Hi and welcome to today's practice.
So finding a comfortable position wherever you might be and doing whatever you need to do to find that position.
Have a fidget,
Have a stretch and settle as best as you can in this moment.
Now close your eyes or you can just have a soft gaze at a fixed point in front of you if you'd rather.
And begin by taking some deep breaths in and out through the nose.
As you breathe in,
Allowing your belly to soften a little bit more with each exhale.
And as you exhale,
Getting a sense of letting go,
Allowing the body to soften.
This isn't a competition to become as relaxed as possible.
You can only do it as much as you can in this moment.
Just breathing deeply in and letting go.
And allowing your breath to return to a natural rhythm in and out through the nose.
As you start to become aware of the support beneath you,
Whatever you're sat or lying on,
Just noticing the sensations of contact,
The sensations of touch.
Noticing the feeling of weight pressing down onto that support.
Becoming aware of any sounds you can hear around you.
These sounds might be close by in the room with you or the building you're in.
Or they might be further away as the world is going about its business.
Just noticing the sounds,
Not creating a story around them or chasing them.
Noticing that they're happening in this moment.
Becoming aware of any sensations on your skin.
This might be clothes touching you,
The temperature,
Or maybe even the subtle movement of air in the space you're in.
Becoming aware of your body.
And begin by softening all the muscles of the face.
Allowing the forehead to soften,
The eyes,
The cheeks.
Allowing the jaw to relax.
Allowing the whole of the face to softly drop.
And if you find any tension,
Just using the exhale to soften as much as you can.
Allowing your shoulders to drop,
Your arms to be heavy.
Breathing into a soft belly.
And allowing your legs to be heavy and supported.
And now becoming aware of your breathing.
And noticing where you feel it the most today.
It might be the movement of the belly filling and shrinking.
Maybe the ribs rising and falling.
You might feel the breath entering and leaving the nose.
Or even touching the back of your throat.
But just finding that spot,
Each place just as effective as the next.
Thinking of this as your home base,
And resting your attention there.
Knowing that this is the home base you can keep coming back to each time your mind wanders off or becomes distracted.
And when you notice that that has happened,
You want to be kind to yourself in that moment.
No criticism,
No judgement.
You simply notice the mind has wandered,
Return back to the home base as many times as you need to.
Again,
When your mind wanders off,
Just notice that it's happened.
And you can even label that natural moment of distraction by silently saying to yourself,
Thinking,
Thinking.
And come back to the home base.
Trusting in this process of meditation.
We focus,
We lose focus,
And we refocus.
And this is how we gently train our minds and learn to live more mindfully.
And now let the technique go and rest in this space you've created for yourself.
Gently becoming aware of the support beneath you once again.
The sensations of touch with that support.
Noticing sounds around you.
And getting a sense of the space you're in.
The temperature,
The movement of air.
And when you're ready,
Blink open the eyes or lift your gaze.
And taking a moment to notice what you see in front of you.
Shapes,
Shadows,
Textures.
And just sit for a moment mindfully before moving off and doing whatever you have to do next.
So thank you for joining me and I look forward to sitting with you next time.
