Hey yogis,
This is Kilti,
And thanks for joining today.
Maybe you're here because you are implementing a daily meditation practice,
Or maybe you're here because you've found yourself in a moment of feeling anxious or overwhelmed or stressed.
And whatever your reason for showing up today,
First take a moment and thank yourself.
Use the effort to show up.
And second,
Take a moment to get comfortable.
Whether you are laying down on your back,
Whether you are sitting upright in a chair or against a wall,
Make sure that you are comfortable and comfortable enough that you could close your eyes if it feels appropriate.
And if not,
Keep the eyes open but gaze soft.
And let's begin with three full cycles of breath.
Take a full inhale through the nose.
Separate the lips and sigh it out.
Again,
Full inhale.
And a full exhale.
One more.
Take a big inhale through the nose and let it go.
And notice how even three simple breaths can start to create a calming feeling in your nerves,
Your emotions,
Maybe your mind.
If you find that to be true for you,
Then continue to breathe steadily.
I often find the repetition and consistency of the breath to be soothing kind of like the shoreline of an ocean.
Imagine standing at the water's edge.
And as you look down at your feet,
You can see the water rushing up in between your toes along the edges of your feet,
Wrapping around to your heels,
And then receding back out towards the ocean.
Imagine what the water feels like on your feet,
The temperature of the water,
The sensation of it on your skin.
Maybe you can even smell the ocean air.
You can hear the crackling of the bubbles on the beach.
And as you feel the water wash away from your feet,
You can even feel the sand getting pulled with the water.
And with each wave that comes and goes,
More and more sand also washes away,
And you start to feel your feet sinking down into the earth.
And after a few waves wash over your feet,
Imagine taking a step back away from the water's edge,
And you look down to see your footprints.
And with each wave that washes up,
You notice that your footprints become more and more faint.
And after enough time has passed,
After enough waves have come up and gone away,
You can barely even see your footprints.
Sometimes I'll try to take this perspective with life's stresses and chaotic events.
In the moment,
It's all-consuming.
It takes all of my attention.
And if it ever gets to be too much,
If it ever feels like too much sand is washing away,
Or the tide is getting too high,
Or the waves are getting too big,
Then I can choose to take a step back,
Just in the same way that you are choosing to take a pause and listen to this meditation,
To tune into the breath.
So let's take a few more cycles of breath together.
Roll in now through the nose,
Back out through the nose.
Inhale,
Exhale.
A few more on your own.
Take one more round of breath and let it be the slowest,
Longest round of breath that you've had today.
The act of meditation is not necessarily about eliminating your thoughts or calming down.
Rather,
It's more about mindfulness and learning to be present with whatever it is that you're doing while you're doing it.
So when you're taking that deep inhale and that deep exhale,
You're not thinking about what's for breakfast or what happened yesterday or what's going to happen next year.
It's being present with the sensations,
The sounds,
The feelings that are happening when they're happening.
It is the practice of doing what you are doing while you're doing it.
And in that way,
Everything else starts to wash away.
So take one more full inhale,
Feel the rib cage expand.
And a full exhale,
Feel the air release through the nostrils.
As you allow the eyes to open,
Use this meditation to not rush to the next thing,
But to really be present with wherever it is that you're headed next.
So thanks again for joining,
Yogis.
My name is Kilty,
And I look forward to moving with you again soon.
Have a beautiful rest of your day and namaste.
