Welcome.
My name is Katie Chosett and I'm glad you've chosen to join me here today for this meditation that you can use either as a morning set up to your day or a midday break from work or the busyness of life or you can use it at the tail end of the day in the evening just before settling in.
Just taking a few moments to tune into your body,
Your emotions,
Your mind.
Just paying attention to how you're feeling in the space on this particular day in this moment in time.
So go ahead and find a posture.
Doesn't matter if you're lying down or seated.
Just begin to settle in.
Quiet the mind if you can,
Turning your attention inward with a nice straight spine.
If it feels comfortable you can close down the eyes and begin to notice your breath and your body breathing and just bringing all of your awareness to how you're feeling at this moment in time.
So it's as if you are watching a movie and you push pause and the movie stops and you're looking at the screen just as it is in that snapshot in that moment in time.
So go ahead and pause and investigate how you're feeling.
So you might start with the thoughts and the mind and the busyness that you bring to your meditation practice today.
And just notice if you're having a day where the thoughts are coming one after the other,
If you're feeling more agitated or worried than usual,
Or maybe you're having a nice relaxing day and your mind is settled and you're noticing that you'll have a thought and then you'll have a space between thoughts where there are no thoughts,
Where there's actually peace and quiet.
And then you might notice another thought and when you tune in and begin to notice these thoughts you'll notice that each thought has a defined beginning,
Middle,
And end.
So watch the thought come in and notice as it becomes crystallized and clear and then somehow that thought ends and may lead to the next thought or you might find that quiet space as if there's a break,
A pause between thoughts.
Just like when I'm talking you follow the sound of my voice and then there's a break between my words.
Can you find that break between thoughts?
Can you slow the thoughts down?
Slow the worries down,
Slow the planning down,
And just settle into this moment in time,
This pause in the movie.
And then allow yourself to focus your attention on any emotions that you bring to this practice today.
So you'll sort of let the thoughts fade into the background and the spotlight will be on your feelings.
So noticing a mood or noticing an overall sense of well-being or sadness,
Joy,
Fear,
Whatever it is welcome it in.
Allow it to be here.
You're not trying to change anything or push it away.
You're just observing what it feels like.
Ah yes,
This is what it feels like to be afraid.
I remember,
I know this feeling,
I've had this feeling before and then let it be there.
Notice how whatever emotion you're feeling might manifest itself in the body.
So if it's fear you might notice that your heart is beating rapidly or that you're sweating or you're clenching your jaw,
Whatever it is,
Can you connect the emotion and the bodily sensations?
So if you're feeling joyful,
Notice you have a smile on your face or your shoulders back and down and your heart space just open and welcoming.
What is it in the body that you connect to joy and happiness?
Maybe you're fatigued.
If that's the case,
Where do you feel that fatigue in the body?
Do you notice it in your posture,
In your eyes,
In your labored breathing,
Whatever it is,
Notice and allow and you can let the body go into the background and bring the emotion to the foreground if you want.
If that feels good,
If the emotion is overwhelming and you want to go back to the thoughts,
Just bring that spotlight back to the thoughts,
Noticing the pause between thoughts.
Allow the thoughts to be your anchor if that brings you right here and now into the moment.
What best brings you into this moment,
This pause in your day,
In your evening and see if you can rest there in this pause between thoughts,
Noticing the emotions and then noticing the body and how the body is responding to the thoughts or the emotions and allowing whatever is here for you to be here.
Just sitting and allowing and when you're ready,
You can go back and push play on that movie.
Take yourself out of pause.
You can stretch the body,
Open the eyes and go back to the rest of your day,
Hopefully with a deeper connection to your internal landscape and I hope that whatever time of day you are practicing you are able to go into the rest of your day or your sleep in a more relaxed and calmer body and mind.
Thank you for joining me.
