Welcome to your meditation practice.
We'll begin in a moment to settle in.
So if you need to take a minute or two to find a chair to get comfortably seated,
Just pause the recording now.
Otherwise,
Go ahead and let your hands rest in your lap.
Allow the soles of your feet to make contact with the floor.
Feel the touch and the temperature of the floor beneath your feet.
Notice any points of contact that your body is making with the chair or the surface beneath you.
And now see if you can sit up a little bit taller.
It might feel good to take a few shoulder or neck rolls,
Feeling into any areas of tension or stress.
Moving first in one direction and then coming back for the other side.
And then begin to find stillness if you've not already.
And let your eyes close.
And if you're uncomfortable closing the eyes for any reason today,
Just allow the gaze and the eyelids to be soft.
Try to refrain from focusing the eyes.
Let your vision blur a little bit.
Bring your attention to your breath now,
Allowing it to be natural at first and take inventory here.
How is your breath showing up?
Is it smooth or jagged?
Fast or slow?
Shallow or deep?
Conceal the lips.
Take the next inhale in through your nose.
As you exhale,
Open the mouth wide like a yawn.
Sigh it out through the mouth.
Two more rounds just like that,
Breathing in through the nose.
Let the exhale be audible.
One more round,
Breathing in.
Exhale,
Release any emotion or stress that might be present.
In the first part of our practice today,
We'll continue concentrating on the breath.
In a moment,
I'll guide you to begin inhaling to a count of four and exhaling to a count of six.
By exhaling for a longer duration than the inhale,
We change from our fight-or-flight mode in our nervous system into the rest and digest.
Our brainwaves begin to shift.
We'll induce a sense of calm.
Now seal the lips.
As you breathe in,
We count two,
Three,
Four.
Breathe out through the nose,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
Breathe in,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Breathe out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
In,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
Now take a few more rounds here,
Counting for yourself.
Breathing in to the count of four,
Breathing out to the count of six.
Notice if the mind has started to wander,
Bring your attention back to your breath.
Breathing in for four,
Breathing out for six.
At the bottom of your next exhalation,
You can let go of the breath.
Just observe the quality of the mind.
We'll transition now from concentrating on the breath to rotating our awareness throughout the body to release tension and induce relaxation.
Before we begin,
Set the following intention.
I will remain awake.
I will give this practice my full attention.
Bring your awareness to the soles of the feet.
Allow your feet to relax.
Scan through each one of your toes.
Let each toe soften and relax.
Moving your awareness to the ankles,
Feel them soften and relax.
Now the lower leg,
Soften and relax.
Bring your attention to the knees,
The tendons,
The ligaments,
Soften and relax.
Moving that relaxation up the upper leg.
Letting go of any tension,
Feel them soften and relax.
Paying attention now to the pelvis,
The pelvic floor,
Soften and relax.
Relax the glutes.
Relax the hips.
Feel the lower belly soften.
Bring your attention to the middle of your torso.
Allow it to soften and relax.
Softening around the ribs.
Relaxing the chest.
Then bringing your attention to the lower back,
Soften and relax.
Moving the attention up the middle back,
Upper back.
Feel the shoulder blades soften and relax.
Let the shoulder sockets feel heavy and soft.
Relax the upper arms.
Relax your elbows.
Relax the forearms.
Relax the wrists.
Softening through the palms and the back of the hands.
And bringing your attention to each finger one by one,
Let them soften and relax.
Bring your awareness now to the neck.
Feel it soften and relax.
Melting through the throat,
Releasing the jaw,
The lips,
The muscles around the mouth and in the cheeks.
Relax your ears,
Your nose.
Relax the eyes and the muscles around the eyes.
Soften the temples,
The eyebrows and the forehead.
Bringing your attention to the crown of the head and the scalp,
Feel it soften and relax.
And now imagine a warm liquid,
Maybe an oil,
Coming down from the crown of the head.
And as it moves down the body over the face,
The shoulders,
The chest,
Allow that to release any remaining tension.
Let it move all of your cares,
Your worries,
Your stress down the body in the direction of your feet.
Allow it to flow slowly and feel a sense of release as it moves down the body.
Feeling any tension or stress just exiting through the soles of the feet.
We'll take a few moments here in this state of deep relaxation just to be.
If you notice that your mind begins to wander,
I'll invite you just to come back to that inhale of four and that exhale of six.
Become aware now of your breath.
Notice perhaps if it's audible or if there's any sounds in your space.
Allow your next breath to be a little deeper,
Drawing in energy.
Might invite some gentle movement into the fingers and the toes.
Rolling the wrists and the ankles,
Maybe rotating the head,
Stretching into the neck.
Take your time coming back into the body,
Back into the space.
Take a full breath in through your nose.
Exhale out through the mouth.
Two more rounds,
Breathing in.
When you're ready,
We'll slowly start to open the eyes.
Let the gaze be soft.
Thank you for sharing your practice with me today.
I hope to practice with you again soon.
