Hello everyone,
My name is Beth and welcome to this 20 minute guided effortless meditation.
Before we start I do recommend that you firstly listen to my 5 minute talk on the what,
How and why of effortless meditation,
Particularly if this is your first time meditating with me,
Because this will give you a foundational understanding of effortless meditation,
Which will in turn really help in your practice.
Firstly I would just like to invite you to ensure your phones or other devices are silenced,
And then just getting really comfortable,
In a supported and upright position,
Perhaps placing a pillow behind your back,
And closing down the eyes whenever you are ready,
Becoming aware of your breath,
Your environment,
Your body and my voice,
Knowing that if you need to move or stretch during this meditation,
Just honouring whatever your body needs to do,
And also acknowledging that you are taking this time for yourself,
And that during this meditation there really is no where you're trying to get to,
And no state you're trying to achieve.
Firstly just noticing the breath in its natural rhythm.
Now deepening the breath with a couple of big inhales through the nose,
And sighing it out through the mouth,
And letting go of the day or the week so far,
And arriving in this present moment.
And if you wish,
Just placing one hand on your belly,
And continuing these deep breaths,
Noticing the sensation of the breath,
Noticing the air passing through your nose and down into your diaphragm,
And noticing the belly expanding and contracting on each inhale and exhale.
And whilst you do this,
Just familiarising yourself with the process of effortless meditation,
Where we are gently resting our awareness on an anchor,
Which is currently the breath.
And our mind will then begin to roam away with thoughts,
Feelings or sensations,
Which is a completely natural and important part of this process.
And then,
Whenever you happen to realise that your mind has wandered in your own time,
Gently and effortlessly returning to your anchor,
Which is currently the breath.
And if you haven't already done so,
Just returning your breath to its natural rhythm,
And placing your hands in a comfortable position.
I invite you now to scan your body with your mind,
Starting from the top of the head,
Moving slowly down your face,
Noticing any tension you may be holding,
Perhaps in your forehead or the jaw,
And releasing it whenever you happen to notice.
Moving down the neck,
Gently dropping your shoulders away from your ears,
Moving down the arms,
The hands and the fingers,
And feeling them resting on your lap or the surface beneath you,
And allowing them to become heavy.
Moving down the chest,
The spine,
The belly,
The pelvis,
And observing and accepting any sensations or feelings you may find,
Exactly as they are,
Without judgement,
And releasing any tension you may find.
Relaxing your thighs,
Calves,
Feet and toes,
Allowing them to sink into the surface beneath you,
Remembering whenever you happen to realize that your mind has wandered gently and effortlessly,
Guiding it back to your body.
I invite you now to gently rest your awareness on a mantra,
And the mantra is an inner sound with no meaning that you gently repeat inside of your mind.
We will use the sound,
So hum,
So hum.
And just repeating this sound in your mind in an easy,
Gentle and effortless way.
Not controlling or concentrating on your mantra,
It might get faster,
Slower,
Longer,
Shorter,
Louder,
Softer,
And just allowing it to do whatever it wants to do.
Relaxing your thighs,
Calves,
Feet and toes,
Thoughts will naturally and spontaneously enter your mind and drift you away from your mantra,
Whenever you happen to realize that your mind has wandered away with these thoughts,
Just accepting that this was meant to happen,
And gently returning your awareness to your mantra whenever you are ready,
Without judgment or criticism of yourself.
Relaxing your thighs,
Calves,
Feet and toes,
Thoughts will naturally and seamlessly enter your mind and drift you away from your mantra,
And just allowing it to do whatever it wants to do.
Relaxing your thighs,
Calves,
Feet and toes,
Thoughts will naturally and seamlessly enter your mind and drift you away from your mantra,
Drifting away,
Drifting back,
Drifting away,
Drifting back,
Nowhere to get to,
No state to achieve,
Just a simple,
Effortless process,
Surrendering all control.
Relaxing your thighs,
Calves,
Feet and toes,
Thoughts will naturally and seamlessly enter your mind and drift you away from your mantra,
And just allowing it to do,
No state to achieve,
No state to achieve,
No state to achieve,
No state to achieve,
No state to achieve,
No state to achieve,
No state to achieve,
No state to achieve,
No state to achieve,
No state to achieve,
No state to achieve,
Thoughts are simply passing through you,
You are not your emotions,
Your emotions are too passing through you,
You are the calm,
Kind and content being which we all hold within us,
This is our true nature.
I welcome you now to release this mantra as your anchor,
Just simply resting for the last couple of minutes of the meditation,
I will tell you when it's time.
Slowly deepening the breath,
Slowly deepening the breath,
Bringing your awareness back to your body,
Back to the environment,
Back to my voice,
Slowly bringing movement to your body,
Wiggling your toes and fingers,
Just finding whatever movement feels good for you,
And just taking a moment to appreciate how you're feeling,
Perhaps a little more relaxed,
Calm and centred than when you first sat down,
And giving thanks to yourself for showing up to this practice,
However it was,
And for prioritising your health and your wellbeing,
And there's no rush to move anywhere if you don't wish,
Just opening the eyes is the very last thing you do.
Thank you so much for joining me,
I hope you have a beautiful rest of your day.
