Welcome to another guided meditation by mindful minutes.
Today we'll focus on the meditation of letting go.
Take a few seconds to get comfortable.
Make sure you feel rested,
But alert.
Feel the weight of your body on the chair or the cushion or the bed.
And make sure your spine is straight and chin is slightly down.
And gently bring your attention to your breathing.
Focus on the pace of your breathing,
On the depth of your breathing.
And notice the spaces between the inhale and the exhale.
Just take a moment to breathe like normal.
How do you notice your breathing?
Is it deep and slow?
Is it fast and shallow?
If you could assign a color to your breathing,
What color would it be?
Now let's take a deep breath and inhale.
Hold it for the count of two and exhale.
Let's do that one more time.
Inhale.
Hold it for the count of two and exhale.
Let your breathing return back to its normal pace.
It may take a few breaths,
But let your breathing settle back.
And now notice the quality,
The pace,
And the depth of your breathing.
Just like catching fireflies on a warm summer night,
We're going to catch our thoughts.
As you are sitting and breathing,
It is inevitable that your mind will wander,
And that's perfectly okay.
Thoughts will wander in like fireflies.
On a summer night,
Use your mind to capture one of those thoughts.
Gently cup the thought in your hands.
Be careful not to hurt the firefly.
That is not our intent.
You simply want to hold it and observe the light that it gives off.
What thought have you captured?
What quality is the light?
It is a bright and happy light,
Or is it a bit dim?
Imagine holding your thought in your cupped hands as you would hold a firefly on a warm summer night.
And as you hold that thought in your hands,
I'd like you to take a deep breath and hold it.
And as you exhale,
Open your hands and let the firefly go.
Let it return back to the night sky.
And let your breathing return back to its normal pace.
Let us focus again on our breathing.
And as you're breathing,
It's inevitable that other thoughts will enter your mind,
Just like fireflies on a warm summer night.
See the thoughts in the night sky twirling about,
Dancing in the air,
And focus your attention on one of those thoughts.
Gently hold that thought in your hands,
Just like you would hold a firefly.
Notice the glow,
The radiance that it gives off naturally.
Notice if the glow is strong and warm,
Or is it soft and dim?
And I'd like you to take a deep breath,
Hold it,
And as you let go,
Imagine opening your hands and letting that firefly return back to the night sky.
And let your breathing return back to its normal pace.
You can practice this at any time.
When you are sitting and waiting,
Before going to bed at night,
Or first thing when you wake up early in the morning,
Slowly wiggle your fingers and your toes.
Bring your attention back to the environment around you.
And when you are ready,
Gently open your eyes.
Before you begin on the rest of your day,
Just take a moment and appreciate the state of your mind.
Thank you for joining me,
And many blessings.
