So today's meditation is inspired by a lovely child that I teach mindfulness to in one of the schools we work with.
And he said to me that when he meditates with us,
He feels like I've taken a rucksack off his back,
And it helps him to feel a little bit lighter and more relaxed.
And I thought,
What a lovely way to describe meditation.
So today's meditation is inspired by him.
And it's called the rucksack.
So go and get yourself somewhere comfortable and we'll get started.
So we work with meditation rocks in lots of different schools all over the UK and after I've taught meditation we leave the line open for a little while so if anyone wants to ask any questions or say anything about their experience,
Then they can.
So a little boy said to me,
When we asked how does it feel when you meditate.
He says it feels like I've got a heavy rucksack,
And you've taken it off my back.
And I feel lighter,
No floaty relaxed.
And I know exactly what he means and it was a really good description,
And it's now one that I'm thinking about more and more.
So I've been in this meditation called the rucksack.
We're all carrying a lot at the moment,
Physically,
Mentally,
Emotionally.
And I think that feeling of just having a moment to take your rucksack off,
Put it on the floor,
Feel a little bit lighter for just these 10 minutes,
So can only be a good thing.
We're going to get comfortable,
Whether you're in your chair or in bed.
And just take a moment to arrive here for your meditation today.
And if you're sitting in a chair just make sure that your feet are flat down and just press the soles of the feet into the ground,
Making sure you have a nice active posture.
Just rolling the shoulders and moving the head from side to side just to find a little bit of movement,
Easing your way in,
Making that transition from everyday life to now,
Your meditation practice,
Making sure your hands are comfortable in your neck and close your eyes whenever you're ready.
And just start to feel your breath.
Just to rise and fall.
As you breathe in and out.
And ask yourself how you feel today,
And answer without any judgment,
But with kindness towards yourself.
For a moment I want you to bring your hands to the opposite shoulder so right hand on to left shoulder,
Left hand on to right shoulder.
If you can't do this for any reason then you're just going to imagine.
You've got a little bit of weight pressing down on your shoulders.
But just for these next few moments just find a rhythm,
Natural flow of breath.
As you breathe in and out through your nose.
And as you're breathing out just feeling your feet,
Your sit bones,
Your back,
Your hands,
Grounding you in this moment.
You'll notice I haven't asked you to turn the volume down on life.
For the first part of our meditation I would like you to allow anything on your mind to come to the full.
So bring your right hand on to your left shoulder or top of the arm and crossing the other arm over brought bring your left hand on to your right shoulder or arm.
And as you do this just draw the shoulders down so you're holding on to the shoulders or the arms.
And just apply a little bit of weight.
I also want you to feel the presence of your arms pressing across your chest,
Your heart space and know that you are supported by me,
By your loved ones,
By your community.
But they're all carrying a rucksack now more than ever.
So I want you just to think for a moment of just some of the things that you're carrying.
Whether that's responsibilities,
Emotions,
To-do list,
It's all there.
Taking a few more moments just to feel what we're carrying around with us every day.
And I want you to begin to breathe deeply.
As you breathe in feel the presence of your rucksack on your shoulders as you breathe out begin to lighten the load.
As we take the rucksack off for a few moments.
So begin to loosen the grip on your fingers.
Begin to find softness in your shoulders.
Begin to release the neck a little.
Maybe just moving the head gently from side to side.
Try and deepen the breath.
With every breath that you take.
Breathe in an awareness.
Of your rucksack.
And breathing out.
Begin to feel a little bit lighter.
So now just begin to loosen.
And.
I'm crossing the arms.
And turning the backs of the hands down onto the map.
With your palms facing up.
Fingers relaxed.
And we're solely focusing on the shoulders.
Every breath in just try and relax the shoulders a little more.
Every breath out try and make your whole body.
Begin to feel lighter.
Even floaty.
Soft.
And relaxed.
Your rucksack is now down by your feet.
Can let go.
Of everything that you're carrying.
These next few minutes.
Allow your breath.
To see.
And relax.
And if you focus on your palms.
Almost allowing.
Your palms to symbolize this freedom of feeling light.
About the fingers to relax.
Now your whole body.
To soften.
So I'm going to leave you now just for a couple of minutes.
Breathing in.
And as you breathe out.
Feel lighter.
And relax.
Just down on the floor by your feet.
Your rucksack.
I wonder if everything needs to be in there.
Is there anything that you can take out.
Of your rucksack.
To throw away.
Put somewhere else.
How much needs to be in your rucksack that you carry with you.
Notice how you feel now.
The feeling is on the floor.
At your feet.
Are you feeling lighter.
Just allow a few more moments of this feeling.
In your mind.
After this meditation you can choose.
What's in your rucksack.
Whether you want to put it back on.
Straightaway.
Just feeling this feeling of freedom and feeling light in the palms,
In the body,
And the mind.
Just a few more moments of this meditation.
Slowly allowing the breath to return.
To a comfortable with them and flow.
And then you can take a little stretch.
And bring your hands together.
And give them a little bit of a rub to create some.
And then hovering the hands over your eyes.
And blinking your eyes open inside your hands.
And bring your hands down.
When you're ready and I'm here.
I hope you found that a useful analogy.
For your meditation practice today.
I think we're all guilty of carrying too much.
In our rucksacks around with us and that's not good for our posture or our mind.
So choose carefully what you carry around with you all day.
And I'll hopefully see you again very soon.
Take care for now.
