Hello and welcome to this guided meditation session.
Aging is a natural and inevitable part of life,
But growing old and all the changes and challenges that come with it can sometimes be unsettling.
Today we will use mindfulness to make peace and embrace this natural process,
While letting go of negative narratives that we might be holding on towards ourselves,
Opening space for positive action from a space of self love and forgiveness.
Please find a comfortable sitting position.
You can sit on a chair or maybe on a cushion on the floor.
Check that your spine is in a neutral position,
Softening your shoulders and feeling your chest nice and open.
Soften your belly and allow your breath to flow smoothly in and out through your nostrils.
Let your eyes come to a close and take a few moments to bring your awareness inwardly.
Let's take a deep breath now.
Inhale,
Feeling the air passing through your nostrils and also your lungs expanding,
Filling up with fresh air.
Hold your breath just for a second and then exhale allowing your body to relax.
Now let's use an open awareness practice to detach from the narrow minded focus of the ego and get a broader perspective on your situation.
Bring your awareness to any sounds that you might notice around you.
Simply let them come and go,
There's nothing that you need to do other than to stay aware with them.
Let any sounds simply register as they are.
Don't think about these sounds but simply experience them.
Allow them to be heard as if you were observing from a distance,
Without judging them,
Without thinking of them as pleasant or unpleasant.
Let sounds simply be sound for a few moments.
Good,
Notice how you can observe from this place of pure awareness without getting involved in whatever is arising and stay present for a moment as this vast awareness from where everything else can come and go.
Notice how sounds may change and transform,
But this awareness stays open and broad as the container for all that you experience.
Whenever you feel unsettled or disturbed by the thought or physical reality of growing old or whenever you need to find solid ground to stand in the midst of change or uncertainty,
Know that you can always come back to this place of pure awareness,
Allowing you to detach from the emotional pull of the situation and giving you a higher ground of perspective to act in appropriate ways.
Aging and change are parts of life but they can be met from this place of all-encompassing awareness instead of getting entangled in the stories and narratives that we build on our minds about them.
Let's help us to let go of our attachments and simply make peace with things as they are.
So let's stay as this broad and clear awareness for a few moments.
Allow any feelings to arise,
Any bodily sensations.
Everything that you can be aware of arises within this broad space of consciousness.
Any judgments,
Emotions or thoughts can also be observed in this way when you tune into this place of awareness as an observer.
Notice that when you identify with that which observes,
It automatically takes away some of the emotional pull of that which is observed.
There's no use in fighting something that is inevitable.
On the contrary,
If we can embrace it gracefully,
We can turn our relationship to it into something positive.
Remember that mindfulness is a powerful tool to do this and you can make use of whenever it's needed.
This recognition is always available to you.
And as we finish this session,
Take a few deep breaths if you feel like.
Bring your attention to the palms of your hands for a moment and stay present with any feelings or sensations that you might be experiencing there for a moment.
And whenever you are ready,
Gently open your eyes.
