The following practice has been brought to you by the School of Kamma,
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 this following period of meditation.
Take a moment to make yourself comfortable.
You may want to sit upright with the back straight or you may want to lie down,
Especially if you're new to the practice.
Whenever you're ready,
Bring the eyes to a gentle close.
Settling into the moment,
Notice the quality of the breath.
Notice the breath cool as you breathe in and slightly warmer as you breathe out.
Make no attempt to control or restrain the breath,
But just allow it to assume its natural rhythm.
We can start by noticing sensations in the soles of the feet,
Feeling the temperature and any tingling or contact.
And just begin to gently relax this area,
Extending the inner gaze around the ankles and over the tops of the feet,
Accepting everything as it is,
Without judgment,
As we move through the calves,
The knees and the thighs,
Feeling the weight of the body on the glutes and noticing the base of the spine.
We can gently arrive at the area of the waist and the lower back,
An area where we can notice a little tension and just in the spirit of committing to being kind to ourselves,
We can give the back a little stretch,
Maybe pushing the chest out and bringing the shoulder blades back before releasing on the exhale as we guide the mind's eye open to the middle of the back and the upper back,
Allowing any prominent sensations just to be and not trying to shut anything out,
Being kind and knowing that the body will relieve any residual stress on its own,
On its own,
Maintaining this commitment to complete self-care.
We can come into the abdomen now and slowly sweep the attention up through the cavity in the torso,
Through the organs and into the center of the chest,
Over the breadth of the chest,
Again an area where we can feel some tightness and which will also experience a release of discomfort naturally,
Feeling into the shoulders and dropping down the arms,
Past the elbows,
Forearms and into the wrists and hands,
Maybe feeling some heat or perspiration in the palms,
A subtle warmth that will radiate outward extending to all areas of the body in its own time as we feel into the neck and throat and begin to relax any tension in the face,
Cheeks,
Nose,
Eyes and forehead,
Arriving at the top of the head and just enjoying the sense of peace that is beginning to arise,
Feeling a little more calm and centered here,
We can give our mind permission to drift to and fro without judging or labeling but just being here with ourselves,
Still tranquil and completely at ease,
Experiencing this increasing sense of stability and calm,
We often notice that the mind begins to settle and we can take a couple of seconds just to feel a sense of gratitude here for carving out this space,
For creating time for ourselves just to be in what is the ultimate act of self-love,
Life can be incredibly overwhelming at times,
It can feel like there's a never-ending demand on our time,
Our energy and our attention,
We may also feel pressure now and again in the form of external expectations on how we ought to be,
An almost continuous barrage on the mind,
Whether that be our parents,
Academic life,
Work,
Our social relations and even social media,
We can often forget that in reality we are completely fine exactly as we are,
We don't need to change,
We don't need to be we don't need to be different,
We don't need to be more complete,
Instead like trees in a forest,
All different yet simultaneously bringing an immeasurable beauty to nature,
Our inherent uniqueness represents the different ways of being,
Variations that bring their own richness to our subjective experience and to those around us,
Taking this time out to cultivate a deeper self-acceptance and self-love is not a strange thing to do,
For it is only by accepting,
Knowing and integrating all parts of our experience that we can become the people that we truly want to be,
The people that we deserve to be and the people that the world needs us to be,
And so as we feel the warmth,
Comfort and safety of this present moment we can remind ourselves that this true reality is always available when things get a little too much,
A limitless space completely free of expectations and standards where we can recharge,
Renew and recommit to our being completely ourselves without reservation,
With kindness and compassion,
Coming close to the end of the meditation period now,
Take a moment to check in with how you feel,
Notice the changes and the shift in your perspective,
There's no need to quantify or attach any labels,
We can just feel and know,
Remember that you can work with this practice whenever you need to and as many times as you like,
You will now hear the bell ring three times and on the third ringing of the bell,
Slowly open the eyes and return to the room.
