The following practice has been brought to you by the School of Kammo,
Empowering students through mindfulness meditation.
Before you begin,
Find a safe and comfortable space where you won't be disturbed.
For safety,
Do not listen to this recording whilst driving or operating machinery.
Hi,
I'm Matt and I'll be your guide for the following period of meditation.
Take a couple of moments to make yourself comfortable.
You may want to sit upright,
Keeping the back straight,
Or you may want to lie down,
Bringing the eyes to a gentle close whenever is best for you,
And taking a moment to notice the quality of the breath without trying to dictate the flow of the breath.
Notice whether you're breathing deeply or a little more shallow.
See if you can feel the coolness of the inhale and the warmth of the exhale as it passes through the area surrounding the nostrils.
As we prepare to relax the body,
Which can be useful when we're working with the experience of nervous tension or apprehension,
We can bring our awareness to the soles of the feet,
Noticing any sensations in this area,
Any tingling or changes in temperature,
Just committing to the process of relaxing this area of the body.
Relaxing the tops of the feet and bringing that warm,
Kind,
Inner gaze around the ankles,
Into the shins and calves,
Passing it through the knees and into the thighs,
Allowing the body to relax,
And giving ourselves permission to take a step back without judging or labelling.
We continue into the glutes,
The waist,
And the lower back,
Maybe giving the back a little stretch by gently pushing the chest outward and drawing the shoulder blades back and releasing on the exhale as we sweep through the middle of the back into the upper back and arriving at the shoulders,
Where again we can do some tension release by kissing the shoulders up towards the ears,
Scrunching them for a moment before allowing them to drop down again,
Deepening relaxation and releasing any stress from this area as the mind crawls down the arms,
Past the elbows into the forearms,
Wrists and hands,
We can feel the heat in the palms,
Reminding us that this warmth will begin to spread itself throughout the body as we deepen in relaxation,
Drawing our attention up through the cavity in the torso,
Through the centre of the chest and outward into the breast,
Feeling any warmth increase and any tension slowly drop away,
Extending the inner gaze to the throat and neck before finally relaxing the muscles in the face and reaching the top of the head in our own time,
As we take stock of our experience without judgment and without labelling,
Turning our attention to the quality of our mind,
It may exhibit a tendency to to jump from thought to thought,
Thoughts anticipating the future and the changes that will inevitably occur,
Especially those significant changes like leaving home for the first time,
Leaving home can be both incredibly tough and yet incredibly rewarding,
It's hard to leave everyone and everything we've ever known,
Everything that has made us who we are today and this can make us feel scared,
Anxious,
Stressed which is perfectly normal,
After all this is a fresh start,
We will have to build new relationships and look after ourselves in ways and environments that are unfamiliar,
It's important that we do not try to block out or ignore any discomfort that arises in response to these things,
It's perfectly natural to experience heightened activity in the mind,
Tension in the body and even the odd swirling sensation in the abdomen which is often reflective of a few nerves,
An experience which may increase in frequency as the time comes closer,
At the same time we know in our hearts that this is a necessary change because in order to grow we need to meet people who can see us as we are now and not who we've always been or who were expected to be,
We need to meet new people,
Try new things and experience the freedom and independence that comes with moving away,
We know that this will help us become the best person that we can be and make those who love us truly proud,
Remembering these positive aspects we gently generate excitement and optimism for what's to come,
We remind ourselves that the freedom,
New friends and new opportunities will liberate our potential,
After all it is these things that make university one of the best experiences we will ever have and even if we do feel overwhelmed,
Stressed or out of place,
Home is not going anywhere and it will always be there to remind us that we are enough,
We are loved and that we always have support,
Ready to relax a little deeper now,
Gently bring your attention back to the crown of the head and we're just going to continue scanning down the body,
Down over the top of the head,
Over the forehead,
Brow,
Eyes and nose,
Feeling into the cheeks and the jaw,
Muscles in the face softening and melting as we graze over the lips and chin and briefly observe the back of the head,
The ears as we move into the neck and throat,
Just kindly and curiously acknowledging any discomfort in the body,
In the shoulders which may be relaxing deeper now,
Healing down the arms,
Down over the forearms and wrists and into the hands,
Feeling some heat and perspiration maybe in the palms,
Feeling those tingling sensations in the fingers,
Confirmation that we're increasing in our awareness,
Feeling into the chest and taking a moment to acknowledge any sensations at the center of the chest,
Allowing everything to be as it is without labels or judgments and dropping down into the abdomen and wrapping our awareness around the sides and into the lower back as we allow any stretching sensations,
Any aching just to be,
Acknowledging that whatever we experience is fundamentally subject to change,
Extending this attitude of equanimity into the middle of the back and the upper back,
Just again feeling,
Knowing without trying to figure out causes,
Just give yourself this time to be whoever you are in this moment,
Returning to the area at the base of the spine,
Feeling the weight of the body on the glutes,
On the backs of the thighs as we feel into the legs once more and just acknowledge whatever is unfolding with a kind heart,
An accepting heart,
Feeling into the tops of the thighs and running through the knees,
Into the calves and the shins,
Folding the inner gaze over the tops of the feet and around the toes,
Around the ankles and arriving once again at the soles of the feet,
Noticing any sensations or changes in temperature and we can almost imagine zooming out and feeling into our experience as a whole and just resting here for a few minutes to enjoy this self-created peace and when you hear my voice again we'll gently begin to conclude this period of practice,
Coming close to the end of the meditation period now,
Take a moment to check in with how you feel,
Notice what has changed,
We don't need to quantify or label anything,
We can just feel and know,
Remember that you can work with this practice as many times as you like and whenever you need to,
You will now hear the bell ring three times and on the third ringing of the bell,
Gently opening the eyes and coming back into the room
