Start by finding a comfortable position.
You might be seated or lie down,
Maybe on your back.
Bringing your attention to your own comfort.
If there's anything that you can do to make yourself 5 or 10% more comfortable,
Adjusting support,
Adding a blanket,
Do that.
If you're comfortable closing your eyes,
Close your eyes.
And then notice how solid the support is beneath you and begin to relax against it.
Notice the points of contact between you and what's supporting you.
Let the sensation of touch and pressure increase as you give in to gravity.
Begin to let go of everything that has happened before this moment and everything that will happen after.
As you come to stillness,
You might notice that thoughts are rushing in to your brain to try to pull you out of this moment and into the past or future.
As you notice that happening,
Imagine that you are standing on the shore and that these thoughts are just waves coming in and landing on the shore just beneath you.
If you find yourself caught up in one of the waves and pulled out into perseverating,
Ruminating thoughts or daydreams,
When you realize that's happened without judgment,
Gently bring yourself back to this moment.
You might return by noticing the breath,
Which is always available as an anchor to this moment.
You might invite that breath to start and end in the low belly.
Or you might just notice the track of your breath from when it enters your body until it leaves.
What moves as you breathe in?
What moves as you breathe out?
How relaxing it is to just allow your body to breathe itself.
Perhaps notice other sensations,
The sound of my voice or other sounds around you,
Near to you or farther away.
What does it feel like to hear sounds?
Without even assigning meaning to the sounds,
Just notice the quality of the sounds.
Are they soft or loud?
Near or far?
You might also tune into the feel of the air on your skin.
Is it warm or cool?
Does it move?
Is there a slight breeze?
And perhaps also noticing any emotions sitting in your body today.
Without assigning it a value of good or bad,
Just study curiously what is the sensation that lets you know you're feeling an emotion.
Where does it sit in your body?
Is it in the belly,
The chest or the throat?
Or is it somewhere else in the body,
A jitteriness or a tightness?
Can you imagine holding it with patience and kindness?
Or can you imagine making so much space for it inside of you that you can hold it with peace?
If the emotion feels overwhelming,
Return your attention to sensation outside of your body.
The air,
The sounds or maybe just watching your breath.
Soft,
Long,
Slow breaths.
Extra long exhales.
Completely empty the lungs.
Continue to return attention over and over to this moment as that is the practice.
The practice of attention to this moment,
Giving the brain a rest.
And now we'll go through a relaxing body scan so that we can stay in this moment and maybe also get a deep rest for our bodies as well.
Letting go of the habitual tension and tightness that we carry as we rush about our days.
Starting with the muscles in the forehead,
Soften them and soften that little space between your eyebrows as well.
Allow your face to grow soft,
Expressionless.
The jaw goes slack,
Tongue loose in the mouth and a little space between the back teeth.
Let the shoulders melt down away from the ears and maybe your shoulder blades can come a little closer together across your back,
Letting your chest fall open and soft.
Soften the back of the neck.
Let the whole back body melt against support.
Upper back muscles soften,
Mid back relaxes.
Let go of any tension in the low back and the hips as well.
And then bring your attention to your belly.
Let go of any holding or tightness there.
The jaw,
The shoulders and the belly are places where we carry a lot of stress through our days so check in and make sure that those places stay soft.
Let the arms and legs grow heavy where they've landed.
You can increase that weight by softening the muscles in the thighs,
Relaxing the calves,
Softening your ankles,
Relaxing each individual toe and relaxing the soles of your feet.
Shoulder muscles and upper arm muscles relax.
The forearms grow heavy where they've landed.
Relaxing the wrists,
Each individual finger and even the palms of your hands can grow soft now.
For these next few moments,
You are not responsible for fixing anything.
There is no place to be,
Nothing to do.
Let the thoughts come and go without judgment,
Without engagement.
On an in-breath notice if there's any last bit of tension,
Tightness or holding anywhere in your body.
And on a nice long slow gentle exhale,
Release it,
Let it melt away with the breath.
Maybe do this several times,
Allowing yourself to sink down one more layer of relaxation with every exhale.
You can remain here now for as long as you like.
When you are ready to end your meditation,
Bring awareness back to your body,
Maybe with a little soft movement of fingers or toes or take a gentle stretch.
If you're lying down,
Gently roll onto your side,
Moving slowly.
Try to hold on to any sense of relaxation you managed to create.
Take one more long slow deep breath and notice how you feel.
