Hi,
And welcome to this meditation practice.
Come into a comfortable position,
Either seated or lying down,
Alert yet relaxed.
Keeping your spine in straight alignment and tucking your chin just a bit to lengthen your spine.
Roll your shoulders slightly back to open up your chest and then allow your shoulders to drop away from your ears.
Rest your hands in your lap or at your sides.
And when you're ready,
Close your eyes or let your gaze be soft.
Let's begin by taking two or three grounding breaths at your own pace.
If it feels right to you,
Inhale to a count of three and exhale to a count of five.
If this isn't comfortable for you,
That's okay.
Just take a few deep breaths here in and out of your nose.
Take a moment here to welcome yourself to this practice and perhaps set an intention to care for the mind.
Notice how you're feeling and notice what it feels like just to be still in this moment.
As you continue to breathe naturally here,
Liken each breath to an anchor that helps you to land in the here and now.
With each inhale,
Notice where the breath goes as it enters your body.
And with each exhale,
Notice as the air leaves your body.
Take a moment here to scan your body from the top of your head to the tips of your toes,
Checking in with the jaw and shoulders,
Making sure your shoulders are relaxed and away from your ears.
And see if you can relax your arms,
Hands,
Fingers,
Letting them be heavy in your lap or at your sides.
Notice your chest,
Your stomach,
Hips,
And legs.
And see if you can allow them to become heavier with relaxation,
Feeling the support of the surface beneath you holding you in this space.
Now,
Bring your attention to your head.
Without delving into thoughts,
Notice how your head feels.
Is there a part of your head that caused your attention the most?
Do you notice heaviness or lightness,
Warmth or coolness?
Just take a few moments here to notice whatever you can notice about the actual physical sensations within your head.
You might notice tense muscles,
Maybe in your forehead or through the eyes or your jaw.
If you can,
See what it's like to breathe into and soften this tension.
The brain does so much for us.
Among other tasks,
It takes in,
Processes,
Analyzes,
And stores heaps of information.
Sometimes it absorbs too much and analyzes too much,
Which can leave us feeling stressed and tired.
So for the next few moments,
Give your thinking mind permission to simply be.
If thoughts arise,
There's no need to judge them.
Instead,
See if you can offer these thoughts your loving kindness,
And then come back to simply being.
It's the thinking mind's nature to think.
You don't need to fight this.
Instead,
Offer your thoughts your love,
And then come back again and again to awareness of the physical sensations of the head.
See if you can notice if they change over time.
Be mindful of any tension that may come back into the muscles in your forehead or jaw,
And soften them again gently,
Letting go a little more with each exhale.
Given that our thinking mind does so much for us,
Let's take a moment here to open up to offering a gratitude.
Thank your mind for all that it does to support you.
For the next minute,
We'll sit in silence to give your thinking mind permission to just be.
See if you can let all tension melt away.
And if you become distracted during this time,
Offer your thoughts some loving kindness and return to your breath.
Now bring your awareness back to my voice and your body seated here.
Take a moment to check in and notice how you're feeling.
Bring your hands together in front of your heart and bow your head gently.
Thank you for taking this time to tend with kindness to your thinking mind.
This practice is here for you anytime you need to return to it.
Have a beautiful day.
Namaste.
