When you're feeling tired,
Overwhelmed,
Stressed or poorly,
It can affect your mood and the way you see things.
And it's interesting the way people,
Particularly the British,
Talk about the weather.
When it's sunny,
It's a beautiful day and people talk about how it makes them feel happier.
And when it rains,
It seems to lower the mood.
Don't get me wrong,
I love the sunshine,
But also the rain,
Although not every day.
When I was walking the Inca Trail in Peru,
The Sherpas laughed at us when we began to moan that it was raining.
Not good,
Not bad,
Just different,
They said.
Nature is always showing us how to be in flow with whatever is happening.
The trees and the plants,
The flowers,
They don't judge the rain or the sun,
They're just with it,
Whatever it is in the moment,
Drawing in the light or the moisture.
So let's just see if during this meditation you can allow yourself to notice what arises without judgment.
As John Kabat-Zinn says,
Mindfulness is the awareness that arises through paying attention on purpose,
In the present moment,
Non-judgmentally.
So it's the non-judgmentally part that's really important here.
No good,
No bad,
Just this.
It just is.
So as we sit,
Preparing for our meditation,
See if you can draw in the intention of noticing what arises,
But without the judgment of good or bad,
Just let it be.
I'll guide you through it and then I'll give you some time to just be still and quiet with your practice.
So finding a space where you feel comfortable,
Sitting up tall,
Chin parallel to the floor,
Drawing in some nice big deep breaths.
Feeling the spine lifting up from the crown of the head,
Space between each of the vertebrae moving down the spine and the base of the body,
Whether you're sitting on the floor or a chair or perhaps lying down,
Is fully supported by the floor.
Just breathing,
Just settling into your meditation.
Breathing in,
Breathing out,
Making them nice,
Long,
Smooth inhalations and exhalations.
And as you breathe out,
Just gently squeezing the navel back towards the spine,
Just to allow the body to expel the stale air.
As you breathe in,
Visualising the diaphragm pulling down.
There's no need for you to make this happen,
The body knows exactly what to do,
But just visualising it can help in the expansion of the lungs.
Sending the breath all the way into the ribcage,
The sides,
The front,
The back.
And if it's helpful making an audible sound as you exhale,
Whether it's blowing the air out or sighing.
And then allowing the breath to return to a normal pace.
Beginning to notice where you feel the breath in the body.
It's most likely it'll be the nostrils.
Do they feel the same both sides?
Can you stay with the passage of breath as it moves in the body?
And as the body decides to let go.
There's magic in that moment when the body is still between the breaths,
So just notice this.
Notice if there's any judgement from your mind about the quality of your breathing.
Sometimes we can be quite mean to ourselves.
We might be saying,
Oh I should be doing deeper breaths or what's wrong with my out-breath,
Why can't I release completely?
Just notice whatever you're thinking,
No judgement.
Let the thought go,
Bring it back to the breath.
And allow the sounds to come in.
Just let them drift into your awareness.
I always find it's helpful to practice with some sound because we can all meditate beautifully sitting in the middle of silence on a mountain top.
But when it comes to trying to meditate when you have kids around,
And believe me I have three so I know what that's like,
Or there are external sounds of cars,
It can be a little trickier to keep the mind focused.
So no judgement about whether you like the sounds or you don't,
Just let them be.
Feeling your body breathing.
Gently scanning down the body,
Noticing if there are any areas that feel tight or uncomfortable.
Notice the thinking around that.
Notice I said uncomfortable,
There's a judgement in there of it being bad rather than just a feeling.
Experiencing every now moment just as it appears.
And then doing the same with your thoughts,
Allowing those to drift in,
Be aware of them,
Acknowledge them.
But let them be just that,
Just thoughts,
They are not concrete,
They do not define you.
There doesn't need to be any judgement around whether they're good or bad thoughts.
Don't hold onto them in any way,
Just let them drift.
So for the next couple of minutes I will be quiet so that you can just stay with your practice.
And then I'll gently bring you back round.
Just gently now drawing in some deeper breaths,
All the way down into the abdomen.
All the way down into the abdomen,
Up into the shoulders.
Noticing before you begin to move too much whether you feel any different when you first sat down.
Probably a little more space in the mind,
A little more peace of mind.
And when you're ready,
Allowing the eyes to gently open.
Thank you for practicing with me today,
I hope you have a beautiful day.
