Today's meditation is on helping you to reduce stress in your day.
Let's begin.
Start by finding a comfortable seat.
You can sit with a tall straight spine.
It might feel good to lie down today or sit on a chair.
Wherever you are,
Start to bring your attention to your breath.
When you are ready,
You can close your eyes or you can keep your eyes open and gently lowered and your gaze soft.
Start by finding your breath.
So noticing the sensation of the breath coming in through your nose,
Filling up your lungs,
Your chest,
And then the feeling of the breath coming through your nose,
Exhaling slowly,
Mindfully,
Letting it go.
Keep breathing.
Keep bringing your awareness to your breath.
Your only job right now is just to breathe and let go.
Today we're going to focus on the breathing technique called the diaphragmatic breath.
It might feel helpful to you to place one hand on your belly,
Your lower belly,
Your diaphragm,
And then one hand on your heart.
Really connect in with yourself.
Begin to inhale slowly through the nose and as you inhale,
Feel your belly expand as you breathe into your diaphragm.
And on your exhale,
Breathe out slowly through either your nose or pursed lips and feel your belly fold downwards,
Contracting into your spine,
Into yourself.
So we'll try that again.
Taking a deep breath in through the nose,
Belly expands,
Holding slightly at the top,
And then exhaling slowly,
Mindfully,
Breathing out through your nose or pursed lips and feeling your belly contract in towards your spine.
Keep breathing with this style of breath and find a pace that feels natural to you,
That invites some ease into your day.
Research tells us that brief meditation,
And when we say meditation,
We simply mean conscious connection to your breath.
When we focus on our breath,
It allows us to reduce stress in our mind and in our bodies simply by bringing our awareness to the breath.
So if you find that your mind wanders through meditation,
Know that this is completely normal.
Every time it wanders,
Just gently bring your attention back to the breath,
Back to the inhale,
And then back to the slow exhale.
On your next breath in,
I want you to just silently repeat the mantra to yourself,
I am doing my best and that is enough.
Breathing in,
I am doing my best and that is enough.
Breathing out,
Continue with this style of breathing for the next minute.
I'll mind the time.
Your only job is to breathe,
Let go,
Silently repeat the mantra to yourself,
I am doing my best and that is enough.
On your next breath in,
Start by bringing your awareness back into the room.
It might feel good to release your hands now,
Take a deep breath and this time sigh it out loud,
Just releasing and letting go.
When you are ready,
You can just gently open your eyes,
Look around the room but remain still,
Remain quiet,
Savoring this feeling of stillness and connection to yourself.
Whenever you feel stressed throughout your day,
Tune into your breath.
It is always there waiting for you.
Thank you for meditating with me today.
