Hi everyone.
Welcome.
I'm so glad that you made it tonight.
If we haven't met before,
My name is Amber and I'm the founder of a virtual meditation studio where I teach people how to manage their stress and anxiety with mindfulness and meditation.
And the practice that I have for you tonight is a really lovely one.
It'll be about 20 minutes long and I hope that when you leave tonight you'll feel just a little more calm and grounded as you transition from your weekend into your work week.
So if you're ready,
Let's get started by coming to a comfortable seated position,
Perhaps finding some symmetry in the left and right sides of the body as much as possible today.
Feel the gentle pressure of your feet against the ground.
Notice the feeling of your thighs and sit bones pressing down against your seat underneath you.
The spine is nice and long.
Hands resting gently in your lap or by your sides.
And just checking that your shoulders are relaxed and settled down and back.
The muscles of the jaw are relaxed.
And right here,
As things start to settle,
Maybe making a very intentional decision to drop in.
I know it can be tempting sometimes,
Especially if we're used to being busy and productive,
To always stay mentally connected to the external world,
Thinking about things that are going on outside of your immediate awareness.
But your challenge tonight is to allow yourself to let go.
Perhaps even acknowledging or thanking the mind for its service,
For all of its efforts.
And for now,
We'll just give ourselves permission to disconnect so that we can give our full attention to connecting with ourselves.
Feeling the breath enter and exit through the nose,
Muscles of the face relax,
Shoulders relax,
Muscles of the face relax,
Shoulders relax,
The seat and the thighs heavy,
Feet heavy.
And as you start the process of settling and you continue to breathe,
Can you imagine a warm golden light slowly starting to spread over the body?
So we're turning our process of relaxation into a visualization exercise.
Perhaps starting from the top of the head in slow motion,
Imagining this feeling of peace and warmth start to melt down over your head,
The front and the back and the sides.
And imagining tension melting away from the shoulders,
This warm golden light spreading like sunshine in slow motion from the top of your head and moving its way down towards the toes.
And everywhere this warm golden light touches,
Can you imagine any stress or tension gradually melting away,
Leaving behind a simple feeling of presence?
Feel the eyebrows relax,
Feel any stress dissolving away,
The cheeks,
The jaw,
And the tongue,
Allowing the muscles to rest,
Allowing the light to flow down over the neck,
The left shoulder relaxing,
Settling down and back,
And the right shoulder next,
The front of the chest,
Gently rising and falling,
And the back where the spine is long and straight,
Feeling where it connects to the support of the chair,
And continuing downwards to the gentle curve of the mid and lower back,
The sides of the body,
From the armpits to the hip bones,
Left and right sides,
And the front of the torso,
The lower ribs,
The stomach,
Lower stomach.
Perhaps this is a place where you can sense the breath,
And very intentionally,
Holding whatever is here in your awareness,
And as you watch,
Perhaps you can allow any stress or tension to melt away.
And of course,
As is very natural,
Thoughts will likely start to pop up and try to draw your attention away.
And when you notice this happening,
Can you bring the attention back to the present moment,
Allowing it to rest on any sensations you may be feeling?
You may be feeling.
And then continue to imagine this warm,
Golden light flowing down over your legs and lap,
In the seat,
In the backs of the legs,
In the knees,
The calves,
And finally,
The ankles,
The feet,
And the toes.
Visualizing any and all tension leaving the body and dissolving into the earth.
And once this light has totally enveloped your body,
See if you can just rest here in this place.
You don't need to make any effort or work hard to stay in this state of presence.
You can simply just be.
And now,
As we come a bit closer to the end of this meditation,
If you wish,
You may open your eyes.
And before we move on,
You might just take a moment to cast your gaze around your environment,
The room where you are,
Giving yourself a moment to transition noticing the walls around you,
The windows,
The way the light is cast around the room,
And perhaps opening to any sounds that you can hear as well,
Whether they're coming from nearby or further away.
And gradually,
We can wake up the body again by wiggling the fingers and the toes,
Maybe warming them up again.
And take as much time as you need.
Thank you so much for meditating with me today.
I hope you'll come back again next week.
We meet same time,
Same place,
Every Sunday at 5 p.
M.
Pacific time.
I hope you have a lovely rest of your evening,
And I'll see you again next time.
