Hello and welcome to this space.
My name is Maya and I'm going to be guiding you through this meditation today.
So,
To begin,
I'll just invite you to get settled into your space and make sure that you're somewhere where you will not be disturbed for a few minutes and you feel safe to just really be with yourself here.
When you feel ready,
You can soften your gaze so that it's resting somewhere on the horizon or you can close your eyes.
We're just going to begin by taking three nice deep breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth.
So,
You can inhale through the nose.
And exhale through the mouth.
One more time,
Inhale through the nose.
And exhale,
Side out.
And one last time,
Inhale through the nose.
And exhale through the mouth.
Just let your breath return to its natural rhythm.
I'm going to bring your attention down into the chest space or the belly,
Whichever feels more natural for you today.
We're going to follow the rise and fall of the breath for a few moments.
So,
Try and gather all of your attention and just bring it down into the breath.
Whatever you had going on before this,
Whatever comes next,
None of that matters right now.
Just going to let yourself really sink in and be present with the breath.
When thoughts come up,
As they are prone to do,
Just bring yourself back.
We'll come back to those thoughts in a few minutes.
First,
We're going to land here.
You may notice,
As you focus your attention on the breath,
The jaw naturally begins to soften.
Your shoulders naturally begin to relax.
There's no need to force,
To push or pull the breath.
Just allowing yourself to sink into your natural rhythm.
We're going to stay here for a few more moments.
Beautiful.
Now that we feel this presence in the body,
We're going to bring your attention up into the mind for a few moments.
Just let any thoughts that have been very present for you come to the surface.
It might be one thought.
It might be several thoughts all on the same topic.
Or your thoughts could look something like a web.
Or one thing always leads to the next,
Which leads to the next.
Kind of like your thoughts are on a relay race.
Once you have an awareness of these thoughts,
You're just going to imagine yourself standing in the center of a running track.
So the lanes of the circle are surrounding you.
And you stand directly in the middle.
And as you stand here,
You see there's these people that are running on the track.
Maybe it's just one person.
Maybe it's several all in a race.
These people are an embodiment of your thoughts.
So you're just going to stand here as you let your thoughts race around this track.
Maybe you can hear what they're saying.
Maybe you can't.
Maybe you sense their anxious energy.
Whatever it is,
You're just going to let the thoughts be.
You're going to let them continue to loop.
And as they do so,
You're going to bring your attention and awareness into your center.
So you have this sense that you are a calm pillar in the midst of all this movement.
Thoughts continue to loop.
They do their thing.
And you remain calm at their center.
You see how benign these thoughts really are.
They're just thoughts.
They're not doing anything to you.
You can coexist with them peacefully.
And the longer you stay here rooted into this deep sense of calm,
The more the pressure begins to release.
You realize they're just thoughts.
You don't have to act on them.
They don't mean anything about who you are.
At some point,
The pace of these thoughts begins to slow.
Maybe some of them slow to a walk.
Or they drop down to their knees.
They've grown exhausted.
You watch as all these thoughts just find their eventual slowness,
Their eventual end.
They come to a natural stop.
You feel this wave of peace just wash over you.
You are not defined by your thoughts.
You are not defined by the words that others have given you.
You are free to choose how you move through this world.
From this place of calm,
Centered knowing,
You begin to walk.
So you cross the track.
You move through the gates that are surrounding this track.
Perhaps it's a building that you have to walk through.
Eventually you reach the other side.
And you are free.
You've left these thoughts behind.
There's nothing nagging at you.
There's nothing pulling at your attention.
You feel fully anchored in this present moment.
And when the thoughts return,
As they may be prone to do,
You know that they do not control you.
You know that this calm inner knowing exists beyond all the noise.
And you have the power to tap into it at any moment you choose.
Begin to come back into your body.
Back into the room where you started.
You can wiggle your fingers.
You can wiggle your legs.
Wiggle your toes.
Feel the weight of your arms resting against your body.
And just notice how you feel now.
Now that you are back in this present moment.
You can place both hands together over your heart space.
Just thank yourself for showing up for you today.
For taking this time to remember your power and your agency.
For letting go of the thoughts that no longer serve you.
You can stay here for as long as you need.
When you feel ready,
You can open your eyes.
