Cultivating Ease Within

This meditation re-orients the mind towards ease and what feels okay on the inside. Tune in and tap into the resiliency of the moment. This one is great for beginner meditators with fast minds and/or restless bodies.

Transcript

Maybe start with taking a few full breaths,

Inhaling through the nose and exhaling slowly through the mouth as you start getting your body situated in a comfortable posture.

Letting the body be upright but not rigid so that your breath can be full.

Feeling your seat sink into the surface beneath you with each exhale.

Feeling your feet sinking into the ground beneath you.

After you've taken those first few breaths,

Just let go of any idea of how you think your breath should be and see how the body wants to breathe you today.

Take a moment before you close your eyes to just look around your space.

Notice the colors,

The light,

The shadows,

The space and the objects.

Maybe find a couple of things that stand out to you that feel comforting to look at and you can name them silently or out loud to yourself.

Really using your whole head and neck to look slowly through the place you're in and help yourself to get oriented to the present moment.

You can actually do this entire practice with your eyes open or closed,

Whatever feels more comfortable with you.

So now as you go in to the body,

Go ahead and start by feeling your feet and the sensations in your feet.

You can notice if they're numb or vibrating.

You might feel the pressure between your foot and the floor.

Feel the temperature of the top of the foot and the bottom of the foot.

You'll notice that the mind wanders.

It's not a problem,

That's just what the mind does.

Whenever you notice that it's wandered,

That's a moment of mindfulness.

Just bring it back to the sensations of the feet.

You can even press your feet just a little bit into the surface beneath you just to get a good sense of them being there.

Then I'll have you slowly scan through your body and notice if there are any places of tension that you can easily soften.

We don't need to try to fix anything or change anything,

But if you invite it to soften and it goes ahead and follows along,

Just let it.

You can check with the jaw,

The eyes,

The shoulders and the belly,

The pelvic floor and the feet.

And the next few exhales,

Continue to invite any place in your body that feels tense or tight,

To be a little bit more at ease.

Now what I'll have you do is see if it's possible to find a pleasant sensation in your body.

It might be really hard to tell if it's pleasant,

It could be closer to neutral,

That's fine.

But we want something that feels easy enough to connect with,

Feels somewhat comforting or easeful,

Pleasant.

Just find something that's good enough,

Something that's not too intense.

Maybe it's the warmth of the hands,

The earlobes,

A little toe or the tip of the elbow.

Maybe it's the breath coming and going.

And if you can't find anything,

That's completely okay.

Sometimes it takes a while.

So keep coming back to this practice over and over and someday you'll find that you can.

When you land on something pleasant,

Just hang out with it.

Notice how much space it takes up in your body,

If there's vibration or tingling,

Movement or stillness,

A particular temperature.

And you'll notice that the mind wanders,

It's not a problem.

Whenever you can,

Just bring it back to the pleasant sensation.

If you can't find a pleasant sensation in your body,

You might notice the things in your room that you landed on in the beginning.

Maybe the space that you're in has something to look at that brings the quality of comfort or ease.

And just hang out with it and notice what happens inside you.

Some people really enjoy sounds.

So you could notice if there's a sound that you can connect to in this moment.

It might even be silence.

Hanging out with this experience just for another minute or two and you'll notice that the mind comes in and it wants to pull the mind away.

This is mind training.

It's also practice.

What we practice grows.

So if we've been practicing stress or panic or anything uncomfortable for a long time,

It's going to feel really familiar to start training the mind towards things that are more easeful.

That's why we call it practice.

When we practice this enough,

It'll be just as easy to access as stress is.

It really takes some time though and I know it can be a little uncomfortable at first or even a little bit boring.

Just check it out and see how it helps you today.

Taking another three or four breaths with this sensation,

This sound,

Or this thing that's in your space,

Just notice what happens inside you when you can really take it in,

Experience it.

Sometimes we think that when we focus on something that's pleasant,

If we're having a stressed out time,

That we're just bypassing it or we need to figure it out.

It will still be there when we're finished with this practice.

So we can make time for it afterwards,

But right now we're becoming a little bit more grounded so we can approach it in a more thoughtful and mindful way.

Now before you come back fully into your space,

See if there's any part of this experience that would be helpful to stay connected to,

Whether it's the breath,

Maybe the pressure of the seat on the surface beneath you,

Or that pleasant sensation you felt in your body.

And gradually bring yourself back into the room fully and completely as you stay connected to that helpful sensation.

When you come back into the room or the space that you're in,

Take a few moments to really look around slowly again,

Using your whole head,

Neck,

And eyes to orient you to this space and this present moment where you are.

And then maybe take a few full breaths to end your practice.

And we'll see you next time.

Reviews

Thank you. I was freaking out and feel like I was on the verge of panic when I used this to center myself.

Great technique!!! Many thanks.

Excellent short practice :)

Thank you. This is a very mindful relaxing easy meditation. Namaste

Great, with a helpful, casual style.

Extremely helpful! Thank you!

Great for calming and mindfulness. Thank you.

This is a lovely meditation, thank you!

One of my favourites!

Helpful and eased tense muscles. Thanks.

Thanks. That was very well done, and very relaxing. Thanks again. Good job.

Very good for mid day awareness

Good beginner level practice.

I appreciate the gentle encouragement and cues to guide my focus.

What a great practice when you are stressed or just to develop new neural pathways for ease instead of chronic stress
I will practice this one thankyou

A good, positive practice

Perfect for the busy workday

I like this, nice and short, with a helpful message.

Thank you Shelby, wonderful. Just want was needed🙏🏻🌸

nice short & sweet way to start my day on a good wave💕