Make sure you're comfortable sitting up or lying down if you wish.
Notice how it feels inside your head today.
Maybe some areas feel more awake and some may feel remote or asleep and that's okay.
I'm Kerry Mackay and I'm glad you're here practicing with me.
I developed the brain meditations to help with my own brain fog as nothing else was helping.
This one is a complete journey through all areas of the brain.
I've called it brain polishing as we'll use our awareness and the felt sense to connect with each part of the brain and invite newness and freshness.
You can have your eyes open or closed and soften the corners of your eyes.
Rest them back into the head.
Invite the tiny muscles behind the eyes to relax.
Then become aware of your jaw softening the back corners and softening around the teeth.
Moving to the tongue allow the tongue to go wide and soft.
If it's comfortable invite the tongue to rest up into the roof of the mouth especially the back as if it's a pillow for the brain to rest on.
Come to your breathing now just acknowledging the breath as it is.
If you like take a deep breath out through the mouth.
Let the belly balloon slightly to invite the breath low down in the body and then sigh out slowly through the mouth.
One more making space for the breath taking your time.
I'm going to invite you now to focus on different parts of the brain.
Bring your curiosity as some parts may feel distant or sleepy and some may feel strained or overused.
Be kind and imagine that your awareness has a cleansing effect polishing up the brain so that it can relax and bloom.
First let's move to the right side of the forehead and become aware of the front of the brain on the right side behind the forehead.
Bring your awareness here gently.
It's okay if it's easy to connect and it's okay if it's not.
Imagine the front right side of the brain and start to explore the surface with your imagination and perhaps with your felt sense.
Explore the ridges,
The folds,
The bumps and the furrows.
You could imagine that your awareness polishes up the surface of the brain and then you can move your focus from the surface inside the front right brain.
In this area exploring the shapes,
The sensations and the textures from the inside.
Well done and now moving to the front left side of the brain behind the forehead on the left.
Begin on the surface noticing this side.
Moving inside the front left of the brain now exploring gently.
You can sense the refreshing polishing effect of your awareness however you like.
You could imagine the soft cool petals of a rose that's cleaning things up or even a gentle spinning brush.
Just follow your intuition.
There's no wrong way to do this.
And now we're moving to the back of the head and the back of the brain on the left side.
So take your awareness to the extent that it's possible to the back left of the brain and begin again sensing the surface and then moving inside exploring gently.
Imagine this refreshing relaxing effect of your focus.
And then moving to the back right of the brain exploring this rounded area at the back of the head inviting it to freshen up and soften into fullness.
And now sensing both the right and the left side of the back of the brain.
Both sides together.
And then the front both the left and the right sides.
Both sides together at the front.
And now become aware of the rounded curve at the back of the head and the place where it joins the neck.
Here at the nape of the neck imagine traveling inward and up and arriving softly deep in the center of the brain.
Resting here in the center of the brain imagining space.
If you notice thoughts arriving that's okay just softly move your attention away from the thoughts and come back to your focus and get curious about exploring this place.
See if you can find some kindness and offer that to any distraction and to any parts of the brain that are hard to connect with.
From the middle of the brain we're going to drop down to the brainstem,
The lower brain at the top of the spinal cord.
Moving your awareness gently down and sensing what's here.
Sweeping your awareness further down now connecting the brain to the rest of the spine.
Imagine your focus brings newness and freshness.
And then gently coming back up to the space in the center of the mind.
And then from the center of the brain we're moving to the left side above the ear and gently exploring this middle left section.
And then from the center moving over to the right and exploring the right hand side above the ear.
Arriving now at the top of the head and then coming forwards and down resting at the forehead.
There's a deep groove separating the two halves of the brain.
We're gonna travel now along this groove between the two hemispheres of the brain polishing along the way.
So start at the center of the forehead and slowly move back giving your loving attention to this fissure.
Imagine your focus is polishing up this space.
Pay particular attention to the base of the valley as the valley floor is where all the nerves are that connect the two halves of the brain together.
Keep a gentle focus as you move through the groove and slow down as you reach the back making sure that you include the very back.
And when you're ready coming around the back of the head again and scooping in and up from the nape of the neck to arrive back home in the center of the head.
Invite spaciousness and rest here noticing how you are now.
Is there any part of the brain that needs attention?
Somewhere we haven't visited perhaps or just somewhere that needs more time?
Offer your focus to this place if needed or if not softly resting in the space in the center.
And now I invite you to lessen your effort and start to imagine the whole brain resting in your awareness.
Refreshed,
Relaxed and in its fullness.
The whole left hemisphere,
The whole right hemisphere,
The whole of the front,
The whole of the back,
The sides of the brain,
The deep spacious center and the brainstem.
All areas resting together,
Communicating together.
Well done.
As we move towards the end of the meditation let's ground and reconnect with the rest of the body.
If you like you could imagine the brain resting on the palate in the mouth and receiving the soft support from the tongue.
Then move your awareness down and out of the head connecting with the rest of the body.
Becoming aware of the spine,
The chest,
The heart and the belly.
From here move your awareness down into the ground inviting grounding now.
And then resting with the natural rhythm of your breath.
As we move towards the end notice how you are now.
Maybe a moment of thankfulness for the time and the care that you offered your brain today.
I'd like to thank you for joining me and trusting the process.
I'm Kerri Mackay and I'll see you in the next meditation.
