All right,
So this is a quick meditation for you to do regularly to allow your body,
Your nervous system to relax,
Feel more regulated.
And over time,
You will be able to internalize this function.
You'll be able to do this type of regulation more easily and without external support.
So you just need to get used to this practice and exercise this muscle.
So you can be in a seated position or you could be lying down for this meditation.
I don't usually say this for meditation,
But you can be,
You could even fall asleep if you want.
So when you're seated or lying down and are in a comfortable position,
Just start with taking some deep breaths.
You can have your eyes open or closed.
Just take some deep breaths.
Let's take three deep breaths.
One,
Two,
And on the third one,
Just feeling all the stress,
Negative energy,
Just leave your body.
So just feel whatever you're feeling,
Notice whatever you're noticing.
And you can do this on three different,
In three different arenas.
You could do this in your thoughts,
Your mind.
You can do this with your emotions or your heart.
Or you can do this with your physical body.
Any sensations you might be feeling or experiencing,
Any pain or discomfort or maybe openness,
Relaxation.
But these are the three areas in which you can notice what you are personally experiencing.
So just do a quick inventory,
Checking in with your thoughts.
What is the quality of your thoughts?
Are there thoughts even happening?
You don't have to do anything with these thoughts.
You don't have to make them go away.
It's just noticing that you are having some thoughts.
And one of the biggest reasons why meditation is so powerful is because you are actually interrupting the pattern of your thoughts,
Of your thinking.
You are recognizing that you are not your thoughts,
That you can actually stop your thinking.
And then who are you?
And then what's there?
You can just relax,
You can just breathe.
You could just even notice that there are no thoughts,
Even if it's just for one second,
One millisecond or ten seconds.
You can spend the whole practice just on this,
Noticing when you're thinking,
Clearing your mind so you're no longer thinking,
Because you can do that at any point,
Even again,
If it's just for a second,
A millisecond,
Ten seconds.
And then the thoughts come back up and then you just notice them again.
Okay,
I'm having another thought.
I'm thinking about this in particular.
Let's just stop thinking for right now,
Just clear the mind,
Wipe it all away.
You don't need to hang on to every thought.
You don't need to hang on to any thought,
At least just for this meditation.
Ten minutes,
Whatever that thought is,
Can wait ten minutes.
If it's important,
It will come up again.
So that's thinking,
So just noticing and practicing with your thoughts.
You will do this throughout any type of meditation.
Thoughts will arise and you just notice them and let them go and come back to whatever the intention you have is,
Whether it's to quiet your thoughts,
Whether it's to feel relaxed,
Whether it's to be in your body or your heart.
So now you can just move to the heart center,
Move to your emotional center and just notice what's going on there.
You don't have to have a particular type of experience,
But just putting your attention on your heart,
Your chest,
Just noticing what comes up.
You may feel something,
You may not feel anything.
You may be like,
What is this guy talking about?
Maybe you feel some tension,
Maybe you feel anxiety,
Maybe you feel absolutely nothing.
Maybe you feel warm and relaxed.
You may also notice that you have a hard time staying centered in your heart or your chest and that your thoughts are going more wild or that you are bouncing back up to your head often,
But that's okay too.
Just notice that.
Breathing,
Letting everything go,
Erasing again the thoughts,
Letting them go and then just coming back.
You could even put your hand on your heart,
Hand on your chest,
Just breathing there with this intention to become more aware of this part of you,
This part of you that we all have as human beings,
This heart,
This emotional center,
This place where we feel.
And just noticing what it's like to have your hand on your heart if it is,
To have your attention more centered on your heart if it is.
Maybe there's more tension in your body,
Shoulders,
Arms,
Or maybe it's really relaxed.
It can be anything and everything in between.
We're not forcing or trying to force anything to happen here.
If you are going into your head,
That's okay.
If you are staying centered,
That's okay.
It doesn't really matter.
It's just about the practice.
It's just about all the different things that are happening and just holding space for it,
Having a space for it.
Learning how to be okay with your own experience as well as anything in life,
Any experience in life.
It doesn't mean you have to just let it walk all over you,
But it's just noticing reality,
Being in the reality of an experience,
Of an emotion,
Of the body,
Of your mind,
Of you.
And with this last part of the meditation,
We'll go to the body,
The third area in which you can notice what your personal experience is of life,
Sensations,
Tension,
Maybe some movement or tingling or openness,
Relaxation.
Just taking a quick inventory of your body,
Some meditations spend the whole time on scanning the different parts of your body,
Every single minuscule area and seeing what it feels like.
But for this meditation,
We'll just notice what's coming up right now in your body.
Where does your attention go when I say,
Start to just place your awareness on your body,
Start to notice what's happening in your body.
Maybe there's a specific area that's coming up.
Maybe you notice sensations or feelings in your head.
Maybe your eyes,
The muscles behind your eyes.
Maybe your nose,
Shoulders.
Maybe it's your stomach or your thoracic region.
It could be your feet,
Legs,
Just there are so many parts of the body,
But just notice where you might be holding some tension or where it might be hard to place your attention.
And just remembering to breathe throughout all of this.
Sometimes you might notice that when you're meditating,
You're trying really hard to meditate.
You're trying really hard to focus.
You're trying really hard to be aware,
Be open,
And you may not be.
And that's okay too.
We can notice the quality of the mind,
The quality of our attention,
And whether it's light and open or whether we're tensing up,
Feeling very restricted,
Trying really hard to get it right.
And you can just notice that as well.
You can notice it as sensations.
You can notice it as a feeling in your head.
Your awareness,
Your attention getting really narrow,
And you want to just notice that and then just take some breaths and let it go.
The point of all of this is to really just be open,
As relaxed as possible,
And to just notice and create space for those times,
Those moments,
Those experiences that may not be relaxed,
That may not be open.
Just creating some relaxation around all of that as well.
So always just coming back to what you're noticing,
Maybe how you're noticing it,
And just breathing and relaxing and letting it go if you're ever too tight or too tense or trying to force anything.
You're not trying to do anything with the emotions.
You're not trying to do anything with the sensations or the thinking or the thoughts.
Just relaxing,
Letting go,
That is the only intention.
And if you find you can't experience that relaxation,
That's okay too.
Not every meditation is going to be open and relaxed.
Just as not every moment,
Experience,
Situation in life is open and relaxed and nice and pleasant.
All of this is learning how to just be with life,
How to be with our own experience.
So with that,
We'll conclude this meditation.
Just noticing how you feel now after this meditation.
Do you feel more tense?
Do you feel more relaxed?
Are you sleeping?
Did you fall asleep?
Just taking some final deep breaths as you slowly,
Slowly come back to the room,
To your seat or your bed or the floor,
Wherever you are.
Taking some stretches,
Maybe moving your body a little bit side to side,
Rolling your neck,
Doing a big yawn and opening your eyes.
