Hello and welcome!
My name is Amber and today I have for you a meditation to help you unwind after a busy day and leave any work stress behind.
So if you are heading home from the office or just closing down your laptop for the day,
This class is going to help us make that crucial transition out of work mode into a calmer,
More relaxed state.
So when you're ready,
Come and find a comfortable position for your practice today.
You can sit cross-legged as I am now,
Or if you're seated in a chair,
Go ahead and set your feet flat on the floor with your weight evenly distributed.
And one thing I like to do at the end of my work day is to give my wrists a bit of a stretch.
So starting with your right wrist,
Go ahead and extend your hand out in front of you with the heel of the hand facing upwards and your fingers pointing down towards the ground.
And you can use your other hand to gently increase that stretch,
Feeling it ripple through the wrist and the forearm,
The inner elbow,
And maybe even the bicep.
This is a great stretch for those of us who do a lot of computer work or work with our hands.
All right,
Let's switch to our other wrist,
Extending the left arm out in front of you,
Wrists facing up and fingers pointing down,
And using the other hand to increase the intensity of the stretch if you'd like.
And as always,
Moving mindfully,
Being aware of how it feels to move in this way,
Not just in the wrist but also noticing how it feels in the forearm,
Elbow,
Bicep,
Maybe even the shoulder.
Really nicely done,
Go ahead and release the hands,
Placing them in your lap or on your knees.
Go ahead and roll the shoulder blades down and back,
And closing the eyes if that feels right.
Go ahead and lengthen just a little bit in the back of the neck,
Tucking the chin ever so slightly,
And just watch for a few moments as the breath flows in and out of the nose or mouth,
Settling in.
So oftentimes as we go throughout our workday,
One thing we might find is that the things that happen at work tend to leave these little marks or impressions on our bodies and on our minds.
We collect a little tension here,
A little tightness there,
And sometimes we don't even notice that that's happening until we get a chance to slow down like this.
For example,
If you've had a long day at work,
You might notice you have a lot of thoughts crowding each other,
You might feel a bit of tension in the forehead,
Or you notice your breath is shallow or fast.
And so without any judgment,
Just scan through the body,
Noticing any little impressions that your day has left behind.
Now I invite you to bring your attention to the muscles of the eyebrows,
That little space in between the eyebrows,
And if you find tension there,
Just see if you can gently soften those muscles.
Soften the cheeks,
The jaw,
Allow the tongue to fall to the bottom of the mouth,
Filling the lower soft palate.
Maybe the lower jaw drops a little bit as the teeth part,
The breath entering and exiting through the nose,
Bringing a lot of compassion to this process of noticing what's here in the body.
And don't worry if you notice the mind getting distracted,
Maybe reviewing the day or preparing for tomorrow.
Whenever that happens,
Really nice and easy,
Just bring your attention back to the practice,
Back to the feeling of the inhales,
Followed by the exhales,
Noticing the feeling of the body as it rests here,
Completely supported.
Awareness of your posture,
The long spine in the back,
Muscles of the abdomen in the front,
The hands in your lap,
Feet on the floor.
And in these last few moments of practice,
With your eyes still closed,
Become aware of the space around you,
The room where you are,
Tuning in to any sounds you can hear,
The feeling of air on your skin,
Resting here in awareness.
All right,
My dear one,
When you're ready,
Bring some movement back into the body.
Gently open the eyes again.
Thank you so,
So much for choosing to practice with me today.
It's not always easy to step away from work stress,
But you did it,
And that's huge.
Take good care,
And I'll see you very soon.
