Hello,
My dear friend.
It's so good to see you.
If we haven't met before,
My name is Amber,
And I teach people how to meditate and use mindfulness to manage your stress and anxiety.
Today's practice will help us come into the present moment and set our intentions for the week ahead.
We actually had a great discussion in the Become Club office hours this week about intentions and how they're different from goals.
And the key difference is that when you set an intention,
Your focus is on your quality of being as you do something,
Rather than having a strong attachment to any one specific outcome.
Maybe your intention this week is to work at a consistent and sustainable pace,
Or maybe you wanna be present with each moment as it comes,
Or to trust that things will work out.
And going into our week with a clear,
Grounded intention can help us relax and let go of some of the anticipatory anxiety that we might be feeling.
So when you're ready,
Go ahead and find your comfortable position for today.
Maybe today that's sitting cross-legged or sitting in a seat with your knees at 90 degrees.
And if your feet are on the ground,
Make sure that they are in a wide enough stance so that your hips are comfortable.
And go ahead and rest your hands in your lap or at your sides.
And just stop everything you have going on for a moment to arrive here.
This is your time to put your pencils down,
Close your notebook,
And just stop here with me for a moment.
You can close the eyes whenever you're ready or lower them to a soft gaze.
And start to feel the breath in your nose.
Notice how the chest rises as you inhale,
And falls as you exhale.
Notice the sides of the body expanding outwards,
Side to side.
Watch how it settles back inwards,
Feeling the entire barrel of the chest.
Everything slowly expanding all at once on your inhale.
In the front,
In the back,
And the left and right sides of the body.
And then feeling them contracting in again in a gentle wave on your exhale.
Taking your time and continuing to breathe into all dimensions of your body.
And just taking a moment to reflect on your intention for this week.
Consider the wording of this intention,
Maybe repeating it to yourself once or twice.
How would you like to show up this week?
How will the quality of your presence be?
Perhaps defining for yourself the particular meaning of this intention for you.
And what would it look like to live by this intention this week?
And why is that important to you?
And together we'll take a nice,
Deep,
Rinsing breath here.
Inhale,
Something good.
And exhale,
Go ahead and release.
And once more,
If that would feel good.
And now let your breath return to its natural rhythm.
Feel the tension ever so slowly start to leave the body.
Face,
Shoulders,
Hips,
All relax.
Feeling any sensations at the back and top of the head.
Sensing the length of the spine in the back of the body.
The weight of the legs against the chair or bed.
And the feeling of the ground against your feet.
And see if you can even let your toes be relaxed.
Extending your awareness to the sensations on your skin.
Strong ones and subtle ones.
Present with whatever can be felt in the body at this moment.
Allowing your mind to let go of anything that isn't currently here.
And expanding your awareness to include your entire current experience.
The breath,
Whether it's shallow or deep,
Fast or slow.
Observing its gentle cadence.
Any sounds that you might be able to hear around you.
Sounds coming from nearby or farther away.
Any light or shadow which is making its way through your eyelids.
And this feeling of the body at rest.
And as we start to come to the end of today's meditation,
Returning once more to the intention you set for this week.
Allowing yourself to really rest your heart on this intention.
Knowing that you can always come back to it throughout the week.
Knowing that how we do things,
How we show up,
Even if nothing else changes,
It matters.
All right,
My dear friends,
As you're ready,
Start to notice the breath again.
Start to warm up the body with a little bit of movement.
And take your time to open your eyes and make your transition back to us.
Back to us.
All right,
Have a wonderful rest of your day and I'll see you again very soon.
