Welcome Mama.
I'm Lisa and I'll be your guide for this meditation practice.
You're invited to find a posture that feels best for you in this moment.
You may be sitting,
Standing,
Or finding a comfortable and supported way to lie down.
Take a few moments to shift the body in any way that may allow you to begin to settle in just a bit more.
Throughout the practice,
My encouragement is for you to lean into whatever will support you and baby most.
Let's begin.
First,
Inviting some awareness to your mind.
What thoughts are present?
And as we bring awareness to our minds,
Seeing if we can bring a sense of kindness and curiosity along with it.
Are the thoughts stuck in the past?
Are they being pulled into the future?
Or are they in this moment right here and now?
There is no right,
No wrong.
Simply bringing awareness to what is.
Bringing awareness to the breath by simply taking a deep breath in through the nose and out through the mouth.
And we'll invite some awareness into the body through a brief body scan.
Inviting the intention of rest,
Starting with the head,
Noticing the weight of your head,
Perhaps on the neck,
Muscles in the face,
The eyebrows,
The eyes,
The cheekbones,
The jaw,
The teeth,
The ears,
And seeing if there's one place or space that you might soften or relax just a bit.
That might mean allowing the eyelids to get heavier if the eyes are closed,
Or creating some space between the top and bottom row of the teeth,
Softening the jaw,
Drawing the awareness down into the neck,
And noticing if any movement would be supportive to allow a sense of softening and releasing tension.
Maybe that's dropping the chin towards the heart,
Or moving the head side to side slowly with awareness,
Or anything else.
Dropping awareness next into the shoulders.
Again,
If movement feels supportive to lean into anywhere you may be tensing or tightening or holding tension,
You might roll the shoulders up,
Down,
And around,
Or shake the shoulders side to side,
Imagining that you're creating a greater space between the top of the shoulders and the bottom of the ears.
Drinking in a deep breath in through the nose and out through the mouth,
Drawing your awareness in towards the chest,
The heart space,
Perhaps noticing the breath moving the chest gently.
There's no need to change the breath,
But if you feel like taking a deeper breath would be supportive,
Feel free to get that.
Or simply placing a palm on the heart space,
Noticing if there's any place you might soften.
Bringing awareness next into the arms,
The elbows,
The wrists,
The palms,
The fingers,
And again seeing where you might be allowing yourself to get a bit heavier.
Maybe the arms hang down by the sides,
Or the palms rest on the thighs or the knees,
Or maybe right along with baby.
Next,
Bringing awareness to baby,
So to the belly,
To the pelvis,
To the sides of the torso,
Perhaps placing the palms directly on baby or belly as a way to connect,
Perhaps feeling movement from baby or not.
Simply noticing with a gentle awareness and taking a deep breath in and out,
Traveling your awareness down into the hips,
The low back.
If rocking gently side to side would allow the hips to soften and rest,
Feel free to do that.
Or if shifting postures at any point or finding some support,
Like something comfortable to sit on or prop the hips up on,
Feel free to get that too.
As we move in a meditation or bring awareness to the need to move,
The idea is that we're attending to each movement we need to make,
And that's all part of the meditation practice.
Bringing awareness now into the glutes,
Seeing if there's any place or space you might rest or become a bit heavier in.
Bringing the awareness down next into the knees.
Notice where the knees either suspend or where they land,
And noticing if any muscles around the knees are feeling a sense of gathering tension.
Seeing where you can soften.
Bringing the awareness down into the feet,
Maybe wiggling the feet,
Rolling the ankles,
Lexing the feet or pointing the feet,
Wiggling the toes or spreading the toes wide and softening them,
Allowing the toes to fall open to the sides or kind of flapping down just as they are.
Tapping into a sensation of restfulness,
Even if just for a moment.
And as we rest here with our awareness,
You're welcome to draw your awareness to your breath or to baby or to nothing in particular,
And just being in this moment.
Choiceful awareness,
Whatever would feel most supportive for you and your practice.
And as we rest,
I'll offer some words,
A beautiful poem by Wu Men that's been translated into English by Stephen Mitchell.
Ten thousand flowers in spring,
The moon in autumn,
A cool breeze in summer,
Snow in winter.
If your mind isn't clouded by unnecessary things,
This is the best season of your life.
Ten thousand flowers in spring,
The moon in autumn,
A cool breeze in summer,
Snow in winter.
If your mind isn't clouded by unnecessary things,
This is the best season of your life.
As we begin to bring our practice to a close,
We can practice that embracing change is the only thing that's certain.
And our practice is simply to let go of the rest again and again and again.
Change is the only thing that is certain.
Practicing to rest in in the uncertainty so that we can really be present in this season of our lives,
In this season of pregnancy,
In the season of motherhood,
Or whatever this season is for you.
Let's take three deep collective breaths together.
Because after all,
Even if we're sitting or practicing alone,
We are practicing in community.
There are people all over the world practicing at this very moment.
Drinking in a deep breath in through the nose and out through the mouth.
Two more at your own pace.
Breathing in.
When you're ready,
Breathing out.
Last one.
Make it count.
Deep breath in and out.
You're welcome to stay just as you are.
If you're transitioning into the rest of your day and your eyes are closed,
Take a few moments to gently blink the eyes open.
Bringing your gaze to baby and thanking them for the opportunity to have them along in your practice.
Deep breath in and out.
Welcome home,
Mama.
Thank you so much for practicing with me today.
