Hello,
Welcome to this beginner's meditation.
Today you'll get into a relaxing meditative state with a couple of simple techniques that anybody can do.
Many people assume that meditating or being in a meditative state means having no thoughts at all and being completely still.
But unless you're one of those rare people that have reached complete enlightenment and peace,
Being in such a still state is extremely difficult for almost all human beings.
The actual meditative state happens when we interrupt our train of thought and bring yourself to the present moment.
This can be done after some time for any amount of time.
It could be five seconds or it could be five hours.
Thoughts will come back and grab your focus away from you.
This is completely normal and a part of the entire flow of meditation.
So make sure you will not be disturbed,
Get into a nice relaxing position where all of your muscles can go into a loose and limp state.
For this session,
All you have to do is gently bring yourself back to the present moment without judging your thoughts.
That is meditation.
Consciously and continually bringing yourself back to the present moment over and over again.
There are many ways to do this and we will start with one of the easiest and most effective techniques,
Conscious breathing.
Your breath is the most present thing that you have and it is a bridge to the relationship with your present moment.
So let's begin by taking three deep and strong breaths.
One,
Pull in and let go.
Focus on that breath.
Two,
Pull in and exhale fully.
And three,
Take one more deep breath in and gently exhale slowly.
Great.
Now let's focus on our belly as we breathe.
You don't have to do anything special or think too hard about it.
Just observe your belly rising and falling with each breath.
Now my love,
When your thoughts stray away from you,
From focusing on this moment and focusing on your abdomen,
Just gently bring your attention back.
Allow your entire body to fully relax with each exhale.
Consciously make your belly expand and rise with each inhale,
Filling with fresh oxygen and allow it to fall,
Contracting with each exhale.
Bring your focus to the breath moving the belly.
Good.
This is meditation and you're doing so well.
Notice how easy it is to focus on your breath while you move your belly.
Thought may come and take your focus away and that's fine.
You're not doing anything wrong.
Just bring your awareness back to your belly gently without judgment in a space of grace and compassion.
Remember,
The goal is not to keep yourself without thought.
You only need to bring yourself back to the present moment to focus after you've noticed your thoughts have taken your attention away.
This exercise,
This movement of pulling your attention back is training your mind to command and to follow your command instead of doing whatever it wants to do.
This is you controlling your mind rather than your mind and your thoughts controlling you.
Thoughts are essential here.
Noticing thoughts is what happens and what brings you to the present moment.
Keep bringing yourself back to your belly.
Make it rise.
Make it fall.
Inhale belly out.
Exhale belly in.
Wonderful.
I want you to put your focus on your chest now.
Observe it as it rises with each inhale and falls with each exhale.
Feel your ribs expanding easily when you breathe in and get smaller with each breath you let out.
This may come and it's okay.
Grab your attention and bring it back to your breath.
Moving your chest and your rib cage.
That beautiful bone structure that supports you.
Bring your awareness to it as it expands with each breath.
Now as you let your breath become a natural automatic flow,
Just feel your chest and your belly moving on its own.
Don't force your body to breathe in in any certain way.
Just allow yourself to breathe.
Noticing every detail about how your breath feels.
Good.
Now put your focus and your attention on your nose.
Feel all the sensations around your nose and how the air feels entering and exiting your nostrils.
Notice how the air feels in you.
Is it cool or warm?
When you breathe in more deeply,
Can you feel the air flows quickly?
When you breathe more calmly,
The air slows down.
Now switch your focus to your neck and your throat.
Let your breath go at its own pace and observe the sensations of the air entering and exiting your throat,
Coming down into your lungs.
Does the air feel warm or cold?
Keep breathing and observing the sensations of air passing through your body as far as it goes,
As deep as it goes.
As your thoughts try to wander and distract you,
Gently bring them back to your breath.
And as you inhale deep into your belly,
Expanding your lungs and your ribcage,
What are you experiencing?
Where do you feel it?
What do you see?
Good.
Now wherever you are and whenever you are ready,
Just relax and let your mind wander to whatever it wants.
Just observe.
You have finished your meditation.
You did so well.
Just one more thing.
Truly notice how you feel right now entirely.
Observe what your mind is like and how your body is feeling.
Now compare this to how you were feeling before you started your meditation.
And with this beginner first step meditation,
You're already starting to experience the benefits of meditating right now.
When you are ready,
Open your eyes and come back to the present moment.
That's all I have.
You