Hey,
Namaste.
This is Yogini Brittany and I welcome you to this mindfulness practice to help you dissolve anxiety,
Decrease stress,
And allow your body and mind to experience peace and relaxation.
Let's begin.
Come into any comfortable position.
It's often best to sit,
But you can do this meditation standing,
Lying,
Sitting,
Or even walking.
My guidance will assume that you're sitting,
But adapt the instructions to whatever posture you've chosen.
Just as long as your spine is straight,
Get relaxed and see if you can establish a position that allows for you to feel alert,
Yet relaxed.
Allow your body to settle and rest down into gravity,
Letting it be supported by the floor beneath you.
When you're ready,
Softly,
Gently close your eyes if that's comfortable.
This will help your awareness to settle by lessening the external distractions.
Gradually allow your awareness to gather around the sensations of your breath and gently notice where you feel your breath right now.
While we're here,
Be curious about your actual experience and let go of what you think should happen and be with your experience without judgment.
If you feel your breath really high in your chest,
Shift your breath down.
Can you feel the belly swelling on the in-breath and subsiding on the out-breath?
Can you feel any movement or sensation of the breath in the sides and back of the body as well?
Gradually let your body sink a little deeper into the sensations you're feeling.
Remember to be accepting of whatever's happening,
Holding your experience with gentle awareness as it is.
See if you can cultivate a precise awareness of the sensations and movements of the breath in the body as they happen.
Witness the breath travel all the way from the belly through the ribs to your chest.
Observe it as it falls from the chest and all the way back down to the belly.
Now become aware of any thoughts and emotions.
Remember that mindfulness isn't about having a blank mind,
It's completely normal to think.
Mindfulness is the training where you cultivate awareness of what's actually happening physically,
Mentally,
And emotionally.
With increased awareness,
You can gradually change your perspective and feel how you have more choice in how you relate to life.
See if you can look at your thoughts and emotions rather than hear from them.
Just observe.
Can you be aware of what you're thinking and feeling without blocking the experience or getting overwhelmed by it?
Stay connected with your breath and use the awareness of the movement and sensations of the breath in your body as an anchor for the mind over and over again.
Come back to the breath.
As thoughts arise,
Know that they are not facts,
Even though we think that they are.
As you develop perspective on your thoughts and emotions,
Including small ones,
Can you let go of being so caught up in them?
Notice how they're continually changing,
One moment to the next,
Exactly the same way our breath is,
Always changing.
Your thoughts and emotions are not as fixed,
As solid,
As you may think.
Always just come back to the breath.
Follow the breath all the way in and all the way out.
Each time your awareness wanders,
As it will,
Simply note this,
Returning to your breath time and time again,
Moment by moment,
Making sure you're very kind and patient with yourself,
Even if you have to start again,
Over a hundred times.
Starting over and coming back is perfectly okay.
This is an exercise.
It's what this training is all about.
Remember that each time you notice you've wandered is a magical moment of awareness,
A moment where you've woken up from distraction,
A moment of choice.
So when you catch yourself having wandering thoughts,
You've succeeded in the practice,
Just as you're succeeding when you manage to stay with the breath,
Even if it's just for a moment.
What are you thinking?
Just note this without analyzing.
Guide your awareness back to the sensations of the breath in the body.
Where do you feel the breath right now?
Become aware of the sounds around you,
Inside of the room and outside of the room.
Feel your whole body and gradually,
Gently begin to move,
Making sure you give yourself time to make a smooth transition from your breath practice into whatever you're doing next.
I thank you for taking time out of your day to enjoy a few deep breaths with me.
The divine light in me truly honors the divine light in you.
Until next time,
Peace.
