Hi and welcome to Keep It Mindful Meditation,
So if you'd like to find a really comfortable spot where you can sit and meditate,
Just for a short period of time,
And as you find your position,
If you're laying down or sitting,
Just noticing that the body's not under any unnecessary stress,
So if your legs are crossed,
You might want to uncross them,
Make sure your hands and feet are supported firmly on the ground or on the sitting bones where you're sitting,
And all we're going to do now is just sit,
We're not trying to meditate,
We're not trying not to meditate,
Just allowing the mind a little bit more space to roam,
Connect with the awareness of our breathing,
Just seeing if we can start really engaging or noticing,
We're actually breathing,
We might have a curiosity about how it's happening,
Are we having shallow breaths,
Deep breaths,
We're not trying to fix anything,
We're just noticing,
We're calming the mind as we sit here,
And all we're doing is we're allowing this time for us to broaden our space,
Broaden our awareness,
Broaden our opportunities and possibilities just by sitting,
We can close our eyes,
Really breathe,
Just enjoy the mind meeting the body through the breath,
Lower our gaze so we're facing more towards the ground so our chin is supported,
Just using this time just to leave whatever we've got happening or occurring,
We can leave that just at the door,
Choose this time to make ourselves our first priority,
In a short while I'll play a piece of music that was made to work on the opening part,
So that's what we're going to be working on today,
Just looking at how we can soften,
Relax,
Open and be receptive,
Often we miss so many great opportunities by being closed,
So we're just working on being open,
Before we do that we want to scan,
Just lightly scan our bodies,
Just notice if there's any tension,
Maybe we can move,
Make sure the hands are supported,
Preferably facing upwards,
Lightly with each in breath and exhalation,
On the exhalation see if we can soften and release any tensions,
So we could start with our shoulders,
Just allowing them to drop,
To relax,
Our neck,
Jaw,
The scalp,
The eye sockets,
You can imagine that our eyes are smiling,
Just to soften any tension there,
Really enjoying this time,
Notice what's happening there,
Is it tight,
Relaxed,
Just seeing if we can soften and open,
Noticing the breath,
The movements it makes,
On our chest and on our belly,
Coming down to our belly,
A place where we can hold a lot of tensions,
Just allowing the belly to soften,
On each exhalation,
Feeling the weight of gravity on our sitting bones,
Relaxing our hips,
Legs,
Knees and feet,
Hands to relax and the fingers to totally relax,
As we're sitting here we can ask ourselves,
We've now taken the first step to a meditation practice and we can ask ourselves what's our starting point,
How do I feel right now,
Not trying to fix it,
We're just noticing,
Broaden our awareness to our surroundings,
Any sounds,
The sound of my voice,
Sounds close,
Sounds far,
Any body sensations,
Pleasant,
Pain or unpleasant,
Just allowing them to be there,
With no judgement,
Just a kindly curiosity and if we drift off or lose our attention,
Just bringing the focus back to the breath,
Grounding us in our direct experience,
Moment to moment,
A short few minutes,
Just for us to sit in the space that we've created and I'll play some music,
Then the meditation will end once the music has ended,
Just to notice if it made a difference to your opening,
Your experience of being open.
