Finding a comfortable seat.
This can be sitting or lying and closing down your eyes.
Choosing to press pause on everything around you.
Perhaps it's a day just gone by.
Thoughts about tomorrow.
To-do lists.
Imagining that the whole world,
Just for now,
Pauses.
And bringing your full awareness to whatever time of your busy day that you are choosing to stop and pause.
Breathing as you would normally.
There is no need to change or alter or force any particular breath.
Following the whispers of your own body and maintaining a comfortable natural rhythm throughout this practice.
If at any time your mind becomes distracted or begins to wander,
Return your awareness to your natural breath.
Entering and exiting your body comfortably.
Bringing your attention to the sounds or noises around you now.
Allowing them to enter your awareness without distracting you from your practice.
Are these sounds inside or outside the room?
Are they gentle and comfortable?
Muffled or loud or distracting?
Maybe there are no sounds.
Perhaps your breath is the only sound you can hear as it enters and exits your body.
Bringing your attention now to any smells in the room.
What smells do you notice the most?
Maybe there are no smells.
Do these smells invigorate your taste buds at all?
Sometimes smells and tastes can invite memories or sensations to arrive in our body or our minds.
Allowing whatever your experience is to be exactly as it is in this moment.
Bringing your attention now to the part or parts of your body where you are sitting or lying.
What parts are touching a surface?
How do these surfaces feel?
Maybe hard,
Soft,
Supportive.
Sinking a little more into the surface beneath your bum,
Your feet or your back now.
Feeling the ground beneath you.
Feeling her support and exploring for a moment what this feeling of being held feels like.
Bringing your awareness now to your mind's eye and imagining a bright light at the very top of your head.
This light starts to enter your body through the very tip.
This light begins to travel very slowly down your body,
Taking in all the spaces.
Filling in all the gaps and bringing a lightness to each part it touches and passes through.
Starting with the top of your face and moving down.
Through your eyes,
Your cheeks and nose,
Your lips and chin.
Coming into your shoulders now and upper back.
Travelling downwards and filling in all the spaces it touches.
All your organs as it passes through.
Your stomach and lower back.
Your pelvis,
Your hips.
The tops of your legs.
Your lower legs.
Simultaneously taking in your arms,
Your hands and your fingertips.
And finally your feet.
As you notice the light leaving your body it is absorbed by the earth beneath you.
And as this happens a lightness comes over you and you imagine now your feet rising slightly above the ground.
And you feel as light as a feather.
As you are transported out of the room you are in,
Rising up and up.
Before you see anything you are greeted with a warm blast of heat against your face.
You recognise that it is the sun shining high above you and you feel its warmth on your skin.
It feels nourishing.
It feels healing.
Taking in this feeling for a moment.
Do you notice the skin on your feet are greeted with a grittiness that feels like sand but also it's warm and soft.
Next you begin to notice in the distance the sound of waves.
They sound soft yet forceful.
And gentle yet strong.
You may choose to keep your eyes closed as you begin to walk towards the sound of the waves.
With each step your feet slip slightly as grains of sand dance with each step.
Sometimes your feet sinking a little more than you expect in the soft warm sand.
You feel it between your toes.
You keep walking.
The sun may be in front,
Above or behind you and you feel its warmth against any exposed skin,
Perhaps your neck,
The backs of your arms.
Perhaps it's some time since you have felt the sun on your skin and it feels so good.
Noticing now the sound of the waves is getting louder and eventually you fall upon a shoreline and now you can see the waves that have been calling you.
Choosing now to approach,
Closer or staying a little back.
Choosing to sit or stand.
Eyes open or closed.
There are no rules,
So what feels good for you?
Spending a few moments here now,
Taking in the sight and the sounds.
Perhaps asking the waves to take with them a fear you have.
A difficulty you have been facing.
You may choose to ask for some guidance or invite someone to join you on the beach.
You may also choose to just be.
With no questions to ask.
With no expectations.
Just taking in what is happening in this space.
Gently returning your awareness to my voice.
Remembering that you can visit this beautiful place anytime you wish.
Coming to your feet and brushing off the sand.
Taking one last look at the water.
Saying anything you need to say.
Before turning and walking back the way you came.
Three steps.
Two steps.
One final step and now your feet gently guide you back to your physical body.
Taking your time as you begin to notice once again the room that you are in.
What can you feel beneath your body?
And slowly begin to move.
This may look like a gentle sway.
Patting your body gently or moving your head from side to side.
Staying for as long as you wish.
And only when you are ready.
Gently blink your eyes open.
Readjusting to the light in the room.
Go gently into sleep or to the rest of your day.
And thank you so much for meditating with me today.
