Welcome,
I'm so glad that you're here with me today.
Before we begin I just want to say this gently that there's nothing that you need to fix in this moment,
There's nothing that you need to change,
There's nothing that you need to improve,
Explain or understand.
You don't need to arrive here calm today,
You don't need to arrive here grateful,
You don't need to arrive as your best self,
But just simply arrive exactly as you are.
Allow your body to find a position that feels kind for you and if it's part of your practice and you feel comfortable allow your eyes to gently close or allow your gaze to soften and as we begin to settle in I'd like you to take a slow gentle breath in through your nose and when you reach the top exhaling with a sigh out through your mouth and then just allowing your breath to come back to its natural rhythm and letting this breath be ordinary,
Nothing special and nothing forced but just how your breath wants to be.
I invite you to bring your awareness to where your body is being supported right now,
The weight of you as it's resting held by the chair you're sitting in,
The mat or the floor that you're lying on or seated on or perhaps your bed,
The earth beneath you.
You don't need to hold yourself together here,
You don't need to stay alert,
You don't need to be switched on and if there's tension anywhere that you can feel in your body see if it can soften just a little,
Not because it should but because it's allowed and if it doesn't soften that's okay too,
There's no fixing required here.
I invite you to bring your awareness and your attention to the very top of your head.
We'll make our way down through your body,
Just see if we can release any tension and soften as we go.
Move your attention to your forehead,
To your eyes,
Just making sure that your eyes if they're closed are very gently closed,
Moving your awareness down past your nose,
Into your cheeks,
Into your jaw,
Allow your tongue to come away from the roof of your mouth and let the muscles in your jaw just relax,
Bringing your awareness down your neck and into your shoulders,
Allowing gravity to do its job,
Just let your shoulders come away from your ears or if you're lying down allow the earth beneath you to take the weight of your shoulders,
Moving your awareness down your arms to your hands and fingers,
Allowing your fingers and hands to release any grip,
Perhaps it feels better for you to have your palms facing upwards,
Moving your attention down your chest,
Into your belly,
Allowing your belly to fully soften,
Not holding onto any breath here,
Your awareness takes you to your hips,
To your legs,
Your knees,
Your calves,
Your shins,
Your feet and your toes,
You're lying down and just let your feet fall away to where they want and whatever is supporting you,
Whether your mat,
Your bed or a chair just allow your weight to fully rest into it,
Many of us move through life with a quiet sense that we should be doing better,
Being calmer,
Coping with everything with full grace,
Perhaps feeling less sensitive and tougher handling everything life can throw at us more easily than we do and even in moments of rest,
That habit of striving can follow us so if you notice a part of you trying to do this meditation right,
Maybe trying to relax properly or trying to get something out of it I invite you to gently let that effort completely go,
We're not here today to achieve a certain state,
We're not here to reach clarity and you're not here to become someone else,
But we're here to rest from all of that,
Now softly bring your attention inward we're not here to analyse or scan for any problems,
But we're just here to notice,
Notice what it's like to be you right now perhaps there's tiredness or heaviness or a quiet ache beneath the surface,
Perhaps there's restlessness or maybe a feeling that you can't quite name but whatever is there,
Just let it be here,
You don't need to heal it,
You don't need to push it away and you don't need to make any sense of it nothing here is a mistake,
You might offer yourself these words,
But there is nothing to fix,
Just let these land gently many people carry a quiet pressure to justify themselves,
Maybe you're one of these people this pressure to justify yourself could be to be useful,
To be strong,
To be okay for the sake of others you might feel responsible for how other people feel,
For keeping things running smoothly,
For not being too much so for these moments,
Imagine setting all of that down,
I like to think of it as though i'm carrying all my groceries in and as i'm popping the bags on the floor,
That's how i'm letting go of any of these pressures that i feel,
And that might be helpful for you too you don't need to prove anything,
You don't need to prove that you're coping,
You don't need to prove that you're grateful,
And you don't need to prove that you deserve rest you don't owe productivity to this moment,
You don't owe any effort in this moment,
You're simply arriving exactly as you are,
And let that be enough now,
Imagine what it would feel like to meet yourself with the same gentleness and kindness that you offer others not hugely big compassion or dramatic self-love,
But just simple kindness if it feels comfortable,
Perhaps place a hand over your heart,
Or somewhere that feels grounding and noticing the warmth of that contact,
And if words feel helpful in this moment,
Then i might quietly offer that i'm allowed to be here and i don't need to earn this,
Or simply just the word kindness,
And let it be uncomplicated for the next few moments,
There's nothing that you need to follow,
And nothing that you need to repeat,
But just rest in the experience of being held by this moment just breathing as you breathe,
And being as you are,
Even if the mind wanders,
Even if emotions rise and fall,
Even if nothing much seems to happen,
Then this is enough if you've had your eyes closed in your own time,
Just gently flutter them open,
Or if you've had your gaze softened,
Just bring your awareness back to the room you're in and before i leave you,
Just thank yourself,
Not for doing this well,
But simply for showing up,
You're always very welcome here
