Hello,
This is Billy,
Here to guide you through this meditation.
To begin,
Find your way to your comfortable meditation posture,
Maybe seated,
Kneeling,
Or lying down,
And give yourself a few moments to settle in here.
Feel free to take any last-minute movements or shifts or fidgets,
Knowing you're always free to move and adjust should discomfort arise.
Then,
Begin to close down your eyes or lower your gaze and soften on a focal point a few feet out in front of you.
Take a nice,
Slow,
Deep breath in through the nose,
And exhale the breath away.
Another nice,
Slow breath in,
And exhaling that breath away.
This last time,
Slowly fill all the way up,
Hold the breath at the top,
And notice how that feels.
It might feel good at first to oxygenate in this way,
But once you hit the tipping point where it feels like this breath is no longer serving you,
Simply exhale the breath away.
Notice how good it feels to let go of something that's no longer serving you,
And simply allow your breath to return to its natural rhythm,
Either in through the nose and out through the nose,
Or in through the nose and out through the mouth.
No need for force or effort here,
Just trusting that like water always finds its level,
So too the breath will settle in to its own natural,
Easy rhythm.
Then,
See if you can feel your body from the outside in,
As if you could wrap yourself in a blanket of your own consciousness,
Like you were enveloping yourself in a shawl of your own kind,
Mindful,
Loving awareness,
As you take a moment to feel this body in its totality,
And consider all that the body has done for you today,
The way it's held you or moved you,
The work it's done,
The processes seen and unseen,
And then just silently to this body saying,
Thank you,
Thank you.
Repeating these phrases after me,
You can say to this body,
Thank you for all that you've done for me,
And all you continue to do for me.
Thank you for always keeping me safe and protected.
Thank you for all you've carried,
And all you continue to carry.
Thank you.
Just noticing how it feels to speak to the body in this way,
And going a little further,
Just saying to this body,
Thank you.
And just know that I'm okay right now.
In this moment,
Everything actually is okay,
And you can relax.
Thank you.
I'm okay.
You can relax.
Not forcing or creating a feeling of relaxation.
Just offering this body the possibility of relaxation,
Knowing it will accept the invitation in its own time.
Freedom to drop in.
Thank you.
I'm okay.
You can relax.
From there,
Bring your attention to the heart space,
A moment to sense the emotional coloring in your experience right now,
And feeling the heart in three dimensions,
The top and bottom of the heart,
The left and right sides of the heart,
The front and back of the heart.
As you just say to this heart,
Thank you.
Thank you for all that you've done for me,
And all you continue to do for me.
Thank you for always keeping me safe and protected.
Thank you for all you've carried,
And all you continue to carry.
Thank you,
Heart.
And just know that I'm okay right now.
In this moment,
Everything actually is okay,
And you can relax.
Thank you.
I'm okay.
You can relax.
From here,
Bring your attention to the mind.
Often in meditation,
The mind can be perceived as something to quiet or silence or overcome,
But here just take a moment to recognize all that the mind does for you in your daily life,
The planning,
The organizing,
The creativity,
The problem-solving,
The ways in which the mind supports you and moves you through your life,
And just silently saying thank you.
Thank you,
Mind.
Thank you for all that you've done for me,
And all you continue to do for me.
Thank you for always attempting to keep me safe and protected.
Thank you for all that you've carried,
And all you continue to carry.
Thank you.
Just know that I'm okay right now.
In this moment,
Everything actually is okay,
And you can relax.
Thank you.
I'm okay.
You can relax.
Having offered this gratitude to body,
Heart,
And mind,
Just feeling into your own being in its totality,
Knowing body,
Heart,
Mind,
Just words we use to label,
Differentiate parts of a larger whole,
When fundamentally body,
Heart,
Mind,
None of these are separate from one another.
They're not opposing or different forces,
And leaning back into that part of yourself from which you are able to offer this gratitude and these assurances,
We will introduce a mantra into our practice.
This mantra comes from the great spiritual teacher Ram Dass,
As you just silently to yourself begin to repeat,
I am loving awareness.
I am loving awareness.
I am loving awareness.
Settling in to a pace and rhythm with this phrase that feels comfortable for you.
Just giving a voice to that compassionate space with which you've already held yourself in warmth throughout this practice.
I am loving awareness.
As you progress,
You can drop the I am,
Simplify this phrase to just loving awareness.
Loving awareness.
And resting in that feeling of loving awareness.
When the mind wanders,
Which it will,
No judgment,
Just returning to this kind mindful loving awareness and the repetition of your mantra.
On your next out breath,
Letting go of any focus or effort or intention.
Just allowing yourself to be completely free and at ease.
Again,
Reawakening to the space around you.
Opening towards sounds and sensations.
Maybe the light streaming in from behind the eyes.
Breath drawing deeper,
Movement reemerging,
However slowly.
Whenever you're ready,
The eyes can begin to blink open as you reenter the stream of your day.
