So we're going to do a short meditation.
And you can do this either in an upright position,
Sat down,
Or you can do it lying down or in any posture you want.
It may be better if you close your eyes,
But you don't have to do that if it's not possible at this time.
And really,
This is for a situation where you feel like life's getting ahead of you.
You're thinking about the future.
You're worried.
Your brain is in overdrive.
You have so many thoughts,
So many things you want to do,
And it feels like a lot.
So this is a time to just have that space.
So get comfortable.
And imagine that you have a wide field of awareness,
Both inside and outside of your body.
Be aware of both of those worlds.
Notice what you're feeling at this moment,
Physically and emotionally.
What do you notice about your posture and how it feels?
Do you feel comfortable in any way?
And if so,
Where is this comfort?
Be curious about which thoughts you're aware of,
Going through your mind at this moment.
Can you place a little distance between you and your thoughts?
Try and observe them non-judgmentally,
And in a detached way,
Rather than being caught up or controlled by them,
Or even believing that they are absolute truth.
Narrow your attention now to inside yourself,
And into your own breathing.
Bring your attention down to your breathing.
Feel the gentle rise of the abdomen as you breathe in,
And watch it fall as you breathe out.
You're not trying to control it,
Or change it in any way.
You're just simply being aware of it in a friendly and open way.
And of course,
It's natural for your attention to wander away from your breathing.
The mind will try to do what minds do,
Which is to think.
And if this happens,
Don't judge yourself.
Just notice where your attention's gone,
And then gently escort it back to your breath once again.
Know that when you are paying attention to your breath,
There is no future.
There is no past.
There's just the breath,
Breathing the body.
There's nothing to do.
Anything to do can be put on hold right now.
The only thing to do is to bring yourself to the awareness of the breath.
Switching off the autopilot,
The autopilot that wants to do things.
Switching into the being mode,
Where you're living through your senses,
And you're truly present.
Now allow your conscious awareness to once again expand from your abdomen through to your whole body.
And feel the breath go through your whole body.
Imagine each in-breath is taking in energy,
Feeling it in every cell of your body.
Feeling brand new life force going through you.
And every out-breath is releasing everything that was in you.
Releasing all of that tension,
So you can start new again.
Now see if you can be aware of a sense of wholeness and completeness in yourself.
Fully accepting and non-striving.
Not trying to do,
Not judging,
Not trying to put meaning on everything,
Not trying to find solutions.
Just feeling okay,
Okay to be just who you are in this moment.
Feel a half smile lighting through your body,
A light flowing through your body.
And start becoming aware of the body,
Your feet,
Your hands.
And bring yourself slowly back into the room,
Become aware of the body in the room.
Slowly wiggle your toes and your fingers.
And take a deep breath in and out.
When you're ready,
Very slowly and very gently,
With no rush at all,
Open your eyes.
And welcome yourself back into this moment.
