Hi,
Welcome to this meditation on relaxing back into this moment,
Relaxing back into presence.
So for this meditation today,
You can either be seated on a chair,
On the floor,
On your sofa or bed,
Whatever is comfortable.
If you want some support for your back,
Feel free to lean against the wall or to lean against the back of your chair.
If you prefer to lay down on your back,
Of course you can do that as well.
Just know that laying down has the temptation of falling asleep.
So try your best to stay awake as we're going through this practice.
But first just take a moment if you want to wiggle a little bit around side to side or just take a moment to get a little more comfortable,
A little more relaxed.
And then you can allow your eyes to either close or maybe find a soft gaze towards the floor in front of you or up towards the ceiling.
And then gently bring your attention to your breath and take a moment to collect,
To settle and to let yourself arrive fully right here,
Right now in this moment in time.
If you're sitting,
Feel your bottom and the seat underneath you.
Maybe your feet are touching the floor.
If you're laying down,
Feel your back,
The back of your heels,
Shoulder blades,
Back of your head on the ground.
This part of arriving,
Remind yourself what matters to you.
What brings you to practice?
What brings you to meditation practice today?
And seeing your own sincerity,
What your intention is for being here today.
And it doesn't have to be anything complex or big or complicated.
It can be very simple.
Like you just wanted to get away from your computer,
From your kids,
From your job,
Which just connect with your breath for a few moments,
Whatever it is,
Sensing your own sincerity about your intention.
And we truly arrive in presence by relaxing back,
Relaxing back,
There is such a forward momentum to our lives,
To our mind and our energy.
So I like to invite you to sense the possibility of relaxing back by scanning through your body from top to bottom and just sense what places in you want to let go a little right now.
Where is there tightness or tension that might naturally release?
Just by bringing your awareness there so you can relax back to more openness and to more ease.
As you scan your body,
You might sense the shoulders because that's a very common and habitual place of tensing when we're on our way somewhere else.
Just sense that there can be a natural way of letting whatever knots or tightness that's there float in awareness,
Untangle,
Melt like ice to water,
Relaxing back.
You might consciously soften the hands and the fingers and let those micro muscles of tightness just soften and open so you can relax back from the inside out and feel the aliveness and the space inside the hands.
Let there be an openness to the chest,
Feeling the heart area softening,
Relaxing,
Opening up.
So whatever tension or anxiety is there can be held in a larger space that you can relax back and have a more spacious presence in that region,
More spacious presence in your heart area.
Listening,
Softening in the belly,
Widening the lens and sensing this whole body,
This energy body,
This field of sensations,
Relaxing back and letting everything happen just as it is.
Nothing to change,
Nothing to fix,
Nothing to analyze.
Let the senses be awake so that in this relaxed openness you even include the sounds that you can hear,
The changing sensations,
Relaxing back and just listening to and feeling the whole moment.
You'll notice before too long that the mind wanders,
Retightens,
Recontracts into thought forms and that's just an invitation for you to relax back again.
Let's open the attention and listen to the sounds that are here.
You can re-relax in the body when you notice tightness,
Softening the shoulders,
Feel the life that is there.
Softening the hands,
Relaxing,
Opening the heart,
Relaxing back to rest in the awareness that includes this whole changing flow of sounds and sensations,
Feelings,
Emotions,
Relaxing back again and again into presence.
No matter how far the mind has wandered,
You can relax back in any moment.
This is true in your meditation and also through daily life.
Just to notice where you've been and re-relax,
Re-open the attention to the aliveness that's right here.
Listening from the head to the heart,
Listening,
Feeling the moment.
Explore for yourself what it means to relax back into reality,
Relax back into presence and see if it's possible in this process of relaxing back to bring in a very gentle,
Soft and kind quality of the heart to the life that's here.
Maybe even reflecting on as you're about to connect back with the world around you.
Can you find in this process of relaxing back,
Can you bring with you that very gentle and kind sense in the heart to whatever you find as you connect with people and life around you.
Gently bring your attention back to your breathing and start to deepen your breath.
Reopen the inhales and exhales a little longer,
A little deeper.
Start to bring gentle movements into your fingers and toes,
Moving the hands and the feet a little bit.
Come back and wake your body up,
Coming back into the physical form.
Whenever you're ready,
Can allow your eyes to open.
Thank you very much for joining me for this practice today.
I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day.
Namaste.
