Begin.
By finding a comfortable position.
You can be lying down or sitting up for this meditation.
Just find a position where you can be comfortable,
Yet alert.
And feels good to do so,
Go ahead and close down your eyes.
Or you might just want to soft focus someplace down past your nose.
And then take a nice,
Long,
Deep breath in.
Little long exhale out.
And then breathe in whatever way feels good to you.
Finding your breath in your body.
Noticing the rise and the fall of your body as you breathe.
Or noticing the way the air enters and exits your nose.
And if your mind wanders away during this meditation,
That's okay.
Minds wander.
Just notice where it went.
And then gently.
Bring it back to your breath.
And as you're breathing.
Just allowing yourself.
To release any of the tension from the day on the exhale.
And when you inhale,
Allowing yourself to inhale some peace and relaxation.
And when you breathe out,
Letting go.
Perhaps there was a lot going on today.
Maybe it was stressful.
Or maybe it was just very busy in a good sort of way.
But now,
As you prepare to rest and relax,
You can just settle in to the rhythm of your breathing.
When you're breathing in.
Noticing that you're breathing in.
And when you're breathing out.
Noticing that you're breathing out.
And so that right now,
Here in this moment,
There is nothing to bother you.
And nothing to disturb you.
And if your mind wants to keep going back to rehearsing the day.
Just notice that that's what it wants to do.
Trying to problem-solve in some way.
But right now,
Just give your mind permission.
To let go.
And settle into the breath.
And as you breathe comfortably and easily.
You might want to begin to bring attention to your body.
Many times when we've had a stressful day or a busy day.
We can store that tension in our bodies without even realizing that we're doing that.
And so right now,
Bringing your attention to the top of your head.
Down into your face and all of the little muscles in your face.
Allowing them to soothe and soften.
Noticing your jaw and allowing it to relax.
Perhaps swallowing gently and allowing your tongue to rest on the floor of your mouth.
Noticing your neck and your shoulders.
And sending the warmth of your breath to relax any tense places here.
Coming down into your arms.
And into your hands,
Allowing them to rest gently.
Noticing your upper back and your chest.
Your mid-back and your stomach.
Down into your lower back and your lower belly.
Allowing these parts to become soft and relaxed.
And as you notice,
You're breathing.
Breathing from the diaphragm can help soften the belly.
Noticing your hips and your buttocks.
And your pelvic floor.
Releasing any tension or tightness in these areas.
Coming down into your legs.
Releasing any tightness and allowing them to become heavy with relaxation.
And finally noticing your feet.
Giving your toes a little wiggle and allowing your feet to release any tension or tightness.
And just noticing your body as a whole.
And allowing it now to settle and be relaxed as it wants to be.
Bringing your attention back to your breath for a moment.
And centering.
And now you might want to notice What sorts of moods might be rocking around or emotions inside of you?
See if you can identify them and put words to them.
Identify perhaps where you might feel them in your body.
And then as you breathe,
Just making space.
You don't really need to change anything.
Or just noticing.
And labeling.
And then allowing the emotions or the moods to just ebb and flow as they want to.
No need to make sense of them right now.
Just noticing.
Bringing your attention back to your breath again.
Focusing on the in and the out.
And now allowing your attention.
To drift to your mind.
Giving your mind permission right now to think.
And just noticing.
What are the themes from the day?
What do you notice about your thought life right now?
Is it busy?
Or is it more subtle?
Recognizing that there are things within your control that you can influence.
But many things that cause us stress and tension by the end of the day are things that are outside of our control.
Like other people,
Situations,
And circumstances.
And all we can control is how we respond.
And so right now.
Letting go of thoughts once again.
And gently returning back to your breath.
As your anchor to this present moment.
Because really all we have.
Is this present moment.
Being here.
With yourself in this way right now.
Is the best gift you can give yourself.
Gentle awareness and presence.
And now.
.
.
Taking a nice deep,
Full breath in.
And letting it out.
Taking a moment to stretch a little bit.
Releasing the meditation.
But carrying with you whatever was important and meaningful.
So that the rest of your evening or whenever you're listening to this can be peaceful.
Centered,
And present.
Opening your eyes now and returning to the room.
Thank you for spending this time practicing with me.
I'm Kelly Dennis.
Namaste.
