Short Settling Meditation

Sitting in a nice comfortable posture,

Begin by spending a few moments simply glancing around the space you're in.

Noticing what you can see.

Before allowing your eyes to gently close.

Feeling into the body sitting.

How it's supported by the surface beneath you.

Noticing how it feels.

The most obvious sensations.

Perhaps releasing the most obvious tension or holding you might notice in your body.

And appreciate any subtle movement in the body as you breathe.

You might feel this as a gentle rise and fall of the chest.

Or a little rocking motion in the torso.

The shoulders dropping a fraction with each out breath.

If you'd like you can take a slightly deeper breath.

Releasing the out breath as a gentle sigh.

And you can repeat this a few times,

Breathing in,

Feeling the body expand.

And then allowing the breath to fall out of the body without effort.

If there's a little pause at the end of the out breath,

You can rest here for a moment before you need to breath again.

And now allowing the breathing to return to its natural rhythm.

Uncontrolled.

Easy.

You might notice thoughts or feelings arise and that's okay.

It's perfectly fine.

You need not try to stop or quieten them.

Just allow them to drift through your mind as you focus on the breath and the body.

Letting the belly soften.

The face soften.

The body settling.

Gently opening up your awareness so that you can take in the sounds you can hear.

Sensing the space around you.

And feeling the touch of air on your skin.

And when you're ready,

Gently allowing your eyes to open and moving mindfully through the rest of your day.

Take care.