Welcome to your meditation.
My name is Kristin Penhall and I am so honored to be your guide today.
Now before we get started,
Let's take some gentle movements here,
Just to prepare our body for relaxation and the stillness that comes with meditation.
So this may look like doing some circles with the neck.
Maybe you do a seated twist.
You may find that it's useful to plant the hands behind the back and plant the feet on the ground so the knees are bent and they're spaced further than your hip with distance apart.
And then just one by one move the knees inward.
So we're kind of doing windshield wipers here.
I find that that can be really helpful to the hips and lower back.
Then taking any last little movements that you feel you need to before we get ready here.
Now for this particular meditation,
You can either be laying down in Shavasana on the ground or you can be seated because the meditation isn't as long today.
Seated is possibly an achievable goal for you today.
I know that sometimes people can fall asleep if they're laying down or there can be a discomfort in seated for long periods of time.
So knowing that today is going to be a shorter meditation,
I encourage you if you tend to fall asleep to maybe try Shavasana today knowing that you won't have to stay awake for a long time.
And if seated,
If you're working towards being in seated longer,
Maybe today is the day to try being in seated.
Whichever posture you're choosing,
Just making sure that you have the props and tools to support you in this practice.
So that may look like a blanket or a bolster or pillow.
For seated,
Sometimes it's nice to have a pillow underneath the hips.
And Shavasana,
It can be nice to have it underneath the knees.
And when you're ready,
If it's comfortable,
Just closing the eyes.
Taking a deep inhale here,
Let's exhale with a sigh.
Releasing some of the tension,
Just taking a really deep inhale and again exhaling with a sigh.
And now with our eyes closed,
Bring your awareness to the body and just see,
Is there anything that feels a little bit sticky that maybe needs a little bit more movement before we settle?
Is there anything that needs to be adjusted?
Maybe we want to change our position?
Just doing that now.
And now turning inward,
Let's follow our breath.
Feeling the cool temperature of the air on the inhale.
And the warmth around the nostril with the exhale.
And then following the breath down into the lungs.
Feeling the rib cage expand.
Expanding with each deep inhale.
And that nice surrender with the exhale.
As it just naturally releases.
Just following the natural movement of the breath.
And moving more internally here,
Bring your awareness to your third eye,
The space between your eyebrows.
And through your third eye,
You see yourself just as you are,
But you're on this beautiful wooden deck.
You're surrounded by dark,
Crisp,
Evergreen trees that are so tall they seem magical.
There's a cool crispness to the air.
Not enough that you're cold,
But a chill that keeps you alert and invigorated.
Beyond the first few trees,
You see a thick white and silver fog.
The rows and rows of trees eventually start to dissolve into this fog.
You watch the fog move in between and through the needles in the trees.
You can't fully see what's in front of you,
But you trust that it is safe.
Just like in life,
We don't always know what's in front of us,
But we can trust that we are safe and held.
In the distance,
You can hear the sound of glacier waters feeding into the river.
As the sun begins to lift,
So does the fog.
You can now see an abundance of trees,
And beyond the trees you can see the strong,
Tall,
Beautiful mountains.
The sun starts to warm your skin.
You feel peaceful here.
You feel completely safe and held here.
Just noticing the beauty of everything around you.
How the sun beams through the trees,
The birds fly between the trees.
Just noticing how everything is interacting with each other,
How everything belongs,
Including you.
And then coming into the body with our eyes closed,
Take a deep inhale here.
And when you're ready,
Take your hands and rub them together to create some warmth.
And then just placing them gently over the eyes,
Knowing that that peaceful feeling that we have,
This belonging,
Is always there.
We always belong and we are always safe.
And then taking the hands and rubbing them together again,
Creating some warmth.
Think of something that you are grateful for.
And when you're ready,
Just placing the hands over the heart,
Sealing in that gratitude.
May we have open hearts,
Open minds,
And open eyes.
Thank you so much for joining me in this practice today.
Namaste.
