Thank you for joining me,
Jean Vitrano,
For this guided meditation.
Please get comfortable in your seat and invite yourself to ease into stillness,
Finding the position that allows you to have a relaxed presence through your body.
You can close your eyes if you'd like.
And see where in your body you might be able to let go of any tension or extra effort that in this moment isn't necessary.
Those places where we can simply remind ourselves that right now we can rest.
Your shoulders and your arms can rest.
The muscles in your face can relax in this moment not needing to have any particular expression on.
You can let your jaw be easy.
Can soften all around the eyes,
Behind the eyes,
In the corners of the eyes,
And between the eyes,
Letting the forehead be wide open like a clear blue sky.
Letting go of the effort of thinking,
You might set the intention that for this short time you don't need to plan,
Review,
Fix,
Analyze,
Or do anything.
Instead you can let your mind rest,
Truly rest,
On the experience of breathing which is happening in the present moment.
Sense the breath fill you as you inhale,
And sense the breath leaving you as you exhale,
Letting go.
Enjoying not needing to control the breath,
We can simply follow its movement.
This breath in,
This breath out.
And of course when you notice your mind has wandered,
You simply let yourself begin again.
No big deal.
We'll listen to the sound of the bell,
And then we'll work with a handful of phrases that you can coordinate with your inhale and your exhale.
And you can use either the long phrase or the short phrase.
Breathing in the first part,
Breathing out the second part.
Physical Nahp average gong As you breathe in,
I am breathing in.
As you breathe out,
I am breathing out.
I'm breathing in,
I'm breathing out.
Or simply in,
Out.
Recognizing that we are breathing.
We're breathing in and we're breathing out.
We can receive this inhale and we can let go on this exhale.
Receiving,
Letting go.
We can let ourselves have the experience of breathing.
This function that's happening all of the time that we are often not aware of.
In this moment,
We can let ourselves have the experience,
Each breath as its own experience.
Feeling the rise and fall of your belly,
Of your chest.
The whole body expanding and softening back in.
And then again,
This beautiful movement of expanding and softening.
As you breathe in,
This breath.
As you breathe out,
Meeting it with gratitude.
This breath,
Meeting it with gratitude.
Or simply this breath,
Grateful.
We can take this moment to slow ourselves down and enjoy the simple fact that we can breathe,
That we are alive.
Appreciating the gift that each breath is.
This breath,
Grateful.
We can feel the gratefulness simply by enjoying,
Enjoying breathing.
As you breathe in,
This body.
As you breathe out,
Meeting it with appreciation.
This body appreciating.
Again,
Slowing ourselves down to sense and appreciate.
This body that moves us through the world.
This body,
Just as it is.
We ask so much of our bodies.
We can take a pause to acknowledge our body with love and with kindness.
This body appreciating.
Letting each breath nourish the body.
And if there is any part of your body that might be suffering in some way,
You can offer a simple phrase of loving kindness.
May I have healing.
May I be well.
May I have health.
As you breathe in,
This suffering.
As you breathe out,
Meeting it with compassion.
This suffering,
Meeting it with compassion.
Taking a moment to be aware of any suffering present in you or in the world around you.
This is the opportunity to acknowledge and make room for them to be there.
Without needing to push them away,
To fix or change them.
But first,
Simply making space for them to be.
And bringing in compassion and loving kindness.
We can always touch hardship with tenderness.
Breathing in the suffering and breathing out,
Sending out compassion.
As you breathe in,
This joy.
As you breathe out,
Meeting it with an open heart.
This joy,
Heart opening.
This joy,
Heart opening.
Aware that while there is suffering,
There is also joy.
Both exist.
We can allow joy in so that our hearts can stay open.
And so you might think through the small and large joys in this day and allow them to touch you right now.
Allow them to open your heart right now.
And if a smile comes to your face,
You can enjoy the smile.
Enjoy the joy.
As you breathe in,
This life.
As you breathe out,
Meeting it with grace.
This life,
Meeting it with grace.
This life,
Meeting it with grace.
This life,
Meeting it with grace.
We can remind ourselves that we can meet this life and everything that it brings with grace.
We have grace in us.
And you can try it on right now.
What would it mean for you to meet this life,
This moment with grace?
See if you can get a felt sense of it in your body and simply breathe with grace.
And as you wind this meditation down,
I invite you to take a moment to thank yourself for your practice today.
I thank you as well.
I invite you to go gently into your next moment.
I invite you to go gently into your next moment.
