As you arrive to whatever position you're in,
You just start to check in with the relationship between your shoulders and your hips and just the shape that your spine is in.
So at any point if you feel safe to do so,
You can let your eyes gently close and take a big cleansing breath,
Just marking your arrival to this practice,
Taking a full deep slow breath in through the nose and exhaling letting it all go and pushing a little bit of extra air out of you to really let it go and then just pause in that emptiness and that stillness for a little bit.
And letting the next breath come naturally as you start to just settle into you,
Into your body,
Into where you're at right now.
So throughout this practice I'll offer a lot of suggestions of things you can focus on,
Things you can recognize or notice in your environment or in your body or in your mind and if something I say doesn't feel good to you or doesn't sound like it's something you want to listen to or practice,
Please listen to yourself first,
Trust those instincts.
As what works for me isn't necessarily going to work for you.
So letting your body be the teacher here and letting my words just be suggestions or starting points.
So as you are starting to settle into your space you can notice any tension that might be located in your face,
In your forehead,
In your eyes.
You can soften your jaw.
And as you release your jaw you can kind of feel it just hanging into place so there's no need to hold up the bottom of your mouth.
And as you do that you'll notice the tongue will also soften.
So will the lips and the corners of your mouth and the cheeks.
You can let that softness continue up the face into the ears.
You can let it continue into the hairline and the scalp.
And you can start to feel your eyelids and all those tiny muscles that are used to squint your eyes.
It's sunny like it is for me.
All those muscles can even soften so it's kind of like there's some space growing in between your eyelashes.
And your eyelids are just gently resting in the position that they're in,
Whether they're open or closed.
And start to notice your nose as well and your chin.
And these are some new places in my face that I find I'm holding tension when I don't realize.
So just start to consciously soften the nostrils,
Consciously soften all those muscles in your chin.
Or just being curious if there is tension there,
Starting with the curiosity and just checking in.
Then you can start to imagine or maybe even see in your mind's eye a floaty little sheet of something that's above your head.
So maybe it's like,
It looks like an actual sheet,
Maybe it's like a sheer piece of fabric,
Or maybe it's more of an energetic sheet,
Or maybe something that can't really be explained,
Maybe it's light,
It's whatever comes to you.
And not focusing too hard on seeing this particular thing.
But allowing it to float down onto your head and naturally just drape itself over your entire body,
Kind of like a cocoon.
Just putting you into this space where you feel protected and you feel safe.
Like there is an extra barrier between you and the outside world.
So this comforting sheet will allow your face to soften even more than it already was.
Allow your shoulders to drop down away from the ears.
Allow all the muscles across your chest,
Down the arms and into the hands to soften and relax.
It will allow your rib cage to rest and just rest and protect your lungs.
Allow all the muscles of your abdomen and your back to soften and rest down toward the organs so it's like they're hugging and protecting your organs.
And the sheet continually draping down the body and just growing to encompass the whole body as you feel your hips soften,
Your pelvic floor,
Your glutes.
Feel the thighs,
The hamstrings,
The knees,
The shins,
The calves,
All the muscles in your legs almost just un-gripping from the bones,
Feeling free to just completely relax and completely surrender to the position that they're in.
And letting that continue to the feet as well.
Relaxing all the muscles in the feet and the toes.
Just noticing all those muscles that are in your feet and the toes.
And then just start to see the shape that your body's in.
Just kind of tracing the outline of your body in whatever position you're in,
Whether you are standing,
Laying,
Sitting,
Maybe in another position.
Just starting to become aware of how much space you are taking up and bringing awareness to your natural barrier,
Your skin,
The barrier between the inside and outside world,
Your inside and outside world,
As well as that extra layer,
That extra layer of protection,
Of warmth,
Of love from whatever you visualized protecting you.
And notice if there's any tension that's starting to creep back into the body,
Maybe back into the face,
Maybe back into the shoulders,
The hands.
And if you are looking for something you can do as a meditation practice on your own,
Something that you can just add to your routine,
This I think is the best way to start is to just keep it physical and become curious of where you hold tension throughout your body,
Throughout your face,
And consciously soften and relax those areas.
You can even just ask yourself,
Why are you holding tension in the hands or wherever it happens to be that day or that moment.
Because if you think about your energy and what your energy is spent on,
And I think I hear a lot of people say,
Myself included,
That I wish I had more energy to do this thing that I want to do,
But I just don't have the time,
I don't have the energy to do that.
And that's valid.
We definitely need to watch our energy levels and not overdo it,
Not burn out.
But at the same time,
If that's something that you really want to do and that will make you feel joyful and purposeful,
Then making time for that will help you in everything else in your life.
So to find the energy for that,
What we can start to practice or start to just be curious about is where are we spending our energy unnecessarily.
Because it costs energy to always be tense in your glutes or to always have your jaw tight,
Or to always have your shoulders up to your ears,
Or have your stomach tight for myself.
That's where I usually hold my tension,
Or most of it.
So just by starting to be aware of that,
Even if it's just one moment in your day where you're driving and you notice that,
Like,
Oh,
My jaw is really tight,
Just letting that go,
Even if it's just for the moment,
That is a great,
Great starting point for this mindful practice.
And then gradually over time,
All that energy will be back to you,
And you can choose where you'd like to spend it.
So once again,
Just feeling that wave of softness overtake your body and allowing that to happen,
Allowing yourself to be safe and protected.
And notice if there's any thoughts that come up or any feelings that come up that make you feel or maybe speak to you that you are unworthy of feeling the safety or feeling relaxed or maybe you think this is a waste of time or there's so many other things you could be getting done or all those different thoughts that can come up.
Starting to just notice those as well and not identify as those thoughts,
But just notice that those thoughts are there.
And I like to say that a meditation practice can be like taking inventory of your thoughts,
So kind of like cleaning out your photo album on your phone or organizing the icons on your desktop or the apps on your home screen.
And sometimes we just get into those modes where we're just taking a million pictures,
We never even look at them,
But we're just snapping away and then they just build up and before you know it,
We have thousands of pictures and we can't even find the one we're looking for because it's just too much to look through.
And same with the apps,
Sometimes we just download every app that someone recommends and then they just build up and you can't even find the one you want or the one that's useful to you.
So our mind can work in the same way.
Sometimes we just feel like we're stuck in this tornado of thoughts where when someone says take inventory of your thoughts,
That doesn't even make sense because there's just too many,
Like where would you even start?
So some examples of thoughts that are common or that you may have is like the to-do list,
The things you have to get done that you don't want to forget,
So I have to go to the store,
I have to do this,
I have to do that.
Also opinions,
Why did she say that at work yesterday or why did I say that the other day or fears and anxieties about the future.
So all these different things are just thoughts and it can be very helpful to write them down,
Especially if it feels like there's an endless stream of thoughts or like you're stuck in a tornado of thoughts,
Writing them down because that will eventually you will run out of things to write.
You might take up a few pages of different random thoughts,
Just kind of word vomiting,
But you will run out so it will remind you that it's not an endless stream.
There is a you underneath all of those thoughts.
There is someone who is observing those thoughts,
Someone who is recording them,
Someone who is writing them,
And that is the you that we are trying to access in a meditation practice.
The you that is always underneath the thoughts is always watching your actions,
Watching your mind,
Observing with a loving and patient mentality.
Just know that there is no judgment coming from your innermost self.
So if thoughts come up that are judging,
That are maybe judging the amount of thoughts that you're having or judging yourself for not being able to soak into the practice or whatever the thing is,
Know that that is also not you.
If there is a judgment,
You are still underneath that,
Your truest most innermost self.
So you can once again bring some attention back to your face and just let your awareness rest across the face and just see how much more soft those muscles can get.
Maybe it's almost feeling like the muscles in your face are hanging off of the bones so that any expression that was on the face can just melt away.
And then start to notice your heart and where your heart is located in your body and the shape that your skeleton is making around your heart.
For myself,
If I'm not mindful,
I'm constantly sitting with my shoulders going forward so my heart is kind of protected,
It's like curled toward the back body.
So just encouraging your heart,
Wherever it is,
To rest more toward the front of your body,
To sort of come out of that cave of your shoulders if it was there.
And allow your heart to lead you,
Allow your heart to be proud.
And you can notice how the rest of your body responds to this proudness across your chest.
Oftentimes our chin will want to go up or kind of tilt our head back and what you want to focus on is clearing the path between your heart and your brain and your throat in between,
So your heart to your throat to your mind.
So there's a slight tuck in your chin so that the back of your neck is as long as possible that cervical spine.
And as your body inhales you can trace the space from your heart that is beating through your throat center,
Through the brain stem and into the brain itself.
And then as your body exhales you can trace that space back down to your heart.
So kind of like this shower of your breath from your brain to your heart.
And as your breath and awareness travel from the brain and the heart,
Noticing how that is also cleansing your communication center that's in your throat.
And this is the area that is responsible for our speaking,
Our verbal communication as well as listening.
It's also connected to our auditory system.
Just remembering that listening is just as important if not sometimes more important than talking.
And that goes for human to human,
Person to person interaction as well as just being by yourself.
And comparing that to the talking that's going on in your head if you're by yourself versus coming into a place of listening when you're by yourself into this space where we are listening to the thoughts,
We're listening to the body,
And we're listening and making ourselves open to listen to any other messages that are trying to reach us from wherever.
So just feeling your throat center being cleansed by this love and compassion and gratitude from your heart center as well as the intuition and knowledge and knowing,
Sense of knowing from your mind,
From your third eye center,
From your crown.
And kind of like this ping pong motion where your throat is being cleansed on both sides between the heart and the mind.
And just trusting and remembering that communication and honesty starts with you and that you can't be honest to anyone else if you're not first honest with yourself.
So allow yourself to come into a space where you feel safe to be honest with yourself,
Where you remind yourself that there is nothing that is unmanageable,
There's nothing that's unworkable,
That the only thing that is unmanageable and unworkable is the truths that we don't acknowledge.
If we don't acknowledge something as existing,
Then there's no way we can work around it or work with it.
So that goes for your life and the way that you live your life.
Maybe there's something going on in your life where you're not happy with it or you would prefer to feel something else or be a different way.
And sometimes that can feel incredibly scary and daunting to even acknowledge.
So we distract,
We drown out those feelings and just do whatever we can to not look at that directly through all the different ways we numb.
TV,
Social media,
Food,
Drugs and alcohol,
Even conversation and socializing sometimes.
But it's all about your intention.
And if your intention is to not feel a certain thing or to not pay attention to a feeling that you've been having and to kind of distract yourself from that,
Then it's just going to get louder over time.
And it is okay to do that for a certain amount of time for sure.
Sometimes we're not ready to look at the feelings that we have and that's valid.
But whenever that time does come where you do feel like you have the strength and the perspective to look objectively at what's happening and without the harsh judgment or the mean words that come up where you judge yourself.
When you look at your situation and your life and maybe the things that you'd like to change a little bit as if your best friend was telling you that was happening in their life or your child or your parent or whoever is in your life that you love really deeply.
And looking at your own life,
Your own experiences and thoughts and feelings with that same sense of love and compassion and patience.
And that is a practice because that is really,
Really difficult to do,
Especially if we don't practice or even if we are practicing just in certain times of our life,
It can just feel extra difficult for whatever reason.
But you can trust that whatever way you are feeling right now is exactly how you're meant to be feeling or else you would not be feeling that way.
Whether that is a positive thing or a painful thing,
Just remembering that pain has a purpose too and pain can sometimes be our greatest teacher.
And remembering that pain is exactly what allows you to feel joy and to feel love because if we felt happy and relaxed and joyful and connected all of the time,
Then we wouldn't actually ever feel that way because it is exactly that contrast that allows you to feel happy,
Joy.
So however far away you get from joy,
However deeply you go into suffering,
Into pain and sorrow,
Just know that that is a part of life too and a goal of a meditation practice or a goal of life or anything that you do should not be to erase bad things,
It should not be to erase pain and suffering because we need those things as much as it hurts to hear that or to know that or to feel that,
We need it.
And if we didn't have that,
Then we wouldn't have all of the good things that we feel.
Just reminding yourself that it is okay to feel what you're feeling and the only way through it is to go through it.
The only way to move past is to just go through it.
We can't run away,
We can't drown it out,
We can't try to wiggle around it.
We have to look those feelings in the face,
We have to feel them,
Allow ourselves to cry or purge the emotions that want to come and move on,
Move forward,
Move through.
Being super kind and patient with yourself through the process.
So you can once again notice how your body is responding.
Notice if your body is starting to contort into a more closed posture or a more tense posture.
And then just with that awareness,
Notice how you have the power to come back to that place of relaxation and softness.
And it's the same thing with our mind.
If we don't notice the thoughts we're having,
How will we have any control of what we're feeling?
Just by being aware,
We can welcome in the feelings that we'd prefer to have.
Just reminding yourself that you are powerful.
At your core,
You are nothing but love.
And feel a deep sense of compassion for all that you have been through.
And tuning into your heart as you do this,
Listening to that unique rhythm of your own heartbeat.
And reminding yourself that everything you have been through,
Everything you've experienced,
For whatever reason,
You were meant to experience it.
And it's making you stronger.
It has made you stronger.
You have learned the necessary lessons and are continuing to learn the necessary lessons.
Allow yourself to feel a deep sense of gratitude for all the life experience you have,
All the life experience that you will have.
And as you're listening to your heart,
Feeling how your heart is also beating in your ears.
There's a slight pulsing of your ears.
It's also pulsing in your eyes,
In your forehead,
At the crown of your head.
There's a heartbeat in your throat.
There's a heartbeat in your stomach.
There's a heartbeat in your sacral space,
The lower stomach,
Just beneath the belly button.
There's a heartbeat at the base of your spine,
The space in between the sit bones.
And your heart is also beating in the palms of your hands,
In each of your fingers,
And in the soles of your feet and each of your toes.
Just feeling how your heart is beating throughout your entire body.
Your heart is pumping blood throughout your entire body.
And then feeling a deep sense of gratitude for your heart,
Knowing that you did nothing in particular to make your heart beat or to earn this beating heart of yours.
And it is a pure gift.
And you can show your gratitude for this gift with how you live your life and how you make yourself feel,
How you make others feel,
And what you bring to the world.
Reminding yourself of the miracle it is that you can even hear these words and that not everyone has this ability.
The same with whatever sense of sight you have,
Sense of smell,
Sense of taste,
Sense of touch and feeling.
All of these things,
All of our senses,
All of our organs functioning for us.
These are all gifts given to you.
Just taking this time to acknowledge that,
Acknowledge the gifts that you already have and allow yourself to feel a deep sense of gratitude.
Feeling once again that extra layer of sheet,
Of light,
Of energy,
Whatever it was that draped over you at the beginning of the practice.
Just noticing that once again,
That thin layer of love that is touching your skin.
And then you can start to imagine maybe a hand or maybe kind of like just an energetic hand or something coming down from the heavens right above your head.
And you can feel this hand grab hold of this sheet that's covering you and really slowly the hand will return back up to the heavens taking the sheet with you or with it and uncovering your body inch by inch and opening your body back up to your surroundings.
Feeling yourself emerging from this cocoon,
Just like a butterfly.
This sheet is now uncovering your heart,
Your throat,
Your eyes and floating up into the sky above.
And as you take a deeper breath in through the nose,
Maybe feeling yourself able to fill up with a bit more ease.
Feeling each pore on your skin across your body opening up to the air that's around you so that each pore on its skin is also breathing.
You can zoom in so far that you would see each pore gently expanding as you inhale and contracting as you exhale.
And just allowing all of the life force energy,
All the love that's in your surroundings to enter seamlessly into your body.
And just allow yourself to feel these messages and take whatever has resonated with you and hold it within you.
And you can trust that anything that I have said today that has resonated with you,
That feeling of something resonating happens because you already know it to be true.
Just trusting your body's natural intelligence,
Trusting your intuition,
Remembering that you have so much power and allowing these loving healing messages of power,
Strength,
Patience,
Understanding to soak into your body,
Soak into the skin,
The muscles,
Bones,
Cells,
Into your subconscious so that you will be guided to act in ways that support these feelings throughout your days just through your instincts,
Just through the urges that you get throughout your day.
So if it feels natural for you to do so or like something you'd like to do,
You can gently bring your hands to a prayer position at heart center,
The palms and fingers pressing into each other and making contact,
Feeling the pulsing of your palms into each other,
Feeling that power through the hands and the connection between your heart and your hands.
As you take a deep breath in,
You can feel the crown of your head lift up toward the sky.
And as you exhale,
Allow the head to bow.
Take this moment to deeply thank your maker,
Thank your creator,
Whoever is allowing you to be here and allowing your heart to beat.
Thank your angels,
Spirits,
Guides,
Ancestors,
Whoever is watching you and supporting you with loving,
Understanding patience.
Thank everyone else in this space who has done this practice with you and all of their angels,
Spirits and guides.
Most importantly,
Thank yourself,
Thank your deepest truest self for showing up,
For opening,
For receiving and just for being.
May this practice continue to heal you through the rest of your days and nights.
And may you bring the same love into everything that you do and to everyone that you see.
Namaste.
