Welcome to a meditation for sweetness and ease.
My name is Lucy and for this short meditation you can begin by finding a comfortable seat.
Legs can be crossed or draped out in front of you.
You might like to use a wall to lean on or simply grow the spine tall.
Alternatively if you'd like to lie down and find a supported position for your spine,
Please adjust.
As you're ready,
Gently close down the eyes and become aware of your body.
Just relax and feel your body at rest.
Become aware of effortless breathing.
Feel the gentle waves of breath fill and release effortlessly.
Begin to count backwards on your breath,
Starting at the number 10.
So whenever you notice your body,
Exhale,
Go backwards when count.
First exhale,
9.
Next exhale,
8.
Each breath is a step backward.
Feel your body and mind relax more and more deeply with each exhale.
Continue on and the closer you get to zero,
The more your body and mind approach a state of complete ease.
In the yoga tradition,
Referred to often as sukha,
Sweetness and gentleness of presence.
When you reach zero,
No hurry whatsoever,
Rest in complete stillness.
For a moment just feel the presence of stillness and peace.
Now bring your attention to the forehead in the space between your eyebrows.
And as you hold your attention there,
Become aware of your body breathing.
Don't force or try to shape the breath.
Simply be conscious of the point between your eyebrows and your body breathing.
The more effortless you can be,
The better.
On your next inhale,
You might see or sense that point between the centre of your eyebrows.
As you follow the inhale,
Your awareness draws towards the midbrain,
Somewhere around the centre of your temples,
Sometimes known as the third eye.
When you exhale,
Sense awareness moving from that point back towards the surface of your skin between the eyebrows.
Continue to feel your awareness move from one point to another on the movement of each breath.
Inhaling from the skin to the midbrain,
Exhaling from the midbrain back towards the centre of your eyebrows.
As your mind begins to settle,
You might feel the practice growing more effortless and more calm.
Just keep going with the natural rhythm of your breath.
Gradually become so relaxed and your mind so quiet that you might be able to rest,
Your whole being absorbed in this rhythm,
Restful and content.
There you might sense yourself becoming fully absorbed in the centre,
Simply there to watch,
Feel and listen.
Gradual mind and body enter into this rhythm of deep peacefulness,
Effortlessness.
You might begin to sense that movement from the eyebrow centre to the midbrain,
Become almost like a pulse as if listening to a stream in the distance.
Eventually you can stop thinking about and working with the breath and just be aware of this pulse,
Moving in and out.
You might feel here a sense of bliss,
Ananda unfolding,
Your whole being flooded with a boundless sense of contentment and joy.
Don't try,
Just be aware and at the same time completely effortless.
Become aware that this source of this contentment and joy you are experiencing here is actually coming from you.
It is you.
Continue releasing yourself into the meditation.
Feeling yourself as the source of joy,
Of ease,
Of bliss.
Eventually your body might feel so full of ease that you won't need to do the practice anymore.
Just notice the pulsation of deep peace inside and around you.
You're welcome to remain in this place for as long as you like.
The meditation is complete.
Whenever you're ready,
Begin to find your breath and come back to life.
