Welcome to this Metta Awareness Meditation for Stress Relief.
My name is Hillary and I will be guiding you through today's practice.
Before we get started,
Make sure that you are in a comfortable seated position.
Whether you are sitting up tall in a chair or against a wall so that your spine has some support.
Wherever you are,
Just make sure that your physical body is in a place of ease.
And then begin to settle into your seat,
Closing your eyes,
Allowing the eyelids to heavily rest.
Softening the muscles of your face.
Shoulders drop away from the ears.
We begin to bring our attention inwards,
Acknowledging the physical sensations of the body.
Acknowledging the emotions for what they are.
Acknowledging any thoughts lingering.
As you bring awareness to the physical body,
Notice if there are any places of tension,
Any areas carrying pain or discomfort.
Perhaps there are emotions tied to these places,
Frustration,
Stress,
Apprehension.
And again,
We are not identifying with any of these physical sensations or emotions,
But merely observing them.
Now we'll begin to sink a little deeper as we breathe in fully and breathe out deeply.
Every inhale,
Feeling your ribs rise,
Your edges stretch.
Every exhale,
You surrender,
You let go.
Continuing to focus on the quality of every inhale and deeper exhale.
Allowing the breath to anchor you to this very moment.
The moment your mind begins to wander towards any emotions,
Thoughts,
Sensations,
Gently bring it back into this space that you are creating to ultimately be present.
We cultivate presence by anchoring to the breath.
So I challenge you for the remainder of this practice to focus on merely the inhales and exhales as they ventilate your lungs and give you energy.
The inhales and exhales keep you soft.
They keep you grounded.
The inhales and exhales are in this moment.
There is no thought of the past or the future.
So therefore there is no room for emotions tied to these thoughts.
As we let ourselves sink into this very moment,
We open up possibilities to feel good,
To feel at ease,
To give our minds and physiology a break.
Anytime your mind begins to wander,
Gently bring it back into this space.
This is part of the practice.
Learning to catch yourself every time your mind drifts away.
Softly remind yourself to come right back to your breath.
I'm merely holding space for you to do so.
Begin to deepen the breath.
Slowly take a long,
Exaggerated inhale.
Hold it at the top.
Then exhale,
Let it go.
Again a deep belly breath in.
Hold.
Exhale,
Let it pour out.
Inhale slowly and controlled.
Hold it at the top.
Exhale,
Let it pour out of you.
Once more,
Inhale slowly.
Hold it.
Exhale,
Let it go.
Gently coming back to the natural rhythm of your breath.
Whenever you feel ready,
Flutter the eyes open.
Thank you for sharing your practice.
