Before you begin,
Make sure that you are comfortable physically,
Either by sitting in a chair with your hands in your lap or lying down.
Just check in with yourself right now and see what you find yourself in need of.
Close the eyes very softly,
Don't squeeze them shut.
Just allow the eyelid to very gently cover the eye.
And tune into your natural breath.
And by natural breath,
I mean the way that you breathe every day.
Don't change the quality of your inhales or exhales.
Just become aware of how the body responds to each breath.
As you inhale,
You may feel your belly expanding like a balloon,
The chest expanding and opening as the air enters the lungs.
And you may notice the shoulders rising up towards the sky very gently.
And as you exhale,
Become aware of the opposite.
Feel the shoulders sinking down,
Feel that rib cage closing in towards the heart.
Feel the belly deflating now like a balloon.
But with each inhale and each exhale,
Feel your physical body becoming more and more relaxed.
If any thoughts creep into your mind that distract you from your breathing,
Simply acknowledge those thoughts.
But then bring your focus and attention back to your breath as you exhale.
If you find it difficult focusing on your breathing,
Simply think inhale as you breathe in,
And exhale as you release that air.
Allow the sounds that you hear around you to become part of your meditation and not a distraction.
They are simply a sign of a higher state of awareness of this moment in time.
And now I would like for you to bring your physical awareness to the space in between your eyebrows just below your forehead.
And just take a slow,
Deep breath in.
And as you exhale,
Relaxing the muscles of the forehead,
Relaxing that space between the eyebrows and the muscles around your eyes,
Relax your cheeks and your jaw.
Just allow your face to become completely relaxed.
And now bring your awareness to the neck and shoulders,
A place that we sometimes hold in tension.
And take that same slow,
Deep breath in.
And as you exhale,
Relaxing the muscles of the neck,
Relaxing the muscles of the shoulders,
Feeling them sink down and release as you exhale.
And now bringing your awareness to your arms,
Your hands,
And fingers,
Take a slow,
Deep breath in.
And as you exhale,
Relaxing the muscles of the arms,
Relaxing biceps,
Triceps,
Muscles around your elbows,
Your forearms,
Relaxing the muscles in your hands,
The palm of the hand,
The top of the hand,
And relaxing the muscles in each individual finger.
And now bringing your awareness to the chest,
The upper back,
The stomach,
And lower back.
Again,
Taking a slow,
Deep breath in.
And as you exhale,
Relaxing the muscles of the chest,
Relaxing the muscles in the upper back.
And on your next exhale,
Feeling that relaxation moving down into the stomach and down into the lower back.
And now bringing your awareness to the hips and the legs,
Taking that wonderful,
Slow,
Deep breath in.
And as you exhale,
Relaxing and releasing the muscles around the hips,
Relaxing the muscles of the legs,
Quads,
Hamstrings,
Muscles around and behind your kneecaps,
Relaxing the shins and the calves.
So the legs now feel very light,
Very relaxed.
And finally,
Bringing your awareness to the feet and the toes,
Taking a slow,
Deep breath in.
And as you exhale,
Relaxing the muscles in the feet,
Relaxing the heel,
The arch of the foot,
The ball of the foot,
The top of the foot.
And then bringing your awareness to each individual toe and relaxing the muscles in the toes.
And now with our physical bodies completely relaxed,
Bringing our full attention and awareness to each breath,
Each inhale and each exhale.
In this moment,
You are surrounded by peace,
Relaxation and mental clarity.
Your thoughts are not on the past or the future,
But only on this moment.
This moment of taking time for yourself.
And in this moment,
Everything is exactly as it should be.
Now very briefly,
I'm going to describe a scene for you and I'd like for you to try to imagine that scene in your mind.
But above all,
Try to stay connected to your breath and in this space of peace,
Relaxation and mental clarity.
In your mind,
Imagine that you are seated before a very still pond of water.
The water is so still that it looks like a mirror,
A perfect reflection of everything that is above it.
The sky is blue with only a few lazy clouds floating by.
The sun is warm and bright and it makes you feel comfortable.
Every now and again,
A very gentle breeze blows by.
Tall grass around the pond sways left and right in response to this gentle breeze.
And through all that is going on around you,
The pond of water remains perfectly still.
With each inhale and each exhale,
Feel yourself absorbing that feeling and that energy of stillness.
That stillness,
Calm,
Relaxed energy that allows you to remain in a good place regardless of what goes on around you.
With each breath,
Feel yourself absorbing that calm,
Still energy.
Take a few quiet moments in this special place,
Absorbing that good,
Still energy.
And through all that is going on around you,
The pond of water remains perfectly still.
With each inhale and each exhale,
Feel yourself absorbing that calm,
Still energy.
And now I'd like for you to very slowly bring awareness back to your physical body simply by wiggling your fingers and toes very slowly.
You can move the head left and right,
Feeling a very gentle stretch in the neck.
Then take a slow,
Deep breath in and exhale.
Slow deep breath in and exhale.
And one more slow,
Deep breath in and exhale while very slowly opening your eyes and bringing your awareness back into this room.
Namaste.
