In this calming meditation,
We'll just be using the breath as an anchor and using the
word calm to help us focus on our breathing,
As well as to hopefully generate feelings
of peace throughout the session.
So beginning with your eyes open,
Get comfortable,
Sit with a relaxed but alert posture,
Keeping
your back straight.
Take a moment to check in with yourself,
See how the mind and the body both feel.
And then take three deep in-breaths through the nose and out through the mouth.
In and out,
In and out,
In and then gently closing your eyes on the out-breath.
And also closing the mouth and breathing through the nostrils for the remainder of the session.
Start to notice how heavy your body feels,
The heaviness of the legs,
The arms,
The torso
and the head,
Feeling gravity pulling you down towards the ground.
And then start to notice any sounds that might be present,
No need to strain here,
Just allow
the sounds to arise and to disappear all by themselves.
And then when you're ready,
Gently start to become aware of the breath.
Just focusing your attention wherever you feel the breath most clearly.
This could be at the nose,
In the chest or in the belly,
Any of them is fine.
See how repeating the word calm in tandem with the breaths feels.
So you would say mentally calm on the in-breath and calm on the out-breath,
Continuing this
indefinitely and just remembering to revert your attention back to the breath and to the
calm mantra if your mind wanders.
If it helps you can elongate the sounds of the word calm,
So you would say mentally calm
on the in-breath,
Calm on the out-breath.
By elongating the sound of the noise,
You again reduce the scope for thoughts to distract
you.
Try not to be frustrated or upset if your mind has wandered at this stage.
Remember to put a little smile on your lips and in your mind and just gently reverting
your attention back to the breath and to the mantra calm.
When repeating the word calm,
See if you notice any calm sensations anywhere in your body.
It might be that the breath naturally slows down or it might just be a feeling of relaxation
in your body and if you start to get these feelings,
That's great.
Notice them,
Enjoy them and allow them to be.
The mind is naturally very busy,
So once again please don't get frustrated or upset if the
mind has wandered and you have forgotten that you were supposed to be meditating.
Your reaction here is crucial.
If you can maintain a positive attitude,
If you can even be happy that you've noticed
that the mind has wandered,
This will massively speed up your progress.
So just gently and smilingly revert your attention back to the breath and repeating
the word calm and now just gently giving up all efforts entirely,
Allowing your mind to
be free to do whatever it wants.
Notice any sounds,
Any smells,
The sensations of sitting and before you open your eyes,
Check in with your mind and your body.
See if they feel any different to how they felt before the session began and then when
you're ready,
Gently opening your eyes.
Again being careful not to just rush off mindlessly,
Just slowly and gently returning yourself
to the room.
Be happy that you've taken the time to meditate today and congratulate yourself for doing
so and have a great day.
