Find a comfortable and relaxed position,
Allowing your body to settle into a posture that feels both grounded and at ease.
Softly close your eyes,
Or if you prefer,
Maintain a gentle gaze with a soft focus.
Begin your practice by bringing your attention to your breath.
Notice the natural inhalation and exhalation,
The rise and fall of your chest,
Or the expansion and contraction of your abdomen.
Let your breath be a gentle anchor,
Grounding you in the present moment.
As you inhale,
Visualize the breath coming in like a wave rolling onto the shore.
Feel the expansion in your chest and abdomen,
A sense of fullness like the wave reaching its highest point.
And as you exhale,
You envision the wave gently and gracefully receding back into the vastness of the ocean.
Sense the release,
The letting go,
As the wave returns back to the sea.
Also,
Notice the pause before the next wave,
A moment of stillness between inhale and exhale.
In the next couple of moments,
I want you to focus on four parts of each breath cycle.
Inhale,
The pause after the inhale.
Exhale,
And the pause at the end of the exhale before you take another breath in.
Inhale,
Pause.
Exhale,
Pause.
Inhale,
And exhale.
To keep your attention anchored in the present moment,
You can keep in your mind's eye a visual image of a wave washing onto the shore,
And then for a moment staying on the shore before it returns back into the ocean.
And again,
Staying in the ocean before it travels back to the shore.
Inhale,
Pause.
Exhale,
Pause.
Exhale,
Pause.
As you continue to breathe,
Let's shift our focus to the spaces between the thoughts.
With each breath,
Become aware of the stillness,
The peace that arises before the next thought enters your mind.
Imagine these pauses as moments of serene silence,
Like the calmness that exists between musical notes.
Inhale,
And as you reach the peak of your breath,
Linger in the quiet space before the exhale begins.
Notice the stillness,
The absence of thought.
Exhale,
And allow the breath to carry away any mental clutter,
Leaving behind a spacious quietness.
In these moments between breaths,
Explore the vastness of your inner space.
Imagine your mind as a clear sky and thoughts like clouds passing by.
Yet,
In the gaps between the clouds,
There is an expansive openness,
A boundless quietude.
As thoughts arise,
Acknowledge them without judgment,
And then gently guide your attention back to the silence between them.
Cultivate a sense of curiosity about these spaces,
As if you are discovering a profound quiet that exists within your own mind.
Inhale,
Appreciating the pause before the exhale.
Exhale,
Embracing the tranquility before the next inhalation.
Allow this rhythmic exploration to deepen your connection to the profound stillness within.
This will be your practice for the next couple of moments.
Continue to breathe and observe,
Riding the waves of your breath,
While simultaneously tuning into the serene gaps between thoughts.
Feel the peace and spaciousness expand within you with each cycle.
Take a few more moments in this practice,
Exploring the quiet spaces between your thoughts,
Before gently bringing your awareness back to the present moment.
As the last part of your practice,
I want you to allow your mind to run completely free.
If your mind wants to think,
Allow it to think.
Slowly bring your attention back to your breath,
And make your next inhale deeper than the one before,
Filling up your belly,
Your lungs,
Breathing all the way up to the collarbones.
Release your breath as you exhale through your mouth.
One more breath in,
And an exhale out.
Start to bring your awareness back to your breath,
And make your next inhale deeper than the one before.
And then you exhale and breathe yourself completely empty.
One more deep breath in,
And a full exhale out.
Now start to find little movements in your body,
Allowing your head to fall towards one shoulder and then the other,
Wiggling your toes and fingers,
And then slowly opening your eyes,
Carrying this sense of inner calm and spaciousness with you into the world around you.
I thank you for meditating with me,
And I wish you a beautiful day.
