Namaste and welcome to your practice for today.
My name is Somya and the name of the practice is Tuning In.
The reason I like to call it tuning in is because you will be doing a little bit of a check in with yourself.
You will be checking in with your body,
Your mind and your emotions.
This is a great practice to be done first thing in the morning to start off the day at a calm and composed note or you can also do the practice before you are about to end the day or retire to your bed and then it gives you the opportunity to really check in with what is going on in your body,
Mind and in your emotions.
You can also choose to do the practice any time during the day when you are feeling a little bit unsettled or overwhelmed to figure out what is it that you need in this moment.
So to do the practice you would just need to find a space where you will not be disturbed for the next 10 minutes and then we can get started.
To begin the practice,
I invite you to sit up nice and tall in a comfortable posture of your choice.
Relax your shoulders and allow your back to be straight without making it stiff.
If you are seated on a chair,
Push your feet into the ground gently and feel the surface underneath the soles of your feet.
If you are seated on your yoga mat,
Take your awareness to the bottom of your spine.
Relax your forehead,
Release any tension from the jaw and gently close your eyes.
You can keep your palms on your thighs or cup them gently in your lap,
Keeping your elbows close to the body and right away begin to connect with the natural inflow and outflow of your breath.
We tend to be so busy in our day to day lives that often we only find time to rest on the weekends or when we feel completely spent.
The idea behind daily check-ins is to help you get in touch with whatever is going on with you,
Physically,
Emotionally and spiritually.
We are working on the skill of paying attention gently and mindfully.
The more you practice the skill,
The better you get at it.
Take a deep breath in and sigh it out.
Take another long breath in and exhale from your mouth.
Breathing in through the nose,
Breathing out through the mouth.
Repeat this three more times at your own pace,
Relaxing your back,
Relaxing your shoulders,
Relaxing the whole body with every outgoing breath.
Beautiful.
Allow your breathing to come back to normal now and take your awareness to your body.
Notice how do you feel today?
Are you tired or active,
Sleepy or awake?
What does your body need today?
Do you need rest or do you need to move around?
Allow the answer to surface on its own and whatever comes up,
Notice it and acknowledge it.
Take a deep breath in and let it go.
Take your awareness to your abdomen.
Gently scan your entire abdomen.
This is where we tend to feel our emotions in our body.
This is also the place where sometimes emotions that have not been processed tend to get stuck.
So as you continue to breathe,
Notice how do you feel today?
Are you happy or sad?
Are you anxious or calm?
Or do you feel a mix of emotions?
Without any judgment,
Just how you feel.
Perhaps the emotion has a name or maybe it is just a sensation.
And once again,
Whatever comes up,
Notice and acknowledge it.
What do you need to do today to take care of yourself emotionally?
Let the answer surface on its own and if nothing comes up,
That's okay too.
Move your awareness to your mind now,
The part of you that thinks.
How is your mind today?
Are you focused or distracted?
Are there many thoughts or are you feeling present?
Do you feel patient or hurried?
And once again,
Whatever comes up for you,
Notice without any judgment.
Take a deep breath in and a long breath out.
What do you need to do today to take care of your mind?
Allow the answer to surface on its own and just acknowledge it.
Now take your awareness back to your breath and gently observe your breathing in silence for a couple of minutes.
Just noticing the inflow and outflow of your breath.
Not trying to change it in any way.
Not trying to force it in any way.
Just noticing how the breath moves in and how it moves out of your body,
Keeping you alive,
Keeping you alive.
And as we come towards the end of the practice,
Take a long breath in.
The longest breath you've taken all day filling your whole body.
And as you exhale,
Let everything go.
Please all effort.
Now gently wiggle your fingers and toes,
Coming back to the room and back to your body.
Take a nice good morning or good evening stretch once you feel complete.
And you may open your eyes whenever you feel ready.
Thank you for joining me in this practice today and for sharing your time and your energy with me.
I would love to know how the practice made you feel or what came up for you so you can let me know by writing something after you stop the meditation.
And if you enjoyed your practice today,
I would also invite you to follow this page so that you can try out some of the other meditations that are available here.
And with that,
I would now take your leave with a heart full of gratitude and just wishing you a lot of peace as you go ahead with your day.
Namaste.
