So we want to get a really nice setup,
Nice comfortable place to meditate this morning.
So I've chosen to sit on a little blanket,
You can be on a chair,
You can be sitting on the floor,
You can have legs outstretched,
Whatever feels good for you.
So just find in a comfortable position.
But either way,
Making sure sit bones are rooted down,
And if we're sitting on a chair,
Make sure your feet are in touch with the earth,
Or maybe put a book underneath them just to raise the earth up a little bit so you can feel grounded through the feet.
Here we're going to think about our hand position.
You can just rest hands onto the legs,
Maybe making that chin mudra with the thumb and first finger,
Palms up or down,
Or resting the right hand into the left,
Joining the thumbs in our dhyana mudra.
All of these are really nice hand positions just to let you relax,
Finding a little bit of space between the arms and the body so there's a little bit of airflow.
And this morning,
We're going to think about the spine before we come into our meditation.
Allow yourself to lengthen through the spine,
Maybe tuck the chin ever so slightly,
But we're not going to let the head bow.
And with the next exhale,
Just allow your eyes to either close or just gently lower your gaze down to the earth.
So just letting yourself be here for a moment,
Feeling everything start to settle.
So just let in the sit bones root down,
Letting your shoulders become soft.
And just allow your breath to be completely natural for a moment.
I'm going to start to notice our inhales and exhales.
Noticing where at the front of the body and the sides of the body is moving as we breathe.
And just allow for your awareness to stay with that movement for a moment.
So just tuning into the breath.
If we notice that we're not breathing deep down into the bottom of the lungs,
Our belly isn't moving.
See if you can encourage that kind of easy breath where chest and belly both inhale as they kind of inflate out,
Exhale as they retract back towards the body.
So you can either keep your attention with the movement at the front of the body,
Or if you wish you can take your awareness to your nose and to the nostrils where your breath is moving in and out.
So wherever the awareness feels like it sits more comfortably with you,
Just take your focus to that place,
The front of the body or the nostrils.
And just let your awareness stay there.
And allow yourself to become completely aware of your breath,
Either the movement of the breath in the body or the sensation of the inhale and the exhale at your nostrils.
Staying with that focus.
And just see if we can let anything else that's around fade into the background.
You can be aware of any noises,
But don't allow them to hold your attention.
You can be aware of any other thoughts or activity in the mind,
But don't allow it to hold your attention.
So keeping that focus with your breath.
Staying with that focus on the natural breath.
If any distractions come,
Acknowledge them,
Know that they're for later on,
And then bring that focus back to your breathing.
Staying with the inhales and the exhales.
And just letting everything else have the volume turned down.
As you remain with that focus,
That attention,
That awareness on your breath.
Allow an awareness on the breath to remain for another few moments.
Yes.
Stay with that breath.
Noticing if any distractions are creeping in.
If they are,
Just allow them to just drift away like little white fluffy clouds in a blue sky.
Bring that focus back to your breath.
Staying quiet.
Keeping our focus.
I'd like you to just become aware of the travel route of the breath as it comes into the body.
And as it leaves the body.
Just following the path of the breath.
As you inhale.
And exhale.
I'd like you to become aware of the sensation of your sitting bones down onto the earth or the chair.
Just let yourself feel grounded for a moment.
Connected.
Settled.
Centred.
Start to seek out any sounds in the room or in the building that you're in.
Just allow your mind to move from sound to sound.
And then seek out sounds a little further.
Maybe outside.
Just notice how far away you think those sounds are.
Allow your breath to deepen slightly.
Maybe take a big exhale through the mouth.
We're going to release our hand gesture if we chose one.
And take a moment to just let the head bow to the lap.
Keeping the eyes closed for now.
We're going to bring our hands together.
Rub the palms together to create a little heat into those hands.
And then gently allow your hands to cover your eyes.
Raising the head back up.
Allow your eyes to softly open and then let the fingers divide as you let that light filter in once more.
We can allow the hands to come down.
And we have finished our meditation this morning.
