Welcome to this guided introduction to meditation.
Begin by finding a comfortable position where you're both relaxed and alert,
Whatever that means to you.
Sitting on the floor with your legs crossed is a good position to try,
Or sitting in a chair.
You can even lie down if you wish,
So long as you're not so comfortable that you'll fall asleep.
Start by closing your eyes or focusing on one spot on the room.
You can roll your shoulders slowly forward and then slowly back,
Releasing any tension you have there.
Lean your head from side to side,
Lowering your left ear towards your left shoulder and your right ear towards your right shoulder.
Relax your muscles on your next exhale.
Your body will continue to relax as you meditate.
Take a long slow deep breath in and out.
Along with your breath,
We're going to follow the sound of a mantra,
So hum.
Let's say the mantra out loud so you can feel the vibration of it in your body.
It goes like this.
So hum.
Do you feel that vibration in your chest?
So hum.
Now continue with the mantra silently.
Just hear it in your head.
Focus on that feel of the vibration that you felt when you said it out loud.
Imagine that vibration is coming from your heart.
Each inhale,
So.
Each exhale,
Hum.
Now your mind will wander.
Each time you notice your thoughts are on anything other than the mantra,
Just label it.
Ah,
That's a thought.
And then come back to the mantra.
With no judgments about your mind having wandered.
It's just what our minds do.
If you find it hard to let go of the thought,
Tell yourself,
I'll come back to this later.
This thought will be here later.
But now I'm going back to the mantra.
Imagine the thoughts passing through your mind as clouds in the sky.
They come and they go.
You or yourself or your soul or your wise advocate,
Whatever you call it,
You are the blue sky.
Always there.
Steady.
Strong.
Beautiful.
We always know there's a sky beyond the clouds.
But sometimes there's so many clouds that we forget and it looks like the clouds are the sky.
But always remember the clouds are just passing through.
Just like the thoughts that pass through our mind.
Try not to get stuck on one cloud.
Look past it and see the sky as you come back to your mantra.
With each exhale,
Find space in your body to relax even more.
When your attention wanders as it will,
Just focus back again on your breathing and the mantra.
Just notice if your attention is on the mantra or on a thought.
Bring it back to the mantra.
Notice if your attention has wandered.
Come back to the sound of so hum.
At the sound of the bell,
You can bring your mantra to a close.
Continue to keep your eyes closed and focus on your breath.
See how your breath continues to flow deeply and calmly.
Notice the stages of a complete breath from the in-breath to the pause that follows,
The exhale and the pause before taking another breath.
Feel the air entering through your nose.
Picture the breath flowing through the cavities in your sinuses and down to your lungs.
Take one last long deep breath in.
Hold it and exhale slowly.
Slowly blink your eyes open.
Have a wonderful rest of your day.
