Welcome to Meditation Rocks!
I'm Lucy.
Today's meditation is all around the theme of the word welcome.
So go and find somewhere comfortable and I'll be right back.
So this meditation is inspired by a dream that I had actually and it was all about looking at a welcome mat and the number of people that have walked over that welcome mat over time.
Welcome them into my house,
Strangers,
People who have come to help and all that kind of thing.
And the word welcome is a really inspirational one.
We can welcome people but we can also welcome thoughts and feelings albeit they might not always be the ones that we want.
We can welcome new opportunities.
It's just a nice positive word and I'm sure we'll all have different definitions and interpretations of the word welcome.
But I thought it would make a nice central theme for a meditation.
So I hope you agree.
Come with me on this journey.
So get yourself very comfortable when you're ready.
Chances are you're sitting in a chair but you may well be lying down.
And wherever you are just take a few moments to find some balance and some comfort.
And just feeling your feet down onto the ground if you're sitting in a chair.
Gently pressing the soles of the feet into the earth,
Uncrossing your legs.
And enabling your feet to act like an anchor or roots.
Just holding you here in this moment.
And from the feet we travel up the legs to the sit bones.
And we allow the sit bones just to ground into the chair.
And feel that sense of support the chair is giving you.
Enabling you to sit a little heavier here in this moment.
From the sit bones we draw up through the spine so just elongate the back and send the chest towards the sun,
The sky.
Give the shoulders a little roll around.
Releasing any immediate tension that might be there.
And then eventually just bringing the shoulders down away from the ears creating that space.
Taking your hands onto your lap,
To your knees.
Feeling that connection through the palms,
The fingertips.
Feeling that connection with our own body.
And then just bringing your attention to your chest,
Your heart space.
And taking some nice long and deep breaths so that you can experience that whole complete breath.
Feeling the chest expand as you breathe in.
And feeling your body soften as you breathe out.
So taking these first few moments just to really experience your breath.
Drawing your focus and your attention onto yourself.
Just taking this moment for you.
And let's take three deep breaths together as a group.
So breathing in through the nose.
And breathing out through your mouth.
And we take two more.
Trying to make them as long and as deep as you can.
And then slowly close your mouth if that's comfortable for you.
And start to breathe in and out through your nose.
And this is the Yuzhai breath.
And Yuzhai means victorious or victory in Sanskrit.
And take this practice,
This time that you've set aside for yourself as a little victory in your day.
So find some balance between the inhale and the exhale.
Try to find that equal length of your breath in and your breath out.
Allow your body to soften.
If your mind wanders off,
Just gently guide it back to breathing in and breathing out.
And the moments in between.
Allow stillness.
Welcome the experience of your practice.
So our intention or inspiration for our meditation today is the word welcome.
So I wonder if you can picture in your mind's eye the inside of a front door.
Take a moment to notice the size of the door.
The shapes,
The colours,
The textures,
The material it's made from.
The shadows.
Build up a picture of the door that you've chosen or created.
What is around the door frame?
Notice any details like handles or windows.
And how do you feel standing here looking at the inside of your front door?
As you look down on the ground at the foot of the door,
There is a welcome mat.
With just that one word written.
Welcome.
And I wonder what feelings or images or thoughts the word welcome brings to you.
And think for a moment about all of the people that you have welcomed into your life through your door.
Loved ones,
Strangers,
People who have come to help,
People who have become friends.
And how you've welcomed them.
And also think about experiences that you have welcomed into your life.
And perhaps how we can welcome any opportunities,
Any thoughts,
Any feelings,
Experiences.
We may not always know what is around the corner,
But we can still welcome anything that comes our way.
I'm just going to give you a few moments to reflect on the word welcome.
And maybe think how this word might be useful for your day or your week ahead.
And I wonder if you can create a little intention or affirmation or mantra for your week ahead.
And you can start by saying,
I welcome,
And then you can insert a feeling,
A state of mind or something specific.
For example,
I welcome new opportunities or I welcome peace and stillness into my life.
And whatever you choose,
Just repeat that sentence or just purely the word welcome three times.
And let's take three deep breaths together.
So breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth.
And then just breathing normally in your own way for a few moments.
Just taking your time to absorb your practice from today.
And just repeating those words or sentence,
Including the word welcome just a couple more times.
And then slowly allow the words to fade and maybe just start to take a few little movements into the body,
Stretching head or neck or shoulders.
And bring your hands together and get them a little rub.
Try and create a little bit of heat in the palms and then hovering the hands over the eyes.
Take a moment there before you blink your eyes open inside your hands and bring your hands down away from your face.
And I'm here and I hope you enjoyed our welcome inspired meditation today and have a lovely rest of your day.
And I will see you soon.
Take care.
