So just allowing your body to settle into a comfortable position,
Knowing that it's important to have a body that feels comfortable,
That you're as comfortable as possible as you settle in to meditate.
Having a body that feels loose and relaxed enables your mind to relax.
So coming in to a sense of stillness,
And as best as you can,
Just allowing your thoughts to settle.
Going ahead and taking three purposeful breaths,
And on the exhale,
Just working with the idea of releasing,
Releasing the out-breath,
Allowing it to travel out of your body,
Releasing any tightness or tension in your body,
And as best as you can,
Releasing any involuntary thoughts.
So when you feel ready,
Just going ahead and taking three purposeful breaths.
In this meditation,
We're going to work with sensations in the body,
So just allowing yourself to feel comfortable as we scan through different parts of our body,
Gathering up your attention and allowing it to settle on your feet,
Just bringing all your attention to your feet.
Maybe your feet are touching a surface and really paying attention to the contact point,
The tactile sensation of your feet against the surface,
Just noticing what's there and how it feels.
It's not about feeling anything in particular,
But just about whatever's there for you,
Whatever you notice,
Whatever sensations are there.
And now just allowing your attention to travel up to your knees and opening to whatever is here in this part of your body right now.
You may feel sensations or you may not feel much of anything,
Just allowing things to be however they are,
Whatever is there for you,
Being present with your body,
Being present with the sensations in your body.
And now just taking your attention and allowing it to settle on your lower back,
Noticing what's here in this part of your body.
As we scan through the body,
As we scan through the other parts of the body,
If you come across a place that feels tight or tense,
Knowing that you can use the breath as a way to loosen and soften,
So just taking a breath in and visualizing that breath traveling to the area that feels a little tighter tense and then allowing the breath to travel out.
So using the breath in the supportive way to help your body loosen and soften.
Can you feel ready just allowing your attention to travel up to your mid back,
Opening to whatever is here?
So often we are mindless of the sensations we feel in our body unless they feel extremely negative.
So right now we're just placing our attention on different areas of our body just to see what sensations are there and see how things feel.
When you feel ready,
Taking your attention and allowing it to travel up to your upper back and again just noticing and opening with a sense of curiosity to what's here for you right now.
Allowing your attention to settle on your shoulders,
Maybe even seeing if you can soften and loosen your shoulders.
Bringing your attention up to the area of your neck,
Maybe even taking your attention and allowing it to travel around the circumference of your neck and again we're just opening to whatever bodily sensations are there.
There may be tingling,
Vibration,
You may notice the temperature,
Whatever it is for you.
There's no right or wrong,
There's no way that things should be or have to be.
It's whatever you're feeling in your body right now,
However it is for you.
And when you feel ready,
Just taking your attention up to the area around your mouth,
Your jaw and your chin and again just seeing what's there.
We can hold tightness and tension in almost any area of our body.
So when you do feel that,
If you do,
Just seeing if you can soften and loosen,
Using the breath if it feels comfortable to support a sense of softening and loosening.
And now just allowing your attention to travel up to the bridge of your nose and then to your eyes and next to your forehead.
And when you feel ready,
Just letting go of this area in your mind's eye and bringing your attention to your hands,
Just seeing what sensations you notice in your hands.
Maybe your hands are touching a surface or maybe they're touching each other.
Bringing your attention to this tactile sensation of your hands touching surface,
Touching another part of your body,
Noticing the temperature and anything else that's there right now.
Maybe even allowing your attention to travel into the interior of your hands and seeing if there's anything you notice.
And now just feeling the whole sense of your body sitting here or lying here,
Just bringing your entire body into your mind's eye and noticing what's there for you right now.
And when you feel ready,
Just beginning to become aware of your breathing,
Just noticing that you are breathing,
Allowing your attention to settle wherever you feel the breath most comfortably.
You can allow your attention to be with the breath at your nose or mouth,
In the area of your abdomen,
Feeling the breath in your throat or in your chest,
Or just even feeling a whole sense of your body breathing,
Feeling the breath in this bigger way.
Whatever feels most comfortable for you,
Just allowing your awareness to settle with the breath in the place that feels most comfortable for you.
And we'll begin by working one breath at a time.
We can think of our breath kind of like waves in the ocean.
One wave comes and then another and then another.
No two waves are alike.
The same is true with the breath.
This breath is here right now.
It rises and passes.
And then we go on to the next breath.
So just paying attention,
Breath by breath,
Moment by moment.
Giving yourself permission to let go of the to-do lists,
To let go of thoughts about the future,
Reviewing the past,
And just placing your attention in the present moment with this breath right here.
Maybe just taking a moment to notice how your mind is right now.
Whether your mind feels busy and active with lots of thoughts,
Or more settled and calm,
There's no right way for your mind to be.
It's however things are happening right now.
Whether we have a busy mind or a more settled mind,
We just open to however things are.
Noticing where your attention is right now.
If it's with the breath,
Just continuing on to the next breath.
If your attention has traveled away,
Maybe just taking a moment to see where your mind has wandered.
And then in a non-judging way,
Just coming back and beginning again with the next breath.
Having a sense of gentleness with yourself with however things are happening right now.
A busy mind,
A settled mind,
Whatever it is.
Just opening to this moment right here,
The only moment we have to live in.
We can't live in the past or in the future,
But only in this moment right here.
So allowing yourself to be fully present.
Allowing yourself to open to however things are happening.
There's no such thing as a perfect meditation or a perfect meditator.
It's however things are happening for you right now.
Just being with what is.
Letting go of the need to control how things are.
And just opening to whatever your experience is with a sense of curiosity.
So just feeling the breath in your body.
There may be times when our attention has wandered for the last 100 breaths.
Knowing that that's okay.
It's really that moment when you wake up and notice that your attention has left the breath.
That's the moment that's important.
Because at that moment you have a choice to come back and start over.
To begin again.
Each breath is an opportunity to be present and to begin again.
So just allowing yourself to be with the breath right now in whatever way feels comfortable for you.
Just noticing where your mind is right now.
Seeing if you need to come back to the breath and begin again.
This practice of meditation is really just that,
It's a practice.
With every breath an opportunity to start over.
There's nowhere to get to.
Nowhere to be except right here in this moment.
With however things are happening for you.
Maybe just taking a moment to notice how your body is feeling right now.
Maybe seeing if you can loosen and soften even a little bit more.
If at any time you begin to feel sleepy,
Maybe opening your eyes for a moment.
Or taking a couple of deep breaths.
Allowing your body and your mind to fall awake.
Feeling a relaxed body,
But a mind that feels alert.
Beginning with this breath right here.
Just opening to however things are happening for you right now.
So if you care to,
Just allowing the breath to be there,
But to be in the background for a moment.
Taking a moment to think about something or someone that you feel grateful for.
Just allowing your thoughts to settle with this.
Knowing that cultivating a sense of gratitude can help us to reduce stress and to elevate feelings of joy.
So just allowing yourself to think about something that you feel grateful for.
Even if it's just the ability to take this breath right here.
And when you feel ready,
Just coming back to the feeling of the breath in your body.
So in a moment I'll ring the chimes to end this meditation.
And when I do,
Just knowing that you can take your time,
There's no rush to open your eyes.
Just opening them when you feel ready.
