Welcome,
I'm so happy you're here with me today.
This meditation is for moments when your mind feels busy,
Full or a little loud.
When thoughts are moving quickly,
Overlapping or asking for your attention all at once.
There's no need to quiet your mind here and there's no need to push thoughts away or make anything stop.
Instead,
We're simply creating a little more space.
Space to breathe,
Space to soften and space to be with yourself just as you are.
I invite you to get into a nice and comfortable position,
Whether that's seated or lying down and when you've reached that lovely supportive position,
If it feels safe and comfortable for you to do so,
I invite you to close your eyes gently,
Or perhaps you prefer to just soften your gaze,
Pick an object in the room around you and we'll begin to settle in to our practice.
Let's begin by noticing your breath,
Just as it is right now.
You don't need to deepen it or change it in any way,
We're just simply noticing the natural rhythm of your inhale and your exhale.
Bring your attention and feel the surface beneath you that's supporting your body.
Perhaps that's the chair that you're sitting in,
Or your yoga mat on the floor,
Or your bed that you're lying in,
And just let yourself be held.
If thoughts are already present or they pop into your mind at any point,
That's completely okay,
They're welcome here and we'll simply notice and acknowledge them,
But for now,
See if you can let your breath be your anchor,
Something steady to return to whenever your mind may wander.
As you continue breathing,
You may notice thoughts coming and going,
Plans,
Worries,
Memories,
Ideas,
And rather than engaging with them,
Imagine creating a little more space around each of these thoughts.
You may wish to picture them as clouds drifting across a wide open sky,
Or each thought being a leaf as it gently floats down a stream.
They don't need to disappear and they don't need to be analysed.
As we've said,
We just need to notice them and allow them to pass in their own time.
Having thoughts during your practice isn't something that you're doing wrong,
But noticing and acknowledging and returning to your anchor is the practice and you're doing beautifully.
I'd like to invite you to take three deep but gentle breaths with me,
Just to help us release any tension or pressure that we may be holding onto,
Or maybe not even realise that we're holding onto.
What we'll do is we'll have three of these breaths,
We'll breathe in through our nose and we'll pause at the very top and then we'll exhale out of our mouths with an audible sigh,
Almost like we're sighing all of the tension away.
So let's start with our first gentle breath in through your nose,
Pausing for a second at the top and exhaling with a sigh out through your mouth,
Letting that tension be released.
Next,
Let's do our second,
Deeply but gently in through your nose,
Pausing for a second and sighing it all away.
Let's take one final one of those deep breaths in through your nose and sighing out the tension and now just let your breath return back to its natural rhythm and each exhale that you're taking in your natural rhythm,
Let it be a signal to your body that it's okay to soften,
It's okay to release any feelings of tension or pressure that we may be holding onto.
I'd like for you to bring your awareness to your jaw,
Let your tongue come away from the roof of your mouth,
Let the muscles of your jaw relax,
I'd like you to slowly move that attention to your shoulders,
If you're seated then let gravity do its job,
Let your shoulders come away from your ears,
Let them soften and relax,
If you're lying down just let your shoulders melt into the ground beneath you,
Let the ground take the weight of your shoulders,
I'd like you to move your awareness to your hands and your fingers,
Release your grip of anything at the moment,
Allow your fingers and hands to become soft,
Perhaps it would feel nice for you to have your palms upturned and facing the ceiling,
The sky,
Then I'd like for you to turn your awareness to your belly and allow your belly to become soft,
Don't want to hold on to any breath here,
Allow your inhales and exhales to flow fully through all the way to your belly where it can feel really relaxed and soft,
If you're seated just take a moment to try and soften all of the muscles in your legs,
Not like you're clenching any muscles,
Just allow them to be soft for your chair and the ground to take the weight of them and if you're lying down again let the ground take the weight of your legs and your feet and allow your feet to just come into a natural position however they feel best to be right now and with each breath that you're taking just imagine that you're allowing your body to soften,
Even just by 1% with each breath,
You're allowing and releasing the feeling of any crowding of thoughts,
Allowing your body to relax,
Allowing everything to be gentle and soft and quietly remind yourself that I don't need to solve anything right now,
I'm allowed to pause and I'm allowed to rest and I am more than enough exactly as I am,
If your mind becomes busy again then just meet it with kindness,
For after all a busy mind isn't a failure and if it feels comforting and safe for you to do so I invite you to place one hand onto your chest,
Onto your heart space and feel the warmth beneath your palm,
The gentle rise and fall of your breath and just let yourself know that I am safe in this moment,
I can offer myself space and kindness and my thoughts don't need to go anywhere but I meet them with care and I notice them,
Allow your breath to continue creating space,
One gentle inhale and one soft exhale at a time each breath that we're taking,
A kind reminder to ourselves that we're grateful for our body and for our minds and that we can come back to these moments whenever needed to allow ourselves a gentle rest where we don't need to be productive in this very moment but all we need to do is to be present,
To be anchored by our breath and that we don't need to rush to meetings,
Appointments,
Any responsibilities that we may have and that you're showing up for yourself right now,
Here today and for that you should be so proud,
Notice if there's even a small shift,
A feeling of a little more spaciousness or a little more ease and as we begin to close our practice today,
I'd like for us to take one more of those deep but gentle inhales and exhales with a sigh so when you're ready,
Taking that deep breath in through your nose,
Pausing for a moment at the top and exhaling through the mouth with a sigh allowing your breath to come back to its natural rhythm and when you're ready,
I invite you to bring some gentle movement back to your body perhaps wiggling your fingers and your toes,
Maybe slowly and gently moving your head side to side for a gentle neck stretch if it feels nice for you then maybe a deeper stretch with your arms overhead,
Whatever feels good for you and if you've had your eyes closed throughout the practice,
When it feels comfortable for you,
If you gently like to open your eyes and if you've had your gaze softened,
Just bring your awareness back to the room you're in and I hope that you can move into the rest of your day with softness,
Being kind to yourself as well as others there's no rush to move straight from this practice,
Take it at your own pace and in your own time and I hope you've had a good practice with me and thank you so much for joining me
