I'm so glad that you're all here.
If we haven't met before,
My name is Amber.
I use she,
Her pronouns.
Oh,
I'm gonna stop sharing.
And I was just saying to Wyatt earlier,
I was sick and I had a sore throat this week.
So my apologies if I have a scratchy voice or if I need to go on mute to cough.
But it was just one of those colds where,
I don't know if anyone else has experienced this,
I definitely felt like I did it to myself.
Like I've just been working a lot lately and I haven't been getting as much sleep recently as I know that I need.
And all the signs were like there,
Right?
I felt myself getting run down.
And I remember thinking to myself,
Like I should probably take a day off.
And then immediately after that,
This other part of my brain was like,
Yeah,
Yeah,
Yeah.
Like we'll rest after we get all this other stuff done.
And then the next day I was sick.
So it just made me think of like how subtle and quiet the messages from our bodies can be sometimes.
And if you have a really stressful life,
Like feelings of tiredness or feeling a little run down,
We can ignore these signs pretty easily because there's always seems to be something that's like louder or needs our attention more.
And that's one of the things that I really love about meditation,
That it gives us time to ignore everything else and just check in with ourselves.
Just like pause and acknowledge these important messages that we get from our bodies.
Let's transition into our meditation.
We'll sit together for about 20 minutes today.
So go ahead and find a comfortable position for practice.
You can stay sitting where you are.
If you wanna find another spot and go out of frame of your camera,
That's totally fine too.
And we'll just take a few moments here to settle in,
Maybe closing the eyes if that feels right.
Feel your shoulders drop down,
Relaxing the jaw.
And just start to notice the breath.
And as you start to settle in,
Can you make an intentional decision with yourself to be present,
Making a conscious decision to leave behind whatever happened today,
Whatever is going to happen in the future.
And tomorrow,
Knowing that there's nothing to do,
But be really present,
Right here for the next 20 minutes or so.
And taking this time to set aside any problems you may be working on in your mind,
Any to-dos,
Just taking your time to settle in to this moment right here.
And on your own time,
Maybe start to notice the breath flowing in and out of the nose or mouth without changing it,
Right?
Just noticing,
Is it deep or shallow?
Is it big or is it more subtle?
And after a while,
Maybe shifting your attention to the sensations in your hands,
Resting in your lap,
The palms,
Backs of the hands,
Fingers,
Feeling your hips and your seat,
Heavy against the seat beneath you,
The sensation of the weight of your feet equally distributed on the floor.
And I invite you to just take some time to check in with yourself.
How are you today?
Sometimes for me,
It can be helpful to start my scan with my basic needs,
Right?
Am I hungry?
Am I thirsty?
Am I cold or warm without judgment and without needing to fix anything?
Simply noticing how it is in the body.
Are there any strong sensations that are immediately jumping out to you?
Just being present to yourself,
Being open to whatever might be here,
Feelings of tightness or looseness,
Noticing if there are any areas of tension,
Maybe sending the breath that way.
And then moving from there to check in on a deeper level,
Right,
How is the quality of your mind?
Maybe it's quite noisy and loud today.
Maybe it's quiet and settled.
Just checking in with yourself and how you feel in this current moment.
And there's no wrong answers,
Right?
Whatever is here is here.
Just being attentive and attuned to your own self,
Knowing that there's no pressure,
Nothing to do here,
But simply observe.
And as we come towards the end of our meditation,
Maybe returning from your tour of the body and mind to the breath,
Coming back to the gentle flow of each inhale followed by an exhale.
Maybe it's possible to let go of any sense of control on the breath.
And perhaps simply allowing the body to be breathed and let yourself just be.
And now,
My friends,
Very slowly,
Let yourself be in a state of awareness and a state of being aware of what's going on in your life.
When it feels right,
Gently open your eyes and maybe make your way back to the screen.
And maybe take a moment to look around the room where you are.
Come back into this place,
This environment.
Maybe take a stretch or a drink of water if you need it.
And I appreciate you all so much for being here today and have a lovely rest of your week.
I'll see you all very soon.
