Hello,
My name is Myrthe and I welcome you to this meditation for presence.
You can find a comfortable seat,
Sitting up nice and tall with your spine erect and your shoulders rolled back and down.
You can close your eyes and rest your hands just lightly onto your legs.
And then begin by taking a few big breaths in and out.
Inhaling into your belly and then into your chest.
And exhaling,
Maybe even through the mouth,
Just gently letting it go with a sigh.
Again,
Deep breath into your belly,
Your chest,
And exhale,
Let go.
Once more,
Deep breath in and deep breath out.
Now bring your awareness in towards your body,
Allowing your breath to flow naturally.
Just a little deeper and slower straight away,
Noticing any obvious areas of physical tension in the body.
And only by bringing your awareness towards these areas,
Can you gently release a little bit of that tension.
You're breathing naturally.
And just notice for yourself where your breath is easiest to feel.
This might be in your belly or in your chest,
Or maybe you feel it mostly in your nostrils.
Noticing the colder air coming in through the nostrils when you breathe in,
And slightly warmer air leaving the nostrils when you breathe out.
Wherever this spot is,
Just notice where the breath is easiest for you to feel.
And then take a few moments to bring your attention to the sensations in that specific area.
This is a very relaxed attention,
There's no need to force or control it.
Notice if you can actually receive the breath,
And allowing it to flow naturally through your body.
Feeling those very subtle sensations of the breath,
You keep relaxing your body.
Letting your breath be the place to come back to during this meditation,
Over and over again.
This is your anchor,
Your base for your attention,
Your feeling of presence.
And noticing where your attention is right now.
As a child,
Your mind has wandered off into thoughts and thinking.
Just know that that is normal.
Your mind is designed to think,
Designed to protect you.
All you need to do is to become aware of the fact that you're thinking.
That is enough.
Because once you notice that,
Just pause.
And then re-relax your body,
And re-open your attention to your breath.
So every time that happens,
Every time your mind wanders off,
You re-relax and re-open your attention.
You let this be a reminder that you can always start over.
It's okay.
You keep re-relaxing your body,
Feeling all the sensations of aliveness in your body.
Returning to the in and out flow of your breath,
Over and over again.
And without any judgment,
They keep arriving back into the present moment,
Remembering that your thoughts are not the enemy.
You don't have to clear your mind from thoughts completely.
You only have to recognize that these thoughts are there.
Instead of getting lost in your own story.
It's a new opportunity every single time to come back into the present moment.
And you fully immerse your entire awareness into the in and out flow of your breath.
Noticing how your body starts to relax more and more,
And how your mind follows along with that.
And you're fully here,
Fully relaxed,
And fully awake.
Take a deep breath in,
And a deep sigh out.
And once more,
Deep breath in,
Deep breath out.
With that feeling of presence in your body,
In this moment,
You start to arrive back into your space.
Becoming aware of the wider environment around you,
And very slowly you can start to open up your eyes.
Take your time.
You are fully here,
Fully relaxed,
And awake.
I thank you so much for joining this meditation,
And I hope to see you soon again.
