Guided Meditation: The Sweetness Of Your Middle

Welcome to this 35-minute meditation with Ava. In this meditation, Ava begins with some gentle stretches and softly guides you into a state of relaxation and peace.

This meditation will help you relax the tensions of the body and connect to the sweetness of your middle, the heart space.

Transcript

So it's nice to start with some warm-up stretches just to start to relax the body,

Arrive in the present moment,

Can really help us to drop in nice and deep.

So if you want to join me just come up to a seat,

Can be nice to sit on the edge of a cushion as well,

Can help the knees and hips feel comfortable.

So take a moment close the eyes and just wriggle around in that seat,

Check that feels good.

If the knees are floating very much maybe a support under one of the knees,

Giving that little wriggle,

Maybe the shoulders squeeze up,

Back and down,

Fuller breaths coming in,

Expanding the belly,

Softening the neck and throat.

At any point it might feel nice to take a big breath in through the nose and exhale from the mouth if that feels good.

Can interlace the fingers and take a big stretch overhead.

So like it's the morning just starting to work side to side into the ribs,

Feel the body get thirstier for those bigger breaths,

Maybe the fingers release and you roll out the wrists,

Chin,

Tips up and down.

So just move freely,

Finding some of those sticky edges,

Hand might reach down to the floor beside you,

Reaching over.

So you've got a little bit of time here just to stretch out through the ribs,

Shoulders,

Loosening off the head and just inviting you to move really slowly,

Melting some of the tension that might create some aches when we start to sit in stillness.

That sideways stretch can feel really nice or maybe it's just a twist,

Turning the face to the side.

So in through the nose,

Out from the mouth if you found something that you want to melt.

It might feel nice to round the whole body forward,

So maybe the hands to the knees or to the floor.

Slowly working into that stickiness at the back of the neck and hips.

Might wag a little side to side and if the legs are already feeling sore maybe just a stretch out in front,

You can round forward over the legs or anything else that's sticky that you can find before we end up in stillness.

Now's also the time to grab some props if the seat isn't feeling that comfortable.

Definitely don't want to be wishing the meditation was over the whole time because the body doesn't feel right.

So get comfortable,

Explore different options.

Starting to adjust your seat,

So feeling the hips steady,

Sturdy on the support of the cushion.

Taking a big breath down through the legs,

Just checking that this feels right.

Again not trying to push past or through the body in this kind of practice.

It's a more gentle practice.

Starting to soften the thighs,

The calves and feet.

Melting off the skin and the joints of your lower body.

And start to notice the back of the body.

Sensations,

Tightness or maybe pleasurable sensations.

Lower back,

Spine,

Back of the shoulders as you breathe there.

You might send a full breath into the lower back.

Exhale from the nose or mouth,

Really letting it go.

Spreading around to the sides of the belly,

Expanding with the breath,

Melting off these edges.

Intuitively just weaving your breath around lower back,

Sides of the belly,

Front and bottom of your belly.

Until the belly is 100% relaxed.

Softening through your ribs,

Shoulders and chest.

Notice the breath is applying a pressure around the ribs,

Lungs,

Back.

Pressing into any unnecessary tension.

With the big breath in and letting it go on the exhale.

All around the shoulders melting,

Then soften down the arms to the hands.

Palms and fingers smoothing out,

Softening.

Making your way into the throat,

Face and scalp.

Our intention for the practice is to have more peace and relaxation.

Then that's our job here,

Just to relax every muscle of the face,

Eyes,

Brain.

Softening around the scalp,

Jaw,

Back of the neck.

The habitual tension around the eyeballs and forehead.

From looking and thinking is softening with each breath spreading through eyes,

Forehead,

Brain.

Of course,

Thoughts continue to appear.

That's not a problem.

You can let go any resistance to the thoughts.

But continue to return to the breath,

Softening the effort of thinking.

And the breath also replaces unnecessary thinking.

Taking a full breath brings you back into the now.

Just scanning down shoulders,

Belly,

Legs.

Or any tension that's crept back in that you can soften.

You might explore a round of breath in and out to the count of four.

In and four out,

Just to lengthen,

Deepen the breath.

Start to bring your attention from the forehead down below the shoulders.

As you carve a pathway with your breath into the middle of the chest.

Into a point just behind your sternum.

The heart space.

Noticing a point of intimacy and depth.

Right at the very center of your being.

The heart of your being.

Your stillness core.

After inhale,

Before the exhale,

You might introduce a short pause.

Just to really notice the stillness in your middle.

Of course,

Thoughts are still here in the forehead.

Start to cultivate a connection to this middle.

Sensing the sweetness and the depth of the center of your being.

A formless,

Wordless existence.

You might keep a short pause after inhale and after exhale.

At the top and at the bottom of the breath.

Opening up stillness.

You might notice stillness as a background here.

In which the sounds and forms appear.

The background of the present moment.

The present moment.

The same presence at the center of the heart space.

Allowing the body to adjust as much as it needs to.

You're not a statue here.

In fact,

Small movements,

Adjustments and breath can bring more deepening and more relaxation.

Might just be a gentle adjustment of the head or supporting the hips and legs a different way.

Scanning down the shoulders and arms again.

Just checking.

No tension has crept in.

Using the breath to soften the skin,

The joints.

Breathing the full volume of your arms.

Spreading awareness down the back again.

Just checking in with all the spots.

Very slowly exploring with the breath.

The length of the spine.

All the muscles of the back.

Down the legs to the feet.

Short pauses between inhale and exhale.

The background of stillness.

The same as the heart space.

Sometimes it feels nice to place a palm on the middle of the chest.

To really feel the mystery and the depth that's here.

Just checking the breaths are still full.

So not shallow with the breath and stuff.

Not shallow with the breath and stuck in the forehead.

But full belly breaths.

Maybe the count of four.

Coming down into this moment in the body.

Connecting with your own system and layers.

Below the shoulders.

A great time to just check in with yourself and your layers.

How do I feel right now?

What's living inside me?

Is there any uncomfortable material that needs to be listened to or felt or softened inside?

How do I feel right now?

You might explore or just breathe.

Checking into any pieces inside that have been waiting to be heard.

Maybe they felt off all week.

If it feels clear inside,

Then just return to the heart space.

Checking the shoulders are soft.

Shoulders are soft.

Again,

Just scanning through the body if it's still comfortable here.

If it needs to adjust,

Have a stretch.

Maybe the legs out and back in.

Or even to recline for the last 10 minutes if that feels best.

Body scan again.

Through the back,

Shoulders.

Taking a full body breath down to the toes,

Out to the fingers.

And just lengthening the spine up long and straight.

Spreading the breath down to the tailbone and up through the back of the neck.

Another doorway into our deeper layers.

I just need to be breathed and felt.

Can you really feel yourself here?

A breath in and out of the heart space.

The depth and the stillness and the love inside your middle.

Checking the breaths are still full.

Finding the very top of your lung capacity.

Pause and empty all the way to zero at the bottom.

Pause.

Noticing the stillness,

Zero points.

At the top and bottom of the breath.

One more minute.

You might sense an openness around the heart space.

A wave of relaxation down the body.

A stillness in the inner space.

Time now just to check in.

The echoes of your practice might sense into the day ahead.

Infusing it with the relaxed energy you have now.

Spreading the relaxation into all areas of your life.

Taking your time here,

Moving really slowly.

You have lots of time to rest or stretch or to remain in your seat before moving into the rest of your day.

So no rush at all.