Hello and welcome to this meditation.
My name is Rachel and I'll be your guide this morning.
This is a gentle morning mindfulness meditation for sensitive souls.
I began to write this meditation the other morning when I'd woken up and I'd had a bad night's sleep.
The bed wasn't comfortable and the wind was loud and I'm not a great sleeper at the best of times.
And when I don't get a good night's sleep I have a tendency to spiral and I'm prone to thinking the day will be over before it has begun.
I think this is especially true to anybody who's sensitive or perhaps find sleep a little tricky.
I could feel my body begin to respond and my mind begin to criticise.
And then it came to me this notion of acceptance.
Instead of fighting and being irritable throughout the day I could just accept what was.
And today I was going to bring that notion of acceptance into my day because we can't always change how we're feeling.
We can't always change the external outside world but what we can do is we can learn to create stillness and acceptance within our inside world.
As John Kabat-Zinn said,
We can't change the waves but we can learn to surf.
We can learn to be present and just accept what is coming up for us and allow it to move through us rather than consume us.
And today I bring into this practice for you this notion of acceptance.
Accepting yourself and meeting yourself however you are today.
So just begin to find a comfortable seated position.
Ideally as it's morning time this will be in an upright position and just begin to pay awareness to your breathing.
Perhaps soften the shoulders,
Soften the jaw and take a slow steady breath in and a long slow breath out.
And just begin to notice the breathing pattern for you.
And just notice without changing,
Just notice how the breath is right now.
Begin to continue to focus on this breathing.
For a few more moments.
Not trying to change it but bringing in that mindful acceptance,
That mindful acceptance for the breath.
You might place one hand on your abdomen.
And just begin to pay attention to your breathing pattern.
Bring in whatever your breath is happening most noticeably to you to help you connect to it.
And just begin now to allow your awareness to expand slightly from this narrow focus of your breathing to include sounds.
And still focusing on the breath but noticing the sounds that appear.
First notice any sounds that are the nearest to you.
Perhaps the subtle sound of your own breathing.
Perhaps the tapping of a radiator or the rain on a window.
Just noticing any immediate sounds,
Any immediate sounds at the moment.
And then allow your awareness to open to the sounds of the room around you.
Perhaps the sound of a door opening.
A little bit more distant in the room.
Perhaps the hum of a fridge.
Something that is still in this room but a little bit further away.
And then bring awareness to the sounds furthest away.
Perhaps outside,
Distant,
However they are,
Just notice them.
Let them come into your awareness without offering them a storyline,
Without trying to analyze them.
Just noting these sounds as they come in.
Bringing that mindful acceptance into this practice.
Noticing the texture,
The tone,
The rhythm of the sounds rather than labeling them birds,
Car,
Just noticing the sound for what it is.
And continue to do this for a few more moments.
And just remember whenever the mind wanders,
As minds are designed to do,
Bring your attention back mindfully to the breathing and the sounds that you hear.
Guiding it back always with compassion and acceptance.
Just continuing this for a few more moments.
Noticing with awareness and acceptance.
Notice if the mind is busy and bring it back continuously without judgment to the focus of the breath and the sounds.
Keep drawing that acceptance in,
Noticing without criticism.
And now gently beginning to just focus on your breathing.
Bringing attention to the fingers,
The toes,
Making some micro movements.
And I invite you to bring this intention of acceptance through the day.
Carrying this idea of acceptance into whatever comes up for you today.
Perhaps if you're in a crowded space,
Perhaps something goes wrong at work.
Instead of judging,
Can you just be with it?
And let the breath be a gentle guide back for you whenever you feel yourself criticizing what's going on.
And in your own time,
Just gently blinking open your eyes.
And coming back to the room.
May you have a good,
Restful,
And compassionate day towards yourself.
