Hello my dear,
Thank you so much for being here.
Today's meditation practice will be about 20 minutes long to help us let go of any worries we might have and come into the present moment.
If we haven't met before,
My name is Amber and I teach people how to meditate and use mindfulness to manage their stress and anxiety.
So if you are ready to get started,
Go ahead and find a comfortable position for your practice today,
Getting the body in position and ready to become still for the next little while.
And no expectations,
Right,
For your practice today,
Just allowing sensations to arise and then noticing them without any judgment as they do.
So just take a few moments here to settle in,
Closing the eyes if you would like to.
Notice the breath,
Feel your shoulders dropping down,
Sliding down your back,
And consciously relax the face,
Smoothing out the forehead,
Letting go of any tension in the jaw,
Letting it drop,
And relaxing the cheeks and the tongue,
Relaxing all the way down to the root of the tongue,
Letting it fill the soft palate at the bottom of the mouth,
And maybe the top and bottom teeth will part just a little bit,
Aware of the position of the body in space,
Awareness of all dimensions,
Top and bottom,
Left and right sides of the body,
Front and back,
And just taking a moment to notice where in the body you can feel your breath,
Starting with where it shows up most prominently.
Maybe for you that's the tip of the nose,
Where the flow of air enters and exits,
Or maybe it's in the chest,
Which gently rises and falls as the lungs fill and empty with air.
And perhaps you can feel the breath in the belly,
And the diaphragm expanding and contracting,
Taking your time to notice how the breath is,
No need to change it,
Just letting it flow in and out at its own pace,
Allowing the body to gradually let go of any tension it might be holding,
Melting the shoulders down,
Allowing the hands to rest gently in your lap,
Palms facing up or facing down,
Maybe they're clasped together,
Feeling your seat getting heavy,
Rooting down to the surface beneath you,
And noticing that sensation of your feet resting flat and firm on the ground,
Allowing the weight to be evenly distributed,
And just bit by bit,
Degree by degree,
Letting go of any tension or stress,
And just watching each breath as it flows in and out of the nose or mouth,
Knowing that there's never any rush,
And as you gradually feel the body relax,
See if you can make an intentional decision to allow the mind to let go of anything it might be working on,
Any problems that it might be trying to solve in the background,
Making a very conscious decision to leave behind whatever has already happened today,
Whatever may or may not happen tomorrow,
Happen tomorrow,
And just allow your mind and your body to be here in the same place at the same time,
Being attentive and attuned to your own self,
To the sensations of the breath and the body,
Awareness of the quality of your mind,
Any emotions which may be present,
Allowing the soft animal of your body to simply be,
Without any scrutiny,
Without any analysis,
And knowing that there's no pressure,
There's nothing to do here,
But to observe your moment-to-moment experience,
And becoming aware of any sounds that you can hear coming from your environment around you,
Sounds loud and quiet,
Coming from near or far,
Perhaps the sound of your own breath,
Or your own heartbeat,
All these different layers of sound coming together,
And as we start to come close to the end of this meditation,
Let's just bring the attention back to the breath,
Coming back to a gentle inhale,
Followed by a long,
Deep exhale,
Rinsing out the body and the heart.
All right,
My dear friends,
Whenever you're ready,
Moving as slowly as you can,
Gently open your eyes,
And make your way back to your screen,
And genuinely really take your time here,
And let your eyes adjust back to the room where you are,
Have a stretch or a drink of water if you need them.
All right,
My dear ones,
Have a wonderful rest of your day,
And I hope to see you very soon.
