30 Minutes - Grounding, Breath And Silence.

Enjoy this gentle meditation with plenty of time to ground into your space and your body. This meditation includes a small introductory breath awareness activity and plenty of time for silence and stillness. This meditation is perfect for beginners and regulars alike.

Transcript

Hi,

I'm Jamie and welcome to this meditation.

It's wonderful to have you here along with us.

When you're ready,

I invite you to gently close down your eyes or if you feel more comfortable,

Just gazing gently in front of your feet.

Taking a gentle deep breath in and a gentle exhale as we start to arrive in our space.

I invite you to take a comfortable seat or if you feel more comfortable,

Lying down.

Gently rising from the hips and coming into a straight back,

A straight spine.

Gently tilting the head forward to come into a neutral spinal position and then relaxing the shoulders down to the ground.

While we want to have a nice straight spine,

It's still important that we have a relaxed posture.

It's okay to feel a slight discomfort during the meditation but you should never feel any pain or discomfort,

Like significant discomfort.

And if it's better for you,

You may like to sit against a wall or in an upright chair.

Either having your legs in a cross-legged position or if you're in a chair,

Feet flat on the floor.

Taking a moment to relax your whole body and on the next breath,

Take notice of where you are in the room around you.

Are you in the middle of the room?

In the corner or maybe against a wall?

Is there any furniture in the room?

Maybe on the wall opposite you?

Or maybe there's a piece of furniture next to you?

Just becoming aware of your surroundings.

And on the next breath,

I invite you to become aware of the rooms adjacent to where you are.

Maybe there's a kitchen or a lounge room,

A living room if you're in your home.

Maybe if you're in student accommodation,

You've got neighbours close by.

Or maybe you notice the backyard or the outside of your house.

Just becoming aware of the space outside of the room that you're in at the moment.

Can you notice any noises in the distance?

Cars,

Traffic,

Dogs or animals?

Just observe without judgement.

Can you notice any sounds in the room that you're in currently?

Is there an air conditioner or a heater?

Maybe if you've got a diffuser with some essential oils,

There's a gurgling sound coming from the electric diffuser.

Just notice and observe without judgement.

And on the next breath,

Becoming aware of any sounds near your body.

Maybe it's your own breath or your hand brushing against your thigh.

It might be that you notice some gurgling sounds in your stomach or your throat.

Know that this is okay and we're just observing without judgement.

And on the next breath,

Just observing if you can see any colours or lights through your eyelids.

Is it dark or bright?

Are there any shadows?

Just bringing your sensation to the back of your eyelids.

Again,

Observing with no judgement.

Just noticing what is.

And on the next breath,

I invite you to take notice of any smells or tastes.

There might be some lingering sensations or taste in the mouth.

Maybe from a previous meal or the taste of your own saliva.

You might notice a perfume that you're wearing.

Or you may have purposely placed some incense or essential oils for this meditation.

Just having the opportunity to be aware and observe any smells or tastes.

And if you don't,

That's okay as well.

We all use different senses.

Just giving those the opportunity to observe where sense and smell is really strong in their life and in their sensation.

And on the next breath,

I invite you to become aware of the sensation of touch.

Noticing where your body is connecting with the earth or the chair.

If you're lying down,

All the connection points between your body and the earth might be your feet,

Your ankle,

Your torso and back,

Your arms and shoulders and your head.

Noticing all these connection points between the earth and your body.

If you're sitting cross-legged,

There might be less points of contact,

Maybe your feet and your sit bones.

And finally,

If you're sitting in a chair,

Noticing the feet flat against the floor,

The bottom on the chair and noticing if you've got any back support.

Is it firm or soft?

Whatever position you're in,

You may feel safe,

Secure and supported.

And on the next inhale,

Taking a deep breath in.

And on the exhale,

Making a gentle sigh.

Three more,

Breathing in together.

And a gentle sigh.

Breathing in together.

Hold and a gentle sigh.

One more for good luck,

Breathing in.

And sighing out.

Letting it fully out and if it feels good,

Giving the body a gentle regal,

Gentle shake of the wrists.

Releasing any tension that might be stored in the body.

As we fully surrender and we set the intention to let go,

Let go of the past.

And the joy and celebration of being fully present in this moment here and now.

And I invite you to bring a smile to your face.

And I also invite you to bring a smile to your heart space.

I like to imagine a smiley emoji stuck on my chest.

What would it feel like to be beaming joyful light from my insides out and also from my face?

And if you don't feel like that,

That's okay,

It's just an invitation.

And we're going to do a small breathing exercise.

So this one's called elliptical breathing.

And the intention with elliptical breathing is that it's a continuous process.

So we breathe in and we gently move from breathing in and have a smooth transition to breathing out.

So there's no obvious stop or pause once we've breathed in.

And it's really beautiful to just notice and be aware of that really subtle change.

It's almost like a circle or an ellipsis and a smooth transition from breathing in,

Reaching the top of our breath,

Gently breathing out.

And then the same at the end of the exhale.

There's no obvious pause or stopping.

It's a smooth transition from an exhale to an inhale.

So just imagine a circle or an oval,

An elliptical shape.

Everyone breathing out,

Breathing out.

Exhaling fully and gently breathing in.

Breathing in.

Coming towards the top of the breath and start to gently exhale.

Breathing out.

Emptying the lungs.

And just noticing the transition as we start to breathe in.

Breathing in.

Coming to the top of the breath,

Transitioning.

Breathing out.

Breathing out.

Breathing out.

Transitioning.

Breathing in.

Breathing in.

Breathing in.

Slow transition.

Breathing out.

Breathing out.

Now as you'll notice it's really important to do this at your own time and your own pace.

So I'll leave you to do a few of these elliptical breaths in your own pace.

Breathing in.

Transitioning.

Breathing out.

Just simply focusing on your breath.

And if your mind wanders that's okay.

Just simply coming back to this elliptical breath.

Keep going in your own time.

Circular breathing.

Continuous in and out.

Let's complete three more cycles.

One more cycle.

And when you've exhaled,

Coming into a natural breathing pattern.

Just aware.

You may notice the body continues to have nice deep breaths.

That's fine.

And on the next breath we're just going to come into stillness.

And just observe.

If any thoughts come into your mind just acknowledge them and let them pass on by.

Enjoying this moment of stillness and clarity that we've created together.

Just being present in the stillness and if you need to move or adjust your body position just do so mindfully.

And on the next exhale I invite you to become aware of those anchor points where the body is touching the earth or the chair.

Starting to bring some awareness to your feet,

Your hands,

Your sit bones or any part of the body that's in contact with the floor or your chair.

Just noticing the pressure or the sensation between the body and the chair or the floor.

You might like to gently push against it.

Feeling a little bit of resistance and then relaxing.

You also might like to bring some small movements to the ankles and wrists.

As you become aware of your physical body in the room that you're seated in.

Or maybe you're lying down.

And on the next breath you might become aware of the furniture around you.

Maybe it's next to you or on the wall opposite.

Noticing where in the room you're situated.

Are you in the middle of the room,

Against a wall or in a corner?

Just noticing.

And starting to bring some gentle movement to the shoulders and the neck.

And I invite you when you're ready to gently open your eyes.

Coming fully back into your body.

Coming fully back into this space.

Back into the room.

And thank you so much for joining me on this meditation.

I hope you have a lovely day,

Evening,

Whatever is coming next for you.

Thank you.