Well,
Hello,
Hello,
Namaste.
Thank you for joining me on this meditation journey.
I hope you get a lot out of it.
So this first meditation session we'll do,
We'll just talk a little bit about preparing for meditation.
And we'll do a short introductory meditation session,
And then we'll close.
So when we come to meditate,
It might be obvious,
But it's worth saying,
You want to choose a space that you can kind of claim for yourself,
Whether that's a room in your home with the door shut,
Or maybe a beautiful space in nature,
Not too many people around.
Just pick a place that's quiet and where you know you won't be bothered for the duration of your meditation.
At least try.
I know it's sometimes hard being at home with other people living with you,
But you could just tell them that you're meditating and you'll be busy for a few minutes,
That you'll see them afterwards.
So another thing is to try to find a what we call comfortable seat.
So when we're meditating,
Unless we're doing a specific meditation that is lying down,
We want to basically be sitting up.
This is not,
Doesn't have to be true all the time,
But in a lot of cases,
We want to make sure that we're staying awake during our meditation.
And when we lie down,
It's easy for us to fall asleep.
So when we're choosing our space,
Perhaps we need a wall behind us.
Perhaps we're sitting in a chair or perhaps we're sitting on a cushion or a pillow with our legs crossed,
Or maybe you have a fancy meditation seat,
Kneeling seat or something.
Just make sure that during your meditation,
You try to make yourself as comfortable as possible so you don't have to move that much.
Because when you move,
You get distracted from the meditation,
From the focus.
So try to pick a seat that you can stay in for the duration of the meditation.
And this will change over time.
You'll find what works for you and what doesn't.
So,
Yeah,
Just be aware of that.
And lastly,
These meditations we're going to be doing will be with eyes closed.
Of course,
There are meditations out there that you do with eyes open,
Standing and walking and all kinds of different ways.
But these meditations are going to be with you mostly sitting,
If you can,
And then with your eyes closed.
So that's it for our preparation.
I hope you have found a comfortable place to sit,
A quiet place to sit,
Maybe in nature or in a nice space in your own home.
And here we go.
So I invite you to sit up nice and tall.
Roll back your shoulders.
Make sure you have a prop behind you if you need to,
Underneath you,
Wherever you need in your body.
And I invite you to close your eyes and take a few deep breaths.
So let's do that together.
Let's inhale and exhale.
Good.
Let's inhale again and let's exhale.
Good.
One more time,
Let's inhale deeply and exhale.
Let it go.
And as you continue to breathe softly through your nose,
Just allow yourself to come into the present moment.
So inhaling fresh breath,
Fresh air into your lungs and into your body,
And exhaling anything that doesn't serve you anymore,
Exhaling tension,
Exhaling stress,
Exhaling worry,
Exhaling thoughts,
Exhaling the past,
Exhaling the future,
Inhaling fresh present moment awareness.
Start to feel yourself drop into your space,
Drop into your body,
Allowing the breath to take you there.
Relaxing your eyes,
Relaxing your jaw,
Relaxing your shoulders,
Relaxing your heart,
Relaxing the hips,
Relaxing the legs,
Feeling as though you have a string tied to the top of your head.
And that string is being pulled up,
Up,
Up,
Up,
Gently and easily.
So your body is relaxed,
Yet the frame of your body is open.
Just breathing here nice and gently.
Good.
And now I'd like you to take your attention to the sounds all around you.
Bring your attention to the sounds all around.
First,
We listen for sounds in the distance.
Perhaps it's outside of the room you sit in currently or maybe far away from where you sit.
Just noticing all the sounds in the distance.
And now begin to notice all the sounds nearby.
So you hear the sounds and notice them.
Perhaps it's a fan in your room or a bird chirping above you in a tree.
Begin to notice the sounds near you.
Good.
And now begin to notice all the sensations on your skin.
Perhaps it's the heat of the sun or maybe the coolness of the air on the hairs of your skin.
Perhaps you feel your clothes or perhaps some little itches or little tickles in different places,
Temperatures,
Textures,
Sensations.
Take the next few moments to notice all the sensations on the body.
Good.
And now I invite you to bring your awareness to the center of your chest and observe how the breath rises and falls at the center of your chest.
Without trying to control or manipulate the breath in any way,
Just notice your natural rhythm and the natural rising and falling of the breath with each inhale and each exhale.
Good.
Good.
Continue to keep your awareness at the center of the chest,
The breath rising and falling.
Start to sink your awareness inside of your chest to the heart.
Notice these sensations underneath the skin.
Do you feel a warmth there?
Can you sense the blood pumping in and out of your heart?
Can you feel the beating of your own heart?
Stay here for a few moments longer and notice.
Do you feel emotions here?
Do you feel energy here?
Continue to deepen your awareness without needing to label or control or analyze what you observe.
If you feel anxious,
Notice that.
If you feel sadness,
Notice that.
If you feel anger,
Notice that.
Perhaps bliss,
Joy.
And as you continue to watch,
We try to remain detached without judgments or reactions to what we see.
Notice this steady stream of awareness and observation,
Watching as the enemies come and go.
Let's take a few more moments here observing.
Good.
Continue to deepen your breath and start to notice the breath rising and falling from the center of the chest once again.
Notice the sensations on your skin once again.
Notice the sounds all around you,
Both near and far.
Feel yourself sitting on the floor or chair or earth and feel your whole body.
Gently come into your center.
So notice a place inside you that feels like your center.
Maybe it's your heart.
Maybe it's your belly or just below your belly,
Your dantian.
Go to that place either with your mind's eye or if you wish,
You can touch it with your hands or perhaps placing your hands in a prayer pose and pressing your thumbs up against your chest.
We'll bow our head now down to our hands or to our heart and just acknowledge the light within,
The higher self,
The wisdom within.
You can relax your hands,
Relax your eyes open and slowly come out of your meditation posture when you're ready.
So when we do meditation,
We like to come out of it softly and gently as we're traversing different realms of consciousness,
Different states of the brain waves.
And it's good to just come up really slowly and come out of it slowly.
So there's no need to rush.
If you want to after your meditation,
You can do some journaling.
Just whatever you do,
Try to hold this feeling in your memory for when you need it for the rest of your day.
Namaste.
