This is a guide to meditation to help you move through depression.
Noticing those thoughts that are burning your mind into a place of feeling tired or stressed.
Recognizing them,
Acknowledging them,
And then moving past them.
First we want to start by sitting in a comfortable position.
Either sitting in a chair,
Lying down on your bed,
Or even laying on the floor.
And if your mind is feeling heavy,
Swirling with lots of thoughts today,
Just let it go and start by focusing on your breath.
Noticing the pace of your breath,
The rhythm.
Are your breaths short?
Are they quick?
Start by taking a full deep breath in through the nose and out through the mouth.
Let's do that two more times.
Deep breath in through the nose,
Filling the lungs all the way,
And long breath out through the mouth.
One more,
Just like that.
Deep breath in through the nose,
Long breath out through the mouth.
Noticing the body relax to the ground of the chair on the exhale,
And just noticing the weight of the body and how it feels today.
Just focus back on the breath.
Gently letting the breath go back to a normal rhythm,
Focusing on moving in through the nose and out through the nose.
Maybe following the breath as it moves down the throat,
Down to the lungs.
Noticing the rise and fall of your chest as the air reaches your lungs.
Allowing your belly to be soft,
Letting it expand with the breath.
No judgment,
No stress.
Simply focus on your breath.
Moving that air deeper into the body now,
Following it out to the shoulders,
To your arms,
Passing the elbows,
Moving down to the wrist,
To the hands,
And to the fingertips.
And just maybe noticing how the hands feel right now as this breath moves in and out.
Follow the breath now past the lungs,
Past the belly,
Moving down into the hips,
Relaxing the hips to the legs,
Just letting the legs feel heavy.
Maybe the feet turn slightly out as they fall towards the earth.
Following the next breath now to the knees,
Noticing how the knees feel today.
Is there any pain?
Is there any tension?
Deep breath in,
Long breath out through the nose.
Following now that breath down to the feet,
Passing the ankles and the heels,
The bottoms of the feet.
Maybe feeling a slight tingling sensation as the breath moves across the feet all the way to the tips of the toes.
Now this next breath,
Follow it all the way through the body,
And as it moves,
Just imagine the body relaxing one muscle at a time from the top of the head all the way down to the tips of your toes.
Deep breath in,
Slow breath out through the nose.
I want you to think now about your thoughts.
What is on your mind in this moment?
What is something that is feeling heavy and is weighing you down?
Do you have a big decision to make?
Did something already happen?
Or is there fear of what could happen?
Think about whatever that problem is and imagine being able to write it on a piece of paper and then crinkling up that paper to a very,
Very small ball.
Taking that small ball of paper and it slowly disappears.
It just becomes smaller and smaller until it no longer exists.
Now think about in your mind how much more space there is with that thought removed.
Thinking about other thoughts that are swirling.
Maybe you see one of a family member or a friend or a loved one that you care about dearly.
Think about that special person and now let that thought of that person become larger and it grows until that thought is large enough for that person to appear in front of you in this moment.
And they reach out and hold your hand.
Imagine seeing them tell you you're going to be okay.
Everything is going to be okay.
Deep breath in,
Slow breath out.
Now think now about something that you've been wanting to do that you enjoy but you haven't had the energy.
Thinking now about your body because it's relaxing here.
Remember a day when you had the energy to do that one thing that you enjoy.
Maybe it's going to the gym or dancing or singing,
Walking the dog,
Being around friends or any other activity that brings you joy.
Just imagine that moment how you felt.
Visualize yourself with a smile on your face and just enjoying that moment.
And it's the best moment ever had while doing that activity.
Feeling the warm sensation it gives you.
It moves through your body and maybe it gives you goosebumps thinking about it.
Focus on that memory of that perfect day doing your favorite thing and feeling so happy and full of so much energy and excitement.
Deep breath in,
Slow breath out through the mouth.
Give yourself a few more moments to just focus on the breath,
Following it as it moves down to the throat and down to the body.
And anytime that your mind feels heavy,
Just think back to that moment of that perfect day doing your favorite activity with a smile on your face.
You're going to be okay.
You'll get through this.
You will find energy again.
This feeling will not last forever.
Deep breath in,
Slow breath out through the mouth.
Start to wake up the body a little bit.
Maybe wiggling your toes and your fingertips.
Maybe doing a full body stretch just to wake the body back up.
And when you're ready,
Slowly open the eyes and go about your day.
