In this relaxing meditation,
You will be observing your breath as you allow stress and tension to melt away.
Let's begin by taking a moment to allow your body to settle into a comfortable position.
You may wish to close your eyes or just look downward to limit visual distractions.
See if you can soften around any areas of physical tightness or tension.
Maybe that means dropping your shoulders,
Wiggling your fingers,
Loosening your jaw,
Opening the muscles around your eyes and relaxing the belly,
Noticing where your body touches the ground or the chair.
What does it feel like to have your body on the ground,
The weight of gravity pulling you down to whatever you are touching?
We are simply grounding our energy throughout the body,
Bringing awareness to what it feels like to be living in this body right now.
Noticing the points of contact,
Just noticing any energies within the body and inviting a sense of ease and relaxation.
And so,
Today's primary practice will be mindfulness of breathing,
Bringing awareness to what it feels like physically to be breathing,
Without judging anything to be good or bad,
Right or wrong.
Simply being curious about what it feels like to be inhaling,
Exhaling,
And to have that pause in between the exhale and the inhale.
So with a soft belly and an open mind,
I invite you to inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth,
Noticing the pause at the end of the exhale and then noticing the beginning of the next inhale and exhale,
Just relaxing the body,
Inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the mouth,
Inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the mouth,
Breathing with a sense of ease,
Following its natural rhythm,
Noticing the air as it moves through the nostrils,
Feeling the air as it goes out through the mouth,
Noticing what it feels like as the air moves through the nostrils and through the mouth,
You might notice the belly rising and falling with each inhale and each exhale,
Breathing with a sense of ease and curiosity,
Sensing into each breath,
Feeling the movements,
The temperatures,
Staying with the sensations in each moment,
The sense of kindness and ease,
Breathing in and out,
Feeling it without judging anything to be good or bad,
Right or wrong,
Staying with this practice for a few more breaths,
And then letting go of the practice and noticing how your body feels right now,
Allowing any sensations to be just as they are,
Allowing yourself to simply be.
Now,
As you prepare to return to your usual level of consciousness,
Take a moment to remember that this practice is always here for you to come back to,
And when you are ready to end this meditation,
In your own time,
Slowly and gently,
Bring your awareness back to your physical surroundings and open your eyes if they were closed.
