I invite you to take these first few moments to find a supported position for your body.
I recommend either lying down,
Making sure that your neck and head are supported,
Or finding a comfortable seated position,
Again making sure the neck and head and the back and lower body are supported there.
And just take your first few breaths,
Really letting the body settle into this position.
Making any adjustments you need to make here so that the physical body isn't a distraction to you.
When you're ready,
I invite you to start to just slowly look around the space that you're in,
And maybe name a few neutral objects to yourself.
And then go ahead and bring your gaze about two or three feet in front of you,
Letting the eyelids become a little bit heavier and softer here.
And then bring your gaze back to the center of your body,
Letting the eyelids become a little bit heavier and softer here.
And just take a few breaths,
Gently allowing your focus to rest on that point about two or three feet in front of you.
If you're noticing that your eyes would like to close,
Go ahead and just let them.
You don't want to fight that.
If you prefer to keep your eyes open in this meditation,
That's fine too.
I just encourage you to keep the gaze on this focal point that you just found for yourself.
Start to notice textures you feel against your skin,
And temperature surrounding your body.
You might observe that different parts of the body are experiencing different temperatures.
Noticing sounds that you're aware of without any strain at all.
And I invite you to begin with the most distant sounds,
Allowing your sense of hearing to radiate outward.
For a few breaths,
Just searching out these distant sounds.
Gradually bringing your awareness to closer sounds.
And then I invite you to begin to attune to your breath.
Take a nice full breath in on your inhale through the nose.
And then just open up the mouth,
Sigh the breath out as you release the exhale.
Just take a few conscious breaths like that.
And full breath in through our nose,
Sighing the breath out through the mouth.
And then just find a breath that feels comfortable for you here.
There's no right or wrong way to be breathing,
Just breathing in a way that nourishes the body.
When you're ready,
We'll bring our awareness to the crown of the head,
Forehead,
Left eye,
Left eyelid,
Right eye,
Right eyelid.
I invite you to bring purposeful tension here by scrunching the eyes up really tight so that there's some wrinkles in the forehead and around the eyelids.
Holding this purposeful tension while you're breathing for five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Just allow that tension to melt away.
Take a few breaths here observing.
Moving awareness down through the face and to the left cheek,
The right cheek,
Our mouth,
Chin and jaw.
And we'll invite purposeful tension here,
Either scrunching your mouth up really tight or smiling as big as you can,
Inviting the corners of the mouth out toward the ears.
And then just find a breath that feels comfortable for you here.
Two and one,
Just allowing that tension to melt away.
Taking a few breaths and observing.
Moving our awareness down through the chest and the shoulders,
Shoulder blades,
Upper arms,
Elbows,
Lower arms,
Wrists,
Palms,
And all ten fingers.
And I invite you to bring purposeful tension here either making fists with your palms or bringing your palms together in front of your chest in a prayer position and pressing them so hard that the elbows begin to lift.
You might feel some trembling in the arms and chest.
Finding this purposeful tension while you're breathing for five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Allowing all that tension in the upper body to melt away.
Taking a few breaths and observing.
And slowly bringing our awareness down through the torso and the back of the body into our hips,
The joints of the legs,
Backs of the legs,
Ankles,
Heels,
Soles of the feet,
And all ten toes.
And feeling this purposeful tension here either pointing your toes away from you or flexing the feet,
Pressing out through the heels and feeling the toes draw back toward the face.
Finding this purposeful tension while we're breathing for five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
And one.
Allowing that tension in the lower body to melt away.
Taking a few breaths and observing.
And lastly,
We'll invite tension back into the eyes,
The mouth,
The arms and upper body,
Legs and lower body.
Holding this purposeful tension in the whole body while we're breathing for five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
And one.
Feel all the tension in your body melt away.
And I invite you to spend the next few breaths or however long it feels right for you to be here.
Just taking this in and observing.
Observing whatever arises into your awareness with curiosity and compassion.
