This is a meditation to help you transition out of your work mind at the end of your work day.
First,
If possible,
Physically leave your workspace and perform this meditation at another location even if that is only in another room.
If that is not possible,
Then face yourself away from your work area.
Then find a comfortable position,
Whether that is seated,
Standing,
Or laying down.
Close your eyes and take a deep breath in through your nose,
Filling your lungs,
And then exhale without any effort letting all of the air empty from your lungs.
Then take another deep breath in through your nose,
Filling your lungs,
Feeling the air go down into your belly,
And then release all of the air out from your lungs.
Then take one more deep breath in deeper than the others,
All the way in,
Hold it for just a moment,
And then exhale,
Opening your mouth,
Even letting a sound come out as you fully exhale.
As you now breathe naturally,
You may find unpleasant thoughts and feelings arising from your work day,
Such as thoughts and feelings relating to tasks that you didn't perform or didn't perform to your own satisfaction,
Thoughts and feelings relating to painful interactions that you experienced,
Or relating to a lack of energy or motivation.
And some or all of these may then trigger feelings of self judgment or dissatisfaction or irritation.
Begin by noticing where those feelings relating to your work day are arising in your body.
If there's more than one location,
Pick the area in your body where those feelings are predominant.
Take a deep breath in and feel like you are breathing in and absorbing that feeling of tension or irritation in that part of your body.
And then as you exhale,
Feel like you're breathing out the tension or other unpleasantness from that part of your body.
Take another deep breath in,
Again absorbing the feeling of tension,
Pain,
Compaction from that part of your body like you're absorbing it.
And then fully exhale that feeling out,
Releasing it.
And one more time,
Keeping your attention on that feeling in that specific part of your body.
Take a deep,
Deep breath in,
Feel like you are soaking up that feeling.
Feel your lungs and then completely exhale out,
Opening your mouth,
Even letting a sound out if that feels natural,
To release the tension from that part of your body.
And repeat this if you need to for other parts of your body that are holding feelings that accumulated during the day.
And now draw your attention to those lingering thoughts that may be arising in your mind about an unpleasant work experience from the day.
It might be a thought about an unfinished task.
Picture yourself standing by a gently flowing river.
On a warm day,
Just at the beginning of sunset.
Continue to draw your attention to that unpleasant thought,
But now starting to see it as if from a distance.
Not trying to analyze or fix the thought or the experience that the thought is about,
But simply noticing the thought from a distance.
That distance is gradually growing,
Slowly and gradually growing.
And as your distance from the thought grows,
See that the thought is shrinking in size,
Gradually shrinking in size,
Detached from you.
Continue to breathe naturally as that thought grows smaller and smaller,
Now so small that you can hold it in your hands,
Your hands stretched out in front of you.
And seeing and feeling and fully accepting this thought without judging it,
Without trying to fix or change it,
And also seeing and deeply feeling that this thought no longer has a hold over you.
And seeing and feeling that thought in your hand and experiencing that that thought is not you,
Gently and with great care,
Place that thought into the flow of the river and let it go.
Let the river's current take the thought downstream without any effort from you.
Continue to notice your natural breath as you watch the thought grow more and more distant and eventually disappear over the horizon.
And repeat this as needed for any other thoughts you have that are lingering from today.
You may also find thoughts and feelings arising about tasks that you did not complete today,
But which you must complete.
Those thoughts and feelings can be hard to let go of.
Begin by noticing where one of those feelings arises in your body.
And just as before,
Drawing your attention to that part of your body,
Breathe in deeply and fully to feel and accept that feeling in your body.
Soak it up and then fully breathe out to release all of the air from your lungs along with that feeling that you've absorbed.
Once again,
Fully breathe in that feeling of tension or irritation or heat or cold and breathe out to release it as you fully relax.
And one more time,
Keeping your attention focused on that part of your body where you're holding that feeling.
Fully breathe in deeper than the first two times,
Maybe even pausing after you've inhaled and then completely and fully exhale that feeling releasing from your body along with the air from your lungs.
And now draw your attention to one of those lingering thoughts that is arising in your mind about a task that remains unfinished.
You're still standing by that gently flowing river.
Continue to focus your attention on that thought about that unfinished work task.
Seeing it as it is from a distance,
Not trying to analyze or fix it.
Letting it be.
Not pushing it away.
Not holding it closer.
Not doing anything now except noticing it.
And now,
As you notice that thought,
Observing it from a distance and watching as that thought gradually shrinks in size.
Continue to breathe naturally as that thought grows smaller and smaller.
So small that you can hold it in your hand.
Seeing and feeling and fully accepting this thought and seeing that it is not you.
Gently and with great care place that thought high on the bank of the river where you know it will be safe.
Know and feel deeply that when you return to the river in the morning,
That thought and task will be there for you to pick up and attend to at a time of your own choosing.
And know and feel that it is safe to leave that thought and its task behind you for now.
As you continue to breathe naturally,
Envision yourself turning around your back now to the river and walk slowly and with complete decisiveness towards your home for the evening.
Take a final deep breath in,
Filling your lungs and with complete ease,
Exhaling.
Open your eyes and enjoy the rest of your day,
Your work now comfortably behind you.
