Let this practice meet you where you are today.
And relax your body and your mind knowing that there's no need to force or control anything at this point.
Let's take three breaths together,
Breathing in through the nose and sighing out through the mouth on the exhale.
Two more like that,
Breathing in through the nose and just softly opening your mouth,
Parting your lips to sigh out your exhale.
Last breath.
And with that third breath allow yourself to soften and arrive fully.
Acknowledge that you have a past and you have a future and something happened and something will happen.
Meditation is a gift of coming into the present,
Arriving in your breath,
Surrendering to be here and now.
Let's take three more breaths this time.
As you breathe in you'll lift your shoulders around your ears and as you breathe out you'll gently relax your shoulders down your spine.
So breathe in and really exaggerate lifting the shoulders and then as you exhale it's going to give you opportunity to relax more.
Two more breaths,
Breathing in lift the shoulders,
Breathing out relax the shoulders.
And last breath on your inhale,
Lift and as you exhale,
Relax.
Soften into your breath and breathe normal.
No forcing or controlling,
Just here in an easy effortless breath.
We use a simple mudra today.
Jnana mudra,
Joining your index finger to your thumb and then we'll take a deep breath in and out.
Now for today's practice,
We're going to take a deep breath in and out.
And we're going to take a deep breath in and out.
And we're going to take a deep breath in and out.
Now for today's practice,
Turn your left hand,
Your left mudra,
To face the ground so the palm should face down.
Your right mudra stays facing upwards.
These mudras are so well known as they have an effect on our physical,
Mental,
Emotional and spiritual level.
It's otherwise known as the gesture of consciousness and the gesture of knowledge.
Thumb and index finger joining together is a powerful mudra.
Thumb is indicative of the earth and your index finger often the ego.
Joining these two together creating a sense of balance.
And then with one turning upwards and one hand turning towards the ground,
There is an added balance of groundedness and openness.
And so this balance is our intention.
Breathing in and breathing out,
Take a moment to become aware of your body and ask yourself if you could relax anymore.
Rest in your body but rest in your mind.
Let go of trying to control your thoughts.
And allow them to just come and go.
See if you can lengthen your inhale and lengthen your exhale so that they are even and balanced.
You might find that a count supports this.
Being able to breathe in for four or maybe five counts.
Being able to match that with your exhale.
Breathing in and notice vibrancy in your inhale.
And breathing out,
Allow this to be light,
Effortless,
Permeate through your whole body.
As you breathe in,
Notice vibrancy.
And as you breathe out,
Allow that exhale to flow through your arms,
Elbows,
Wrists and fingers.
One direction will be towards the earth and the other towards the sky.
This gentle flow of energy moving easily as if you could visualize it as you inhale and as you exhale.
The final offering for this mudra practice is to bring your right hand keeping the mudra shape to your heart.
And allowing this to settle here in a comfortable position.
By moving our hands closer to the heart area,
We focus more on the inhale and lifting the chest.
And less on the exhale as we allow it to just naturally,
Easily soften and relax the body.
It might be here that you bring in a gratitude practice.
Letting three things that you're grateful for come from the heart area and flow into your mind.
Inviting you to stay with each moment,
Person or thing,
Just for a little while.
Three things that you're grateful for.
Instead of thinking of them and letting them go,
Think of them and hold them in your mind.
As if you had an inner dristy,
An inner focus on each moment,
Person,
Thing.
Allowing your heart,
Your hand and your mind to fill up with this power of gratitude with these three.
Allowing your breath to hold that sense of gratitude as you inhale and as you exhale.
Take one last breath to notice how this feels on your body and in your mind.
And then as you exhale,
Release your hands,
Your fingers,
Your mind.
Relax your body and sit here in this stillness and space.
You should have a deep knowing that you can come back to that gratitude and that space at any time.
Create this balance.
Create this breath that stills you,
That almost stops you in the moment.
So that you can breathe in and breathe out with full gratitude,
With full balance and with full breath.
Take a deep breath in through your nose and gently sigh out on your exhale.
Allow your chin to gently drop and for your eyes to gently open when you're ready.
GONG
