts arise during the stretch,
Allow your attention to settle on this thought for just a moment.
And with love and grace,
Gently release this thought and bring your attention back to your breath.
As we finish up this moving part of the practice,
Allow yourself to find any last movements or stretches that feel good for you.
Perhaps that's stretching your arms above your head or opening and closing your mouth to release any tension hiding in the jaw.
Maybe it's making small wrist circles or shaking out the feet and ankles.
Whatever it is,
Allow yourself to tune into your body before settling into stillness again.
If you prefer to lay down,
This is your chance to lay down.
If there's any sensitivity in the low back when you're lying down,
Perhaps your feet are still planted on the ground and allowing your knees to collapse inwards.
I invite you to place one hand at your heart and one on your belly,
Bringing attention and focus to the sensations of the body and the breath.
And if it's comfortable for you,
Allowing the eyes to close and without judgment,
Noticing the feelings and sensations that arrive.
Acknowledge the thoughts and feelings and with gratitude,
Allow them to show up and simply pass by you.
Keeping in mind to be patient with yourself as the mind naturally wanders and is constantly trying to create or recall thoughts of the future or the past.
This is part of the practice and when you can acknowledge these thoughts that show up and allow them to release by kindly and gently returning to your breath.
On your next exhale,
Allow yourself to empty the breath from your lungs fully.
Take a nice deep breath in through the nose,
Noticing how the breath is moving through your body.
Bring awareness to how your hand near your heart space gently rises as the air moves through and then notice the gentle rise in the belly.
And as you exhale and empty that breath,
Notice the belly beginning to soften back toward the spine and maybe how your chest dips as the breath moves out of the lungs and out through the nose.
Continue following the movement of the breath,
Paying attention to the physical sensations of your breath.
Take a moment to acknowledge how the simplicity of breathing in this moment is something to celebrate.
Express gratitude and amazement at how breathing is something that requires minimal effort,
But holds vast wisdom in keeping you alive and keeping you present.
Allow any thoughts that arise as they naturally do and simply and kindly recognize and release them.
Returning back to your breath.
Returning back to how the breath feels in your body.
At any time,
You may lower your hands to your lap if you're sitting or beside you if you're lying down.
I invite you to call to mind all the relationships you are grateful for.
This can be loved ones like family members,
Friends,
Or pets.
They may physically be with us.
You may only be able to speak with them virtually,
Or maybe they're only in our hearts.
Allow yourself to visualize them with you.
Expressing gratitude to each one of them and how they have impacted your life in some way,
Whether they know it or not.
Celebrate these special relationships with gratitude call to mind the good memories and even the ones that were challenging to get through.
Celebrating how these relationships have made you who you are today.
Resting here in silence,
Noticing what it feels like in the body to celebrate and be grateful for these special relationships.
Allow yourself to be grateful for having the opportunity to know them,
To learn from them,
To share love and connection with them.
Begin to extend that gratitude to others who you might not know as well.
Maybe it's as simple as sharing a friendly greeting or the kind gesture of holding the door open as you enter into a building.
Maybe it's the store clerk for simply showing up to work to be able to help you find what you need.
Maybe it's the mail carrier for delivering your mail.
Maybe it's the restaurant workers who prepare and provide good food to nourish your body.
See if you can extend this gratitude to those who you don't know or believe you may not have an immediate connection with.
Perhaps this is to the farmers who grew your food or produced your clothes.
Maybe it's to the truck drivers that drive all day and night to deliver the goods we need to live our daily life.
Perhaps it's to the people who invented medicine that you have used to heal.
Maybe it's to the researchers,
Doctors,
And nurses you don't know but show up each day to help further heal the world.
Maybe it's to the parents who are taking care of the children who will someday change this world.
Allow these feelings of gratitude to show up for the simple things in life such as being able to access clean water,
A roof over your head,
A bed to sleep in,
All the small things in life we maybe don't pay attention to.
What can you be grateful for?
Perhaps it's not a physical thing.
Maybe it's just time.
Time with loved ones.
Time to love yourself and time to always continue learning,
Growing,
And changing.
Taking a moment to rest in these feelings of gratitude,
Celebration,
And joy.
Noticing how it makes your physical body feel and noticing any sensations or feelings that may show up in the heart space.
As we bring this practice to a close,
I'll invite you to set an intention for the day.
How do you want to show up today?
How do you want to feel?
Maybe it's a word or a phrase.
If nothing comes to mind,
I'll offer you the intention of celebrating this life today.
Whatever your intention is today,
Allow yourself a moment to connect with it.
Noticing how it feels in your body as you breathe in your intention and as you breathe out your intention.
And one more time,
Breathing in your intention and breathing out your intention.
Maybe begin to bring a smile to your lips and notice how that small upturn of the lips might affect you.
Taking a moment to appreciate the time that you have set aside for yourself.
We'll gently begin waking up the body by wiggling the toes and the fingers.
Begin slowly to stretch out the wrists and the ankles.
Moving to the neck,
Invite gentle movement,
Maybe side to side or up and down.
If you'd like,
You can extend your arms out,
Welcoming in this beautiful day.
This day is full of opportunities to practice your intention and find joy in celebration for this breath,
For this moment,
For this day,
And for everything you've done to bring you to where you are right now in this moment.
Resting here in gratitude and remembering you have the ability to return to this gratitude practice at any point during your day.
And when you're ready,
Gently blink open your eyes welcoming in the rest of your day.
Thank you for meditating with me today and Namaste.
