Hello my dear one,
Welcome.
Today's practice is all about connecting to and getting back in our bodies through a scan of our five senses and we'll sit together for about 15 minutes today.
If we've never met before,
My name is Amber and I teach meditation to help you manage stress and anxiety so you can be more peaceful and present in your life.
So when you're ready,
Please find a position for today that is really comfortable for you.
You can be sitting or you can also lie down on your back if you have the space for it.
And I don't know about you but sometimes when I meditate I'll pick a position and stick to it as my go-to position but I really encourage you to approach each practice anew and find a position that works for you today.
We want to make sure that we are as comfortable as possible as we come into stillness.
And let's begin today's practice with our eyes open,
Keeping a nice soft gaze,
Letting our eyes rest maybe three or four feet in front of us,
Sort of forward and down with a comfortable soft gaze.
And just slowly kind of take in what you see,
The items you have here in front of you,
Their shapes and colors,
The way the light bounces off of them or shines through them.
And what we're doing here is starting to settle the nervous system.
We're signaling to our brains that all is well right now here in this moment.
There's nothing to fear and that we're safe.
And when you feel like it's the right time,
Go ahead and close the eyes.
You may start to notice the breath,
The pull of the inhale through the nose,
And the release of the exhale as it reverses through the nose or mouth.
Sending the breath into the chest,
The belly,
And even visualizing it flowing through the seat and the legs before it reaches the feet,
The contact points with the ground.
Feeling into your seat,
Letting it be nice and heavy,
Allowing yourself to sink into the surface beneath you,
To be supported,
To take up space.
And really let yourself be held here instead of holding yourself up,
Sort of perched on your seat.
Really let yourself sink into it.
Allow the shoulders to melt down.
The hands can rest in your lap.
Feel the muscles of the face relax.
Feel the angles of your elbows and your knees,
Of the ankles even,
The texture of the surface under your feet.
And as you sit here in stillness,
You might notice what else can be sensed here by the body.
Perhaps there are some sounds that can be heard around you,
The voices of others,
Or maybe the sound of traffic or birds outside.
Just noticing the way each sound enters your ear canals and comes into contact with your eardrums.
How that sound wave is then perceived by you.
Loud,
Soft,
High or low-pitched,
Regular or irregular.
Perhaps the same can be said for any smells that may be entering your nostrils.
I've actually got a nice hot cup of peppermint tea next to me that I can smell.
Maybe you're lucky enough to have somebody cooking you dinner.
Maybe you've got a candle nearby.
Simply opening up to the present moment with all of our senses.
Coming into contact with what can be felt through the body.
Perhaps even noticing if there's a particular taste that can be felt in the mouth.
And feeling as well the texture of your clothes on your skin,
The temperature of air.
Noticing when the mind has wandered and gently guiding it back to the body,
Expanding your awareness to include the entire body and anything that can be felt from the top of your head,
Down the backside of the body,
The front side,
All the way to the bottoms of your feet.
And now my dear friend,
Let's close our practice with a little bit of mindful movement.
You can keep your eyes closed as you roll the neck from side to side,
Drop the chin to the chest,
Lift it up to the ceiling.
And when you're ready,
You may gently lift the eyelids again and take a big long satisfying stretch with your hands reaching all the way up to the sky.
Beautiful.
Thank you so much for choosing to practice today.
Have a wonderful rest of your day my friends and I'll see you again very soon.
