Hey there,
Miss Chief Maker.
Let's wind down from the day by settling into a relaxed,
Comfortable position of your choice.
Be it curled up on the couch with a soothing cup of tea,
Lying down in bed bundled up in the duvet,
Whatever makes you feel good.
This time is for you,
So utilise it however you wish.
Let's relax,
Decompress and give some love to ourselves,
Letting go of our day and beginning to recharge for whatever tomorrow will bring us.
So take a slow,
Deep inhale and a slow,
Steady exhale.
And again,
Feel the rising and expanding of your chest as your lungs inflate with your inhale and the relaxing of your muscles as you release your slow,
Steady exhale.
Release the tension in your brows,
Your jaw,
Immerse yourself into cultivating relaxation.
Fill your body with fresh,
Clean air as you take your deep inhale.
And let go of your day with your soothing,
Steady exhale.
And again,
Welcome in the new air with your inhale.
Let it fill every inch of your body and release your day along with your exhale.
Once more,
Taking the deepest inhale you've done thus far and with a comforting sigh,
Let go of the last of your day with your soothing exhale.
Feel how supported you are by the bed or couch you're snuggled up on.
Accept and embrace the knowledge that no matter how your day turned out today,
You're here,
Being present,
Giving love and empowerment to yourself.
Sometimes the hardest part of meditation is showing up,
But you've done it.
You're here.
So no matter what's happened or what you think may happen,
Set aside your thoughts for now.
Set aside any fears,
Anxiety,
Stresses or to-dos.
There is a time and a place for them,
But not here.
Not in this time you are focusing on you.
So if there are any pesky emotions or thoughts that are restraining you from being fully present with yourself in this moment,
Or at any moment throughout the rest of this meditation,
Simply acknowledge their presence and kindly affirm that you notice them and you will come back to them,
But not right now.
Right now,
You want to relax,
To reset,
To wind down from the day.
These thoughts and emotions can wait.
Right now,
You just want to be present.
Often we move through our day so quickly,
We don't find ourselves with many opportunities to simply just be in the moment,
Or to notice,
Appreciate and savour ourselves,
Our day or our life.
This meditation is your gift to yourself to do so.
A gift of time in which you get to experience yourself and your life for what it is.
Not what it should be,
Not what it will be,
Not what it was,
But for what it is.
So I want you to take a moment right now to think of one thing you are grateful for today.
It doesn't have to be anything significant.
It could be something as wholesomely simple as that comforting first sip of coffee in the morning.
Or maybe your favourite song was played on the radio.
Allow yourself to open up to the possibilities for gratitude for your day.
Even if it felt like a day from hell,
See if you can notice somewhere amongst that chaos,
One simple,
One small thing that can inspire appreciation.
When you have your moment,
I want you to hold it brightly in your mind.
Let it replay,
Let the feelings of appreciation for this moment wash over you as you take in a deep inhale.
And give thanks for this blessed moment of your day,
No matter how brief or seemingly insignificant,
With a slow,
Comforting exhale.
Take two more breaths like this,
Letting those feelings of thankfulness fill you with your inhales.
Letting yourself be nourished by this simple moment of positivity,
And releasing that love back out into the world with your exhales.
Then,
Come to stillness,
Your breath returning to its natural rhythm as you turn your attention to pondering this next question.
What is one thing you did well today?
Again,
It doesn't have to be anything profound.
You could have remembered to eat lunch today,
Or have taken a deep breath instead of jumping to anger or anxiety over something.
Maybe it's just taking the time to do this meditation for yourself.
But when you have your moment,
Take a deep inhale in,
Holding that thought,
That reason brightly in your mind.
Then allow this feel-good thought to wash over you as your body relaxes with your exhale.
Twice more,
Inhaling deeply,
Filling yourself with this reason,
This moment of appreciation for yourself,
And allowing this appreciation to wash over every single inch of your body with your relaxing exhale.
Then come to stillness,
Your breath returning to its natural rhythm.
Savor the knowledge that no matter how your day has turned out,
For good or for bad,
You have things to be appreciative of,
To be grateful for.
Sometimes we unknowingly block ourselves from finding appreciation in our days,
Our lives and ourselves,
Thinking our reasons need to be profound,
That they need to be notable or life-changing in order to feel some kind of gratitude.
But gratitude can be found in even the most smallest or seemingly insignificant of things,
Things that often go by unnoticed as we dash through our days.
And it's by taking time like this to stop and to notice,
Can we come to the realization that if we stop and smell the roses,
So to speak,
We can actually find lots of things that gift our lives with moments of appreciation.
If only we take the time to notice,
To be present.
So to wrap up our meditation this evening,
The last little thing I want you to do is to consider one thing you are grateful for about doing this meditation.
Maybe it's for carving out some time for yourself.
Maybe this meditation symbolizes a healthy commitment that you're honoring and sticking to.
Or maybe it's simply just being proud and thankful for getting through it.
Whatever your reason,
When you have it,
Again,
Hold it brightly in your mind with your deep inhale.
And allowing this appreciation to wash over every inch of yourself with your exhale.
Twice more.
Welcome in the appreciative sensations that want to arise from this thought.
Let them into your heart,
Your being.
Then,
Take one final deep inhale,
The deepest one you have throughout this entire meditation.
And with your exhale,
Let go of everything.
Release yourself to complete relaxation,
Letting out a loud,
Contented sigh.
Your body sinking deeper into the bed or the couch as you bask in this beautiful moment you've cultivated for yourself.
From my heart to yours,
Thank you for gifting yourself this time and for joining me in this meditation to wind down from the day.
I hope you have a wonderful rest of your evening.
Namaste.
