Hi,
I'm Julia Froedal,
And this meditation is to help bring you back to a state of calm when you're feeling overwhelmed and unable to focus.
There's no bell at the end of this meditation so that you can linger in the quiet and stillness when it's finished,
If you'd like to,
And for as long as you'd like to.
Please begin by sitting comfortably.
For this meditation,
I recommend planting your feet on the ground,
But you can also fold your legs up if you prefer.
Close your eyes,
Or if you prefer,
You can leave the eyes cracked slightly open and gazing at the floor or your lap.
Rest your palms down on your thighs and lengthen your spine up.
Take a long,
Deep breath in.
As you exhale,
Try adding in a gentle sigh.
Then again,
Take a long breath in,
And exhale with a gentle sigh.
Each sigh will help guide your body back towards a natural state of ease.
Let's do that again.
Just a nice long breath in,
And then exhale with a gentle sigh.
As you're breathing here,
You might say to yourself,
Even though I have fear in my body,
I know that I'm safe where I am right now.
You can change these words to suit your situation better if you'd like,
But saying words like this will help your brain know that it's okay to relax.
Again,
As you're breathing,
You can say to yourself something like,
Even though I have fear in my body,
I know that I am safe where I am right now.
Now guide your attention all the way down to your feet and your toes,
And stretch into your toes.
Wiggle your toes.
Just stretch and bring some awareness and some energy there into the toes.
Take a deep breath all the way into your feet,
And very slowly exhale.
Keep your spine nice and long,
And start to notice as you continue to breathe where there is tension in the body,
And one place at a time,
Begin to soften the tension.
Just scan around the body.
When you notice the tension,
See if you can just soften those muscles.
One place at a time.
And now please bring your awareness down to your seat and the surface beneath you that's supporting you.
Keep your attention there as you breathe.
And then begin to send your imagination further down to the surface beneath that surface,
And then the ground beneath that ground,
And the ground beneath that ground,
All the way down until you reach the earth and the soil beneath you.
And then spread your attention into that deep soil that contains ancient history and the richness of time.
Think of the patience and timelessness with which the soil operates,
How it changes slowly and nourishes deeply.
And as you continue to breathe,
Imagine breathing in the timeless,
Ancient,
Eternal nutrients of the earth.
Your body is part of that earth.
It's your own borrowed sacred land.
And then the next time you breathe in,
Imagine breathing in the sky.
And as you exhale that breath,
Let go of what you can't control.
And then again,
Inhale and breathe in the sky.
And as you exhale,
Let go of what you can't control.
And now please interlace your fingers and turn your palms away from you and stretch your wrists and your arms up overhead.
And keep your fingers interlaced.
And as you exhale,
Take a little side bend over to your right.
And then with your inhale,
Come right back up to the center.
And then exhale and bend a little to the left.
And inhale right back up to the center.
Let's go to each side one more time.
Exhale to the right.
Inhale back to center.
And exhale to the left.
And inhale to center.
And with this exhale,
Release your fingers,
Reach your arms out wide as you release them down.
You can return your gentle palms down on the thighs or you can turn them up now if you prefer.
And now we'll work with the breath a little bit more.
So we're going to gradually make the exhales a little bit longer than the inhales.
Your next inhale is going to be to a slow count of three.
Inhale,
Two,
Three.
And then exhale to four.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Again,
Inhale,
Two,
Three.
And exhale,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Once more,
Inhale,
Two,
Three.
And exhale,
Two,
Three,
Four.
This time inhale,
Two,
Three.
We're going to exhale to five.
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Inhale,
Two,
Three.
Exhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
One more inhale,
Two,
Three.
Exhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Inhale,
Two,
Three.
Exhale to six,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
Again,
Inhale,
Two,
Three.
Exhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
Relax.
Breathe normally.
And now we'll begin to bring this meditation to a close.
And for that,
I'd like you to please place your right hand on your heart and your left hand on your belly and leave your hands there for a moment.
And allow your hands to feel the soft of the front body,
To feel the heartbeat,
To feel the breath moving the body.
And also let the front body feel the warmth and the comfort of your hands.
And as we approach the end of our meditation,
Take one more generous breath in here and a sweet breath out.
You can bring your palms together if you'd like.
And you can bow your head to your heart or your body to the earth or both.
May you be at peace.
