Allow yourself to inhale through the nose and exhale through the nose.
Just filling the stomach,
Diaphragm and chest.
Allowing yourself to breathe comfortably and naturally.
Whenever your thoughts wander off,
And they surely will,
That is a big part of meditation.
It doesn't mean you're a bad meditator,
It just means that you're a normal human being.
We're just going to gently but firmly call our awareness back to our breath over and over again.
Using our breath as an anchor to keep us in the present moment.
And now we can take a moment to just observe what's going on in our body.
Are there any sensations that we're experiencing?
We're labeling them,
Just observing.
Noticing our feet,
Our legs,
Our hips,
Our abdomen,
Our chest,
Our back,
The shoulders,
The hands,
And the arms.
Good job.
And now we're going to go through some things that have changed over time.
Science tells us that the solar system came about from a big bang.
You may or may not buy into that.
But that leans towards the fact that the solar system has not always been here.
Think about that.
The earth has not always been rotating around the sun.
Our beautiful star that gives us life.
Think about the changes that the earth has been through over time.
The days used to be 18 hours long from what science says.
18 hours,
Can you imagine?
You thought you had trouble getting stuff done in 24 hours.
There used to be a lot more oxygen in the atmosphere,
So things got huge.
Think about the dinosaurs.
The dinosaurs died out 65 million years ago,
But they reigned for a long time.
There are three different eras of dinosaurs.
Triassic,
Jurassic,
And Cretaceous.
The dinosaurs were around for a very,
Very long time.
Think about what it would have been like then.
There were no houses.
There were no grocery stores.
There were no automobiles.
There were no humans.
Life has changed quite a bit since then.
Think about the solar system.
Stars burn out and fade away,
While more are born in nebulas.
It's fantastic,
And it's beautiful,
And it's happening all the time.
You don't even think about it,
And it goes on and on.
It's incredible,
Really,
How life is always generating.
Think about the seasons.
If you don't live around the equator,
It's easier to acknowledge the seasons.
We have spring,
Summer,
Winter,
And autumn.
This gives us a beautiful dichotomy.
It helps us to embrace the changes all around us.
During the spring,
Things are born.
The flowers bloom.
During summertime,
It peaks.
In the fall,
We harvest.
The leaves change color and drop from the trees.
And winter is a time for rejuvenation and rest.
Not all of us really honor that,
But it's a good practice to get into,
Allowing ourselves to slow down,
To turn inward,
To reflect,
To ponder,
To honor ourselves instead of honoring the outside world.
Think about the changes that you have been through.
The cells in your body are constantly changing.
They're dividing.
They're dying of wild new ones are being generated.
Again,
All of this happens without your input.
It really is amazing.
Think about how you've changed.
You have different tastes in clothes,
In music.
Your friends have changed throughout the years.
How have you changed?
Think about when you were little.
You weren't even able to dress yourself or brush your own teeth.
Now look at you.
Think of all the things that you've accomplished,
All the things that you've learned,
All of the obstacles that you've overcome.
Now let's turn inward.
Let's look at your inner landscape.
How do your thoughts change?
Your thoughts can change from moment to moment to moment.
Sometimes it seems very random.
They just generate all on their own,
Don't they?
A lot of our thoughts are driven by our emotions.
Now sit back and objectively observe your emotions.
Where do you hang out most of the time?
Do we spend a lot of time in anger,
In fear?
How about hope,
Love,
Anticipation?
There's a big difference between drudgery and hope.
And all we're doing right now is observing.
We're just observing.
We're not judging.
Because the first step to making a change is to observe where we are most of the time,
To become aware.
And that awareness is key.
And if there's any thought patterns that we do not hear to see,
Whenever we observe them coming up,
We can gently guide ourselves to a higher vibrational state.
If we're angry,
We can move towards revenge.
And that is the step above anger and depression.
Anger is better than depression.
Revenge is better than anger,
Surprisingly.
And then just keep moving up the emotional scale.
Not acting on these,
Of course,
Just allowing ourselves to feel it and let it go.
I must emphasize that.
Trying to hang out in calmness and gratitude,
Gratitude can bridge the gap between depression or anger.
Finding something to be grateful for leaves no room for these negative emotions.
So trying to come to gratitude.
And that can be a really positive change.
Just let all of our thoughts and feelings go like a cloud dissolving in the sky.
Stay with our breath,
Not allowing our thoughts to wander off.
And if they do,
We're just going to gently come back to our breath,
Come back to our body,
Allowing ourselves to be present.
Allowing ourselves to stay in the moment.
Serving our breath.
And whenever you're ready,
Just slowly,
Gently open your eyes.
