Hello and welcome to this guided meditation for inner peace.
Find a comfortable position,
Whether that's seated or lying down.
However you choose,
Make sure your spine is upright but not rigid.
If you are lying down,
Let your body feel fully supported by the surface beneath you.
Now gently close your eyes or soften your gaze.
Take a slow breath in through your nose and a steady breath out through your mouth.
Again,
Inhale through the nose,
Filling the lungs completely.
Exhale slowly,
Emptying the body of air.
Let the breath return to its natural rhythm.
Maybe you repeat to yourself that there is nowhere else you need to be in right now and that there's nothing else that you need to attend to or to solve for the next few minutes.
Your only responsibility is to be here,
To focus on your breath.
Notice the contact points between your body and the ground.
Feel the weight of your body being held.
Allow gravity to support you so that you can soften through the edges.
And just become aware of the simple fact that you are breathing.
That the body knows how to breathe without your effort.
The air enters and then it leaves.
Give yourself permission to fully arrive in this moment.
Now gently ask yourself,
What is the state of my inner world right now?
What is the state of my inner world right now?
Now without trying to change anything,
Simply observe what arises.
Are there thoughts moving quickly?
Is there tension in the body?
Is there restlessness,
Fatigue or calm?
Inner peace doesn't mean the absence of activity.
It only means that you begin to become aware of it.
And so whatever you notice,
Just let it be there.
Shift your attention back to the breath.
As you inhale,
Imagine you're creating a little more space inside your chest.
As you exhale,
Allow the shoulders to soften down.
Inhale,
Breathe in space.
And exhale,
Breathe out.
Try to soften.
Notice whenever the thoughts arise and see if you can stop yourself from following them or finishing them.
Simply recognize that thinking is happening and then return to the breath.
Now begin to scan through the body slowly.
Bring awareness to your forehead.
If it feels tight,
Let it smooth.
Bring awareness to your jaw.
If it's clenched,
Unclench it.
Let the tongue rest softly in the mouth.
Move down to the neck and shoulders.
Allow them to drop a few millimeters.
Notice the chest rising and falling.
Notice the belly moving with the breath.
There is no need to control it.
There's no need to hold it.
There's no need to force it.
Now move awareness to the hips,
The legs and the feet.
If there is tension anywhere,
Breathe into that area.
Wherever you are in the body,
See if you can use the inhales to send your attention to the sensations and the exhales to invite a little sense of release.
Inner peace is something that we uncover beneath the surface agitation of thoughts.
Also beneath the daily roles that you play.
There is always this underlying yet steady presence that you just cannot manufacture.
And even right now,
See if you can sense the part of you that is aware of everything.
The part of you that is aware of the breath and notices the breath,
That notices the thoughts,
And the sensations.
Tune into that awareness itself.
That is inner peace.
It is already peaceful in there.
It doesn't rush.
It doesn't argue.
All it does is observe.
If there is something to take away with you today,
Is that peace grows when we stop resisting our experience.
So if something feels unsettled inside of you,
You can always try on the inhale saying,
This is here.
And on the exhale saying,
And that is okay.
The more you fight your thoughts,
The more inner conflict you will create.
The more you accept your thoughts,
The more space you create.
So remember,
This is here and that is okay.
Now widen your awareness to include the whole body breathing.
Feel yourself as one complete field of sensation.
The breath moving,
The body resting,
The mind thinking,
And the awareness holding it all.
Imagine your awareness expanding just slightly beyond the edges of your body.
As if there is a quiet field of stillness around you.
And once you've tuned into that,
You can rest here.
Bring one hand to your heart or your belly if that feels comfortable.
And take a slightly deeper breath in.
And a slow breath out.
Recognize that peace is not something external,
Not something outside of you.
It is a capacity within you.
And yet at times it might feel very distant or covered by an insane amount of stress.
But it is never gone.
You can always return to it by pausing,
By breathing,
By allowing.
Begin to deepen your breath slightly.
Wiggle the fingers and toes.
Notice the space around you.
When you are ready,
Gently open your eyes.
Keep practicing returning to the inner peace inside of you.
Now that you already know the way back.
Thank you so much for trusting me to guide you through this meditation today.
I hope to see you in the next one.
Namaste.
