Hello and welcome to Meditation Rocks,
I'm Lucy.
Now today's meditation is really about when you've got a really busy mind and you need to get below those thoughts and just find a bit of stillness,
Peace and quiet.
It's called the depths of the ocean and we start on the surface and we try and find some peace and stillness below.
So no waterproofs needed,
Let's get somewhere comfortable and let's begin.
So today's meditation is a bit of a visual one,
Not everyone can see pictures and visualize images in their mind so don't worry if you're one of those people I'll take you through it.
But we start on imagining we're on the surface of the ocean,
Maybe on a little boat or a raft and then we just feel the gentle ebb and flow of the waves which is our breath and then we just try and go a little bit deeper with every minute or so of our meditation.
Now don't worry I've done this a million times with people and sometimes people end up staying on the surface,
That's not a problem but you might find that as the meditation goes on you do begin to just feel a little bit calmer,
A little bit stiller and it's building on our theme of being in the moment.
So we're almost imagining we're anchored in that moment with our breath and we're finding that stillness,
That peace below,
That kind of surface chatter of our thoughts.
See how you get on and let's get started.
So find somewhere comfortable,
Maybe you're sitting in a chair and if you are put your feet flat if you can on the floor uncrossing your legs.
If you're like me and you'll cross legs then try and get your sit bones to be equal balance,
You're leaning over to one side or maybe you're in bed and you're just finding a bit of comfort,
Just allow your body to be grounded through the arms and the legs.
So you can bring your hands to wherever feels comfortable,
Maybe just placing them on your lap or your knees,
Try and keep an active posture,
So not relaxing so much that you think you're going to fall asleep but just feel that you're being held by the chair,
The ground or the bed and you can completely choose whether you close your eyes or not,
It's a really personal choice,
You don't have to close your eyes but the best thing we can try and do is just to focus on one point,
So maybe looking down at the ground or the ceiling so you're not engaging with the world around you and being distracted.
So I'm going to choose to close my eyes and just taking a couple of moments to arrive here,
Whatever's happened so far today,
Whatever you've got ahead of you,
Just try and park everything for now and just stop and be in this moment.
So our stage one is to begin to focus our attention inwards.
So any sounds of life around you,
You can't get rid of them,
You can't control them,
But we're just trying to turn the volume down on those sounds but also on our thoughts and that internal conversation that we have with ourselves.
So we can do this by focusing on our breath,
So it's a constant that's with us throughout the day and the night.
So begin to focus your attention inwards now on the rise and the fall of your breath.
And you can breathe in any way you choose,
Through the mouth or the nose.
I do recommend if you can to breathe in and out through the nose as it does have a calming effect on the mind.
So just start now to watch the inhale and the exhale,
The cycle of the breath.
What I'd like you to do if you can is to try and make the exhale slightly longer than your inhale.
And I want us to imagine now that we are on the surface of the ocean.
So you might be on a boat or a raft and as you breathe I'd like you to almost imagine you can feel the air and flow,
The rise and fall of the sea beneath us,
Like the waves.
So as you breathe in you might feel a slight lift and as you exhale longer you just feel the full and gentle air and flow of the waves.
So right now we're on the surface of the ocean,
Just feeling the rhythm of the waves with our breath.
So just take a few moments here.
And just to remind you you're completely safe and we're just absorbing this moment,
Feeling the rise and fall of the waves with our breath.
And now over the next few moments with every exhale we're going to imagine that we're very safely going to go a little deeper below the ocean.
So on your exhale try to imagine you can leave this surface and magically transport yourself a little deeper into the ocean where you find stillness and peace.
So as you exhale begin to transcend and go a little deeper to seek out the peace and stillness.
I'll just leave you here for a few moments just to absorb this new rhythm that you've found and take in the peace and stillness of this moment.
And whatever's happening on the surface of the ocean,
However choppy the waves,
However busy the mind,
If we just begin to let go and as we breathe out go a little bit deeper,
You can be calm and still in this moment.
On your exhale just try and go a little deeper if you can,
Leaving the choppiness and the waves and thoughts behind.
Just try and let go as you breathe out feeling lighter,
Easier in this moment.
And over your next few exhales,
See if you can go even deeper,
Even more.
And further away from those choppy waves,
From that chatter of the mind,
Just try and let go even more.
Absorb the peace and stillness that you find.
And just for these next few moments,
Just try and let go even more.
And just for these next few moments,
Just really try and notice the difference now,
How you feel from when you began.
I guess we're going to begin our journey back to the surface slowly.
Just allowing the breath to return to a comfortable rhythm and flow as you begin to resurface very slowly,
Beginning to hear the sounds of life a little around you,
But keeping this important protective bubble around you.
This stillness,
This peace,
This calm.
So now just allowing the breath to return to a normal rhythm and for you to return to the surface and just be with your breath just for a couple more moments.
Knowing that you can access those deeper places of stillness whenever you choose.
And just acknowledge that you've been present in this moment just for you.
And now just beginning to make any tiny movements you want to make,
Stretching fingers or arms,
Maybe moving the head a little bit from side to side,
Giving the shoulders a bit of a roll and then slowly if you want to just bring your hands together and give your hands a bit of a rub to create some heat.
And then just slowly taking your hands over your eyes so that you can blink your eyes open into your hands and then remove your hands whenever you're ready and I'm here.
And that's a really nice meditation to use maybe at the end of the day it's good to let go of things that have happened but also at the beginning of the day if you're feeling a little bit overwhelmed or daunted by everything you've got to do then just with your exhale just allowing yourself to transcend a little deeper with every breath,
With every few moments to seek out that peace and stillness.
It's so valuable,
So rewarding and hopefully you felt the benefits.
Thank you for joining me today.
I hope that was a useful meditation for your day.
I hope to see you again very soon.
Take care.