This meditation is designed to bring you into the present moment,
To develop your power of detached observation.
As we allow ourselves to listen carefully,
We realize that all the sounds are actually taking place inside of us,
That everything is taking place inside of us,
That we are everything.
We will begin by finding the seat that feels best in the body right now.
Maybe it is seated on a chair or the floor,
Maybe it's lying down,
Maybe it's standing up.
Find a space where the spine can be long,
Heart space can be open,
And the throat can be open.
And if it feels good,
Perhaps invite the upper lid down to meet the lower lid,
Bringing our awareness even more inward,
Softening the gaze.
And then bring the attention to the breath,
Without trying to change or without trying to manipulate in any way,
Simply becoming aware of its flow.
Spending a moment observing,
Noticing that the more we watch,
The more it becomes relaxed.
Turn the attention now to the ambient sounds in your environment.
Expand the awareness from the most distant sounds you can hear and pay close attention to them.
Listen to the actual sounds that are taking place without getting involved,
Without thinking of them.
Is the sound constant?
Does it rise and then dissolve?
It is though you are listening to the music of life.
If you find yourself lost in a mental storyline,
Notice the thoughts and then return the attention softly and gently to the sounds around you,
To the sounds you are attending to,
Listening to.
Listen to the sounds far away and then slowly allow those sounds to get closer and closer.
Continue until you are listening to the sound of your breath,
Or perhaps even someone in close proximity to you breathing.
As you notice your breath,
What else do you notice?
What are you feeling in the body?
Can you notice the body without judgment or expectation?
Can you focus on the sensation right now of the hips and the thighs?
Can you notice how solid the space is underneath you?
The space that is holding you and supporting your weight.
Feel the soles of the feet,
Noticing the whole surface where they are in contact with the floor.
Give yourself permission to give in to gravity.
Let the ground support you.
Take a few slow deep breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth,
Focusing on the feeling of the breath,
The movement of the chest,
The ribcage,
The shoulders,
The expansion in the lungs.
Imagine that you are breathing through the soles of your feet and as you take a breath,
Imagine that you are bringing a warm and healing energy into every cell of the body.
As you breathe out,
Imagine cleansing the body of tension,
Of pain,
Of old and stale,
Leftover emotion.
As you breathe in,
Imagine the feet filling up with nourishing,
Healing energy.
Notice the warm and pleasant sensation as it moves through the toes,
The balls of the feet,
The arches,
The heel,
All the way through the feet.
Continue to focus on the feet until they feel completely relaxed,
Comfortable.
Take another breath in and imagine it filling up your ankles and lower legs.
And if you can't immediately sense a part of the body,
Maybe try soft gentle movement and then allow that energy to continue to move up maybe through the calves and the shins,
Taking all the time that you need to work your way through the body,
Sensing the shift in sensation gradually moving into the knees,
Feeling the warmth move into them,
The back of the thigh,
The top of the thigh,
The hips,
The belly,
The small of the back,
The navel,
The middle back,
The chest,
The upper back.
Warm,
Relaxing energy moving through all of the organs,
Filling the lungs.
And as you continue to breathe,
Let this energy move into the shoulders,
In the upper arms,
Into the elbows,
The lower arms,
The wrists,
The palms,
The fingers.
Let the breath take this relaxing energy into the back of the neck.
Feel the relaxing sensations massage.
Relax and release the neck muscles wrapping into the front of the neck,
The throat,
The tongue,
The jaw,
Cheeks,
Muscles around the mouth,
The nose and the eyes,
The temples,
Around and inside the ears,
The scalp,
The base of the skull.
Take all the time you need for relaxing sensation to fill and to warm each part of the body.
As you continue to breathe,
Imagining the inhale fills the whole body with nourishing,
Healing energy.
The whole body feels peaceful,
Calm.
Pleasant sensations move throughout the body with ease.
Remind yourself that despite what the world throws,
The experiences,
The conversations,
The to-do lists,
You can remain relaxed,
Returning to this experience,
This sensation,
This feeling of peace,
Any time in the day,
Simply by coming home to the breath.
