Now that your eyes are closed and you've settled on a position that is comfortable for you,
Shift your attention to your breath and begin to notice how you're breathing.
Don't force anything.
Allow your body to breathe however it wants to.
See can you notice and be with each in-breath and each out-breath.
It may help to place your attention at the rim of your nostrils or in your chest or maybe down in your belly.
And just notice what happens every time you breathe in and every time you breathe out.
The mind often struggles with being still and so distractions may arise and your attention may get caught up in them.
You may find that your attention has gone into the future or back into the past.
Whenever you notice that your attention is no longer on your breath,
Take a moment to acknowledge where you are and without judging yourself and with lots of kindness,
Guide your attention back to your breath.
It doesn't matter how many times you may have to do this during the meditation.
What matters is your ability to keep bringing your attention back to your breath with kindness and patience.
Give yourself permission to fully relax,
Making sure that there's no tension in your face or your neck and that your shoulders are far away from your ears.
And although your back is straight,
You're not straining anything,
You're not forcing anything.
You're simply observing and accepting what is here and now.
With all that's happening here and around the world,
It's very easy for the mind to get caught up in worrying thoughts.
Just yesterday,
A friend was telling me about his concern over nuclear weapons and could someone press the button.
For a moment,
I myself thought about it and then I exhaled and let go of that thought.
What happens when we have thoughts that keep coming back?
It's only natural to feel anxious and to worry about what will happen,
When it will happen,
Where it will happen.
But all this worrying,
This anxiety does us no good.
And so in this moment,
I invite you to just exhale.
Tell yourself that you're exhaling all the worrying thoughts,
All the anxiety,
You're exhaling all of it out of you.
And now take a deep breath in and inhale trust,
Trust in the universe,
God,
The here and now,
Humanity,
Whatever you believe in.
And so exhale worry.
And once again,
Inhale trust,
Exhale worry,
And inhale trust.
It may help to write down some of these worrying thoughts on a piece of paper and after writing The mind can ruminate on negativity.
And when that happens,
Remember to be kind and patient with yourself.
The last thing you need to do is to punish yourself for having these negative thoughts,
For worrying and for being anxious.
There's no need to punish or criticize yourself.
We live in a world that does have positivity,
But also a lot of negativity,
A lot of anxiety and worries.
And so be kind and patient with yourself.
And see if you can't maybe change the channel and tune into thoughts that affirm that edify who you are.
I'd like to practice that right now by sharing five positive affirmations that you can repeat with your full voice or quietly to yourself.
Between each affirmation,
There will be a 30 second pause so that you can repeat it as many times as you feel to.
And feel free to change the wording of the affirmation if it doesn't resonate with you.
I choose to rise above the negativity.
I choose to rise above the negativity.
My feelings and needs matter.
I love and accept myself just as I am.
I love and accept myself just as I am.
I now live in limitless love,
Light and joy.
I cherish the present moment.
I cherish the present moment.
Very good,
Now come back to your breath.
And notice if you're breathing any differently.
Notice if your breath has slowed down some.
And begin to notice how you feel in your body.
Do you feel more relaxed?
See if you can breathe into whatever areas in your body still feel a little tense.
Undertakes.
The music will end shortly,
But I invite you to stay here,
In this space,
In this bubble of serenity that you've created for yourself for as long as you can.
And remember that throughout your day,
Come back to these affirmations.
Create a channel within your mind of positive affirmations that you can come back to whenever worrying or anxious thoughts appear.
You now have a channel of positivity that you can tune into.
I thank you for being here.
See you next time.
