Hello and welcome to today's practice.
My name is Nico and I will be guiding you through this meditation.
You might want to turn your devices on silent with no vibration or turn off notifications altogether.
Get comfortable,
Ideally with your lower back supported and close your eyes.
You can position your hands wherever it feels more comfortable,
Reminding yourself to let go of any expectations,
Thoughts arising are a natural part of this process,
So when that happens,
Let it happen.
I invite you now to simply breathe in and out at your natural pace for the next little while.
Extending now the exhales a little,
Relaxing fully,
Breathing in through your nose,
Letting your lower belly expand and breathing slowly out through your nose.
Repeat by taking another deep breath in through your nose and a slower exhale.
Keep going at your own pace while you keep listening to my voice,
Simply keeping the exhales longer than the inhales.
Effortless meditation is a simple way of meditating where we let go of expectations and pressures.
It works by resting our awareness on an anchor.
Today you will be using different types of anchor.
An anchor can be anything that we rest our awareness on.
For today's journey within yourself it will be your breath,
Followed by a body scan and a natural immersion,
Ending with an effortless segment,
Resting your awareness on sounds.
When noticing that your mind begins to wander,
Rest assured that this is meant to happen.
When it feels right to do so,
Gently rest your awareness back on your anchor.
Thoughts are a fundamental part of the meditation process.
Keep maintaining this breath pattern for a bit longer by simply ensuring that your exhales are slightly longer than your inhales.
Keeping your eyes closed and returning your breath to its natural rhythm,
I invite you to rest your awareness inwards,
Beginning to scan your body with your mind.
Let's begin by resting your awareness on your feet,
Noticing the material in contact with the bottom of your feet,
Noticing without judgment the little things,
The roughness of the socks if you are wearing any,
The stiffness of the sole,
Are your feet cold or they feel nice and cozy.
At times when scanning a specific part of the body,
It can feel like a tingle or a warm feeling.
If this happened,
Let it happen.
Perhaps you don't feel anything at all and that's fine too.
Simply allow yourself to accept not feeling anything.
When you feel ready at your own pace,
Move your awareness onto your legs,
Including calves,
Knees and thighs,
Observing any changes and allowing your body to slowly relax.
If possible,
Let your Achilles comfortably drop and allow any tension within your legs to dissipate.
No sensation is permanent.
Let yourself observe and allow every feeling to come and go and circulate within yourself.
Moving on onto the torso,
This area would likely be in contact with either a chair or another piece of furniture.
How does it feel?
Take a deep breath if you like and sink further in your seat.
Our hips carry a lot of tension,
Especially the pelvic area.
It might feel beneficial to try relax these joints even further.
Raising up within the torso,
Following your spine as a guide,
Vertebra by vertebra,
You should soon notice your awareness resting within your chest region,
Noticing your heartbeat,
Noticing any stiffness or any other sensation that might arise.
Some people,
When noticing the rhythm of their heartbeat,
They can almost feel a sense of warmth around that area.
If it feels enjoyable,
Let it linger.
At this stage of the body awareness exercise,
Let's move on to your arms and hands.
You might feel a tingle at the top of your tips.
If it feels nice,
You are welcome to rest your awareness on it.
Where are you resting your hands?
If on your belly,
Let them rise and fall as you breathe.
If they lay on a piece of furniture,
Try to analyze the material.
The texture could be rough or silky smooth.
Does the material feel hard or soft?
We are now around the head area,
Noticing how the jaws often carry a lot of tension.
I invite you now to slightly open your mouth as you breathe to let the muscles relax.
Taking in all the energy from this body scan,
Bringing your awareness from the top of your head down the bottom of your feet.
Feeling the rhythm moving gently through the body,
Exhaling fully and letting the whole body relax for a bit longer.
Remaining with your eyes closed while keeping your awareness inwards.
I invite you now to gently start to tune into your imagination,
Reminding yourself that during this practice,
Your mind will wander and that is meant to happen.
Simply choose each time to come home to this place by anchoring yourself in my voice.
Know that now,
At this moment,
In this meditation,
You can unwind and let go of pressures and expectations.
Everything that is meant for you is well on its way to you.
You find yourself at the beach,
You are standing bare feet facing the water.
It's the beginning of a new day,
That special time between night and day.
Just moments before the sunrise,
Where all of the uncertainties drift away as the sun at the horizon once again begins to rise.
There is a gentle breeze caressing your skin.
Every single hair on your body is moving in line with the wind.
Same as the sand,
Same as the waves,
Same as the bushes on the sand dunes behind you.
You are in tune with nature,
As you have been all along.
In another deep breath,
Breathing in that salty air,
Your feet are sunken into the sand.
The morning dew has dumped on the beach overnight.
How does it feel?
Have your bare feet got used to it?
Imagine sinking your feet in the sand even further.
I invite you to keep exploring this visualization.
As the sun rays begin to inundate your body,
You might experience a sense of warmth.
The goose bumps from the breeze earlier now begin to settle.
It is a new day,
This is the ever-changing nature of the universe.
As the sun shines and rises,
Its blanket of light extends even further.
The sand grains are revived,
Glittering with a pattern that only modern nature can explain.
Everything begins to become more vivid.
As you breathe again,
You can feel how the air crispness has also changed.
The beach is mostly quiet,
Most of the fauna is still resting.
A few seagulls are mewing as they elegantly scan the waters,
Looking for their morning meal.
There is no one else but you,
At the beach.
Every sound is fed away by the wind blowing and by the pleasant crashing of the waves onto the beach at shoreline.
This ethereal place belongs to you and you only.
Leaning up towards the sun before it hits with its blinding glory,
Its shape almost looks altered,
Like an oval.
The sun is now drenching your whole body.
Every sense is enhanced right now.
You are now admiring a completely different landscape to the one before.
You are feeling empowered.
This transition from the twilight is your safe space.
You can come back to it at every time by simply choosing to.
Thanking the beach for providing you a safe space just now,
I invite you now to remain in this relaxed state for a bit longer.
You will now notice a sound growing louder in the background.
I invite you now to hear it and to rest your awareness on one or a few sound part of the music,
Using them as your anchor for the rest of the meditation.
Letting your awareness drift away from the sound when it happens,
Compassionately accepting that not only this is okay,
But thoughts are an actual crucial part of the meditation process.
Without forcing it,
Gently come back to resting your awareness onto the music when this happens.
You might have familiarized yourself with the music by now.
Keep resting your awareness onto the music.
Mind and body are connected.
I invite you to let it all unfold and believe in whatever is happening,
Trusting the process.
The music will now begin to slowly fade away.
Keeping your eyes closed,
I invite you to release the anchor as the music comes to an end.
Allowing yourself to be in this space for a moment.
This is when the effects of the practice really sink in.
There is nothing to do here but rest.
I will tell you when it is time to move on.
You took the time for yourself today.
It is time now to recommence to move a little,
Letting go of every stiffness.
Gradually starting to deepen your breath.
Thank you for allowing me to guide you through this meditation.
The meditation has now ended.
In your own time,
You are welcome to reopen your eyes and enjoy the rest of your day.
