Taking a break,
Taking a breath.
First of all,
Congratulations that you are here.
As you chose this meditation,
You already had the most important moment of mindfulness.
You realized that you need a break.
We all get to the point where we need a break,
Where we need to shift gear,
When we need to change the perspective,
When we need a pause and a deep breath.
But how often are those situations also the ones where we are trapped in the story we tell ourselves?
We're grinding and we're pushing hard,
And the harder we push,
The less we move,
And the tenser we get,
The less flexible we become.
This moment of mindfulness in which we realize that we are stuck and needing a break to breathe,
Relax and reassess is already a huge step.
The next giant step was to act on the impulse in that moment of clarity and not to tell ourselves that we will take a break once we've pushed through,
But to take that break now.
You are here.
You are listening to this.
So you have already mastered the biggest hurdles.
Take a moment to congratulate yourself on that.
And now let's begin with a meditation.
Step 1.
Gathering.
Grounding in the present moment.
If you haven't done so yet and you have the option,
I'd like to invite you to change the place and the position.
If you have been sitting,
Stand up.
If you're in the office,
Go outside.
Whatever is possible to manifest the idea of change.
Once you've found your position,
Whatever works for you today,
Settle into that position.
Check in with yourself and find a position that is balanced,
Dignified,
Relaxed and still awake and alert.
If possible,
Closing the eyes or softening the gaze.
Gathering the attention to focus on the physical sensations of the breathing itself.
Maybe on the sensations of the breath in the nose.
Or moving in close to the sense of the breath in the belly.
Feeling the sensations of the belly expanding as the breath comes in and falling back as the breath goes out again.
Practicing following the breath all the way in and all the way out.
Letting the breath fill the body with kind attention.
Breathing in and breathing out.
And if the mind wonders,
Which it will,
That's what minds do.
Without judgment,
But with kindness.
Gently bringing the attention back to the breath.
Breathing in and breathing out.
With the next breath we move to the second step,
Investigation.
As the breath flows naturally,
Dropping into the present moment,
Becoming aware of how things are in this moment.
With gentle curiosity scanning through the body.
What is there to recognize today?
What's the weather like inside the body?
What body sensations are here right now?
Perhaps they're sensations of tightness or bracing.
Is there a familiar pattern?
Areas of tension where emotions tend to manifest.
What is written in the body?
What emotions are here?
As best we can,
Turning towards any sense of discomfort or unpleasant feelings.
Recognizing them,
Acknowledging them.
Maybe there's a strong emotion in the foreground or there's numbness.
Acknowledging these emotions are here.
Perhaps,
If that is possible today,
Exploring what emotions are underneath or more subtle.
There's no need to push any of them away.
Welcoming them as best we can.
Accepting them.
Giving them room.
What thoughts are going through the mind?
Acknowledging thoughts as mental events.
Labeling them without getting caught up in the story.
Thinking.
Planning.
Remembering.
Thoughts are real,
But they are not necessarily true.
Recognizing them.
Labeling them.
And then,
Letting them go again.
Bringing awareness to the whole of the inner experience.
Body sensations,
Thoughts and emotions.
Acknowledging the vivid play of life inside ourselves.
Slowly moving to the last step of the meditation.
In your own time,
Letting go of the exploration of thoughts,
Emotions and sensations and coming back to the breath.
Following the sensations of the breath flowing through the body.
Breathing in and breathing out.
And when you're ready,
Taking a long,
Deep in-breath.
Filling the lungs.
Followed by an equally long and deep out-breath.
And another one.
A deep in-breath.
Feeling where the breath enters the body.
How the breath flows through the body.
And with the out-breath,
Having the intention of relaxing.
Letting go of areas of tightness and tension.
And another deep in-breath.
Becoming aware of the body as a whole.
The posture and the facial expression.
If there are sensations of discomfort,
Tension or resistance,
As best we can,
Gently turning towards and breathing into them.
Having the intention to soften.
Releasing.
Letting go on the out-breath.
And one last time.
A deep,
Long in-breath.
Becoming aware of how the body is moved by the breath.
And a long,
Slow and deep out-breath.
Letting go.
Letting go.
Letting go.
In the last moments of our meditation,
Resuming the natural breath.
Opening to the sounds in the room.
Slowly opening the eyes.
And as best we can,
Bringing this expanded awareness to the next moments of the day.
Thank you,
The meditation is now complete.
