Welcome to the Stay With Yourself guided meditation for learning to sit in stillness.
Start by sitting comfortably in a chair with your feet firmly planted on the floor and your hands gently resting in your lap.
Feel yourself supported by the seat of the chair beneath you and feel the back of your body supported either by the back of your chair or by your spine extending tall and upright from your sitting bones all the way up to the back of your neck.
And from these points of support,
Your bottom on the chair and the back of your body supported,
Feel the rest of your body relaxing,
Softening,
Releasing tension.
Tap your shoulders down and back.
Soften your heart space.
Release any tension that you're carrying in your face and your forehead,
Around your eyes,
Your jaw,
Your mouth.
Allow your legs to become heavy and soft and feel your arms soft and heavy as well.
And then bring awareness into your breath.
Long slow inhale,
Long slow exhale.
Really try to breathe as deep into your body as is comfortable for you.
You can imagine breathing all the way down into your belly,
Feeling your tummy expand with air like an empty balloon being filled with air.
And as you exhale,
Feeling your tummy softening and releasing tension.
You can imagine a sleeping baby,
A napping cat or a dozing dog.
Notice in your mind's eye how their tummies expand on the inhale getting really full like a big balloon.
And as they exhale,
All of that air is released and their tummies go really soft and flat.
And from a relaxed state with an easy going breath,
Breathe deeply in and deeply out.
Doing your best to feel it all the way down into your tummy.
I want you to allow your body to go very,
Very still.
Allow yourself to come into stillness.
Feel the edges of your body.
Feel your skin.
Feel where your clothing touches your skin.
Feel yourself here in this moment,
Whole,
Contained and complete.
Nowhere to go,
Nothing to do.
Your whole being here in this moment,
Breathing in and out.
Your heart beating for you and only you in this moment.
Your breath breathing for you and only you in this moment.
And notice that in this moment,
All is well from this place of stillness.
Notice the stillness of everything around you.
The stillness of objects.
The stillness of the chair you're sitting in.
The stillness of the walls if you are inside.
The stillness of the air around you.
Just take a moment to really,
With your eyes closed,
Scan this room.
Be aware of all the stillness that surrounds you.
And notice that you might have thoughts come up,
Fears,
Worries,
Ruminations,
Creative ideas,
Completely unimportant things.
Just allow your body to be still,
Feeling your breath moving in and out.
And you can even feel your way into your brain,
Not your thoughts,
But feel your forehead.
Just be aware of your forehead.
Be aware of the back of your head.
Feel the top of your head.
Feel your ears on the sides of your head.
Be aware that there is a brain inside of your skull.
Try to just feel your brain.
Just the actual beingness of your brain in your body.
Feel it.
Feel your brain.
And be aware that your brain and your thoughts aren't even one in the same.
Your brain is here in the present moment,
Contained within your body.
Along with your breath,
Breathing in and out,
Feel your breath.
Feel your legs supported by the chair beneath you.
Feel your feet.
Feel your hands and arms.
Then feel your brain.
And imagine that any thoughts that are coming in,
They are not a part of you.
They are not who you are.
Really imagine your thoughts like they are clouds passing by in the sky,
Or like they are particles floating through the air and you just get to watch them float by.
Because again,
Your brain is not your thoughts,
Your thoughts are not your brain,
Your thoughts are not who you are.
They're just thoughts.
So let's sit here in stillness,
In silence for several minutes.
And just allow yourself to observe your thoughts coming through.
Like you're just sitting back,
Really,
Really just watching clouds go by.
And if you begin to identify with your thoughts or they upset you or cause any sort of feeling in your body,
Come back to that body scan of remembering feeling your brain,
Feeling your body,
Feeling your breath,
Feeling the stillness and the presence of yourself in this space and the stillness and presence of everything around you.
And again,
Noticing,
Okay,
The thoughts are there,
But they are outside of you and you're watching them.
And let's just be very,
Very still here together,
Staying really,
Really centered in our bodies.
Just stay in your body.
And if you leave your body and get caught up in your thoughts,
Remember that as soon as you realize that you're getting caught up in your thoughts and you come back to your body,
You are back home.
And you just start from there.
Keep breathing.
And if you feel the need to fidget,
Just remind yourself to be really still.
Any feelings or sensations arise in the body,
Just allow them to come up and stay really still and present with them.
Just like with thoughts,
You notice that they come and they go.
Nothing is permanent.
You don't need to get attached to your thoughts or get overly concerned with them.
Just come back to your body,
The stillness of your body in this moment.
Keep breathing and come back to any number of things that help you stay here while your thoughts go on out there.
You do not need to act on your thoughts or do anything with your thoughts.
You can allow yourself to just be.
And breathe.
I'm going to leave you here with several minutes of soft music so you can continue practice sitting in stillness on your own.
Come back to this practice as often as you need morning,
Noon and night.
Just allowing yourself to be still.
Until next time,
May you stay with yourself today and always.
