If this is your first or nearly your first meditation,
I welcome you here.
This is a guided meditation for people who are new to it and who want a short and sweet one to ease them in.
As with most new things,
The unfamiliar can seem weird or even scary.
But you don't need to worry,
All we will be doing is sitting still,
Counting our breaths and listening to the music.
So,
Let's begin.
Start by making sure you are comfortable.
It is usually best to learn to meditate while sitting,
Rather than lying down,
But you don't have to sit on the floor with your legs crossed.
You can if you like,
But it's not compulsory.
You can sit on a chair,
On your bed,
On the couch,
Wherever you like.
Make sure you'll be able to sit like this for a few minutes,
That you're warm enough and ideally your spine should be straight,
So no slouching.
If you're on the couch,
Come and sit at the front so you can sit with a straight back.
We want to make sure you'll not be disturbed for the next few minutes,
So make sure your technology won't ping you in that time.
We are going to take three long,
Deep breaths together.
Breathe in,
Breathe out,
Breathe in,
Breathe into your belly,
Hold for a moment,
And breathe out.
Last one.
Biggest in-breath of your day so far.
And exhale.
Great!
Take a few moments to roll your shoulders,
Maybe move your head gently from side to side,
Anything you need to do to relax your body.
Roll your feet and hands,
Maybe shake out any tension you're feeling,
And then become still.
It's okay if you think you look silly,
New things always feel odd to start with.
And it's okay if you're having lots of thoughts,
We aren't trying to stop thinking,
We're just trying to not run away with them.
We are going to spend one minute counting our breaths up to five.
Once you get to five,
You start again at one.
I'll guide us for the first round,
And then we can keep count ourselves.
Okay,
Here we go.
Inhale,
Exhale.
One,
Inhale.
One,
Exhale.
Exhale.
Two,
Inhale.
Exhale.
Exhale.
Four,
Inhale.
Exhale.
Great,
How did you go?
Did you keep count or did your mind wander?
It's okay if it wanders,
Minds do that a lot.
We're going to repeat counting our breaths for one minute.
And this time we'll add in feeling our bodies move as we breathe.
So as you breathe in,
Feel your lungs expand and your chest move outwards.
As you breathe out,
Feel your chest and shoulders move inwards and downwards.
If you don't feel anything,
Try breathing more deeply.
And if that doesn't work,
No worries,
Just count your breaths and we'll try again another day.
Okay,
Let's start one minute.
Counting rounds of five breaths and noticing our bodies move as we breathe.
How was that?
Did you find you lost count more or less with the extra task in there?
It really doesn't matter either way.
It's just something to notice.
It's called meditation practice because we have to do it a few times to get used to it.
Our minds are used to wandering off and dragging us with them and meditation can be a good way to become aware when we are being dragged away.
You can return to noticing your breathing at any time during meditation or out in the world.
It's a good way to return to the present moment.
Becoming aware of the way our body moves when breathing is also a great way to start tuning in to our physical self.
Again,
You can do this at any time,
Like when you are watching TV or waiting in traffic.
So let's take one last huge deep breath together to close out our meditation.
Breathe in,
And in,
And in.
Hold for a moment,
A little longer.
Now slowly release.
Keep going,
Keep going.
Push out all the air.
Great!
Breathe normally.
You can return to this guided meditation any time you like.
It's always here for you.
If you're starting out,
You can do this meditation every day for a week and then move on to my Beginner's Week 2 meditation.
Thank you for spending this time with me.
