This is Erica Folin and welcome to today's meditation for cultivating calm and peace.
Take a moment and find your comfortable seat,
However that looks for you today.
And once you're in that seat,
Maybe wiggle around a little bit,
Making sure your hands are in a comfortable space,
That your legs and back are comfortable.
Maybe taking a moment here and with each breath,
Letting your shoulders strap down from your ears,
Letting your jaw ever so slightly start to relax,
Letting your gaze start to soften,
Maybe closing your eyes if that's comfortable for you today.
And together let's take a long,
Slow,
Deep breath in,
And gently let that go.
Taking another long,
Slow,
Deep breath in,
And exhaling audibly through your mouth.
Let's do that one more time.
Long,
Slow,
Deep breath in,
And big audible exhale.
Continuing to simply follow your breath,
Feeling the expansion of the inhale,
The contraction of the exhale,
Following your own cadence,
Your own speed,
Whatever works for you right now,
Knowing there's no place else you need to be,
Nothing else you need to do,
But simply follow your breath.
And maybe if it feels comfortable to you,
Bringing that breath all the way down to your belly,
Feeling your belly expand with the inhale,
Then releasing and softening into the exhale.
Now let's try using a mantra to deepen this meditation.
A mantra is simply a word or phrase that's silently repeated over and over again to help keep you in the present moment when your mind starts to drift.
And today we're going to use the words calm and peace,
And we're going to use them with our breath.
When we inhale,
Silently repeating to ourselves calm.
And when we exhale,
Silently repeating to ourselves peace.
Calm and peace.
Inhaling calm for ourselves.
Exhaling peace out to your loved ones and the world around you.
Inhale calm.
Exhale peace.
Inhale calm.
Exhale peace.
Now keep this going and know that if your mind wanders,
That's okay.
When you feel yourself drift,
Simply bring your awareness back to your breath,
Back to the mantra,
Calm and peace.
We're going to sit in silence for a few minutes as we continue with the breath and with the mantra,
Calm and peace.
When you hear the sound of my voice again,
Just sit gently with your eyes closed and begin.
Axis Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Stay with your eyes closed and you can let that mantra go and just breathe naturally.
And if it feels comfortable to you,
Place one hand on top of the other over your heart center.
And taking a moment here to send yourself some love,
Compassion,
And gratitude for showing up today,
For taking the time to find your center,
Find your calm,
Find your peace.
Then letting that love and compassion you have just given yourself and let it ripple out to those close to you,
Your immediate family,
Close friends.
Sending them all a little love,
Compassion,
Calm,
And peace.
Then letting that ripple expand out even further to extended family,
Friends,
Coworkers,
Even to those who might not be your favorite right now.
For we are all doing our best with the tools that we have in this moment.
And letting that ripple expand out one last time to those out there in the world who we do not know whose paths have not crossed ours yet,
But who might just need a little extra calm,
Peace,
Love,
And gratitude today.
Then when you feel complete and only when you feel complete,
Ever so gently releasing your hands.
And on your own time,
Reopening your eyes.
May you go forth with calm,
Peace,
Love,
Compassion,
And empathy for yourself and for all others.
And so it is.
