Hi,
This is Stephanie Boxerbaum.
Thank you so much for meditating with me today.
For today's practice,
We're going to be doing an easy thoughts meditation.
You know how sometimes,
Depending on whatever you have going on in your life,
At any given moment,
Things can just feel tense.
Maybe you feel it in the body,
Maybe you feel it in the mind,
Where you just kind of want a moment to find some ease.
And not that meditation,
You know,
Can solve everything,
Of course,
But we can pause,
We can give ourselves a moment of stillness,
A moment of quiet,
And very easily jump back into the busyness of our lives.
It's just that sometimes we can invite ourselves to have some ease,
Just to try to find some gentle relaxation.
Whether that feels like kind of letting the mind go for a moment,
Or maybe taking a few deep breaths.
It's helpful as we have these practices that we can kind of allow ourselves to come to whenever they're needed.
So we'll do a little bit of a mindful breath practice and a few compassion phrases if you're familiar with that.
Just as an easy way to allow some stillness,
That continuity of attention to give you that sense of peace as you kind of go back into the day or perhaps into your evening.
So with that being said,
Find a comfortable seat,
Allowing your eyes to gently close,
Or perhaps you want a mindful gaze if that feels comfortable today.
Really whatever feels the most comfortable for you.
Maybe you want to lay down tonight or in the morning,
Whatever it is that works.
And just allowing the body,
The mind to come to rest.
Taking a gentle breath in and a deep exhale out.
Doing that once again,
Deep inhale in,
Gentle exhale out.
And let's just notice the mind.
Maybe you have a lot of thoughts going on in the mind today.
That's totally okay.
Can just be with it.
Letting the mind settle.
And let's begin to notice the breath.
Inhaling and exhaling at whatever cadence works for you.
Maybe you notice thoughts coming in and coming out.
But we can keep coming back to the breath.
Using that as a steady place to allow the mind to come to rest.
Maybe you find a place to bring us back to center.
I'll watch our time here for this next bit.
And invite you to really just allow the mind and the body to settle.
Being kind,
Being gentle with yourself.
Thoughts come up,
It's okay.
Continuing to come back and bringing the mind's eye back to the breath.
On this next gentle inhale in and a relaxing exhale out.
I invite you to find some phrases that work for yourself that you'll say silently in the mind.
So this can look like something like,
May I have some ease.
May I have some ease.
Really whatever phrase kind of resonates with you today to allow yourself to let go of the tension of the day.
And just calmly coming back to that phrase.
So maybe the mind wanders off and you can come back to this phrase,
May I have some ease.
And this is a well-wishing.
And this phrase allows us to give ourselves kind of this moment of even if we don't have any ease,
It allows us to kind of put out this sentiment of may I have some ease.
So you can really allow yourself to pick a phrase of maybe this well-wishing that you're in need of today.
So finding something that works for you in this moment,
Because every day and every meditation practice is different.
Using this phrase to come back to when the mind wanders.
And it's okay,
Maybe midway through you forget the phrase and you need to come back to something else.
It's all this journey of allowing yourself just to practice being still,
Practice being mindful,
Practice checking in with yourself where you're at.
So just really extending this invitation to pick something that works for you today.
And I'll watch our time here.
As we gently inhale in,
Exhale out.
Exhale out and silently repeating the chosen phrase in your mind.
Sharing a kind reminder to gently come back to the phrase without judgment.
It's okay if the mind wanders off.
You can continue to come back to this gentle place using the phrase that works best for you.
On this next deep inhale in and gentle exhale out.
Letting go of the phrase and beginning to maybe put some sensation back in the fingers and toes,
Maybe wiggling them a little bit.
Taking notice of your surroundings.
And just taking a moment to be kind to yourself.
Adding in some gratitude for taking the time to find some stillness.
So you can go back out into the world and do exactly what you want to do.
As always,
I like to share the reminder that you are always enough as is.
Thank you again for meditating with me today.
I look forward to meditating with you again soon.
