We'll start in a comfortable seat,
So preferably sitting on a pillow or on the ground,
Find a gentle cross-legged position.
You can rest your hands on top of your knees,
Sitting up nice and tall.
Allow the spine to stack on top of the pelvis,
Head and neck stacks on top of the spine.
Then gently you can close your eyes once you are here.
Start to focus your attention and your awareness on the self,
Focusing your attention and awareness towards your breath.
As you breathe every inhale,
Feel how the body expands and fills up.
As you exhale,
The body softens and releases.
So actively deepening the breath now,
Maybe seeing if you can create more time and space between every inhale and every exhale.
As we inhale,
We send the breath down toward the lower part of the belly,
Inflating the lower part of the belly,
Thinking of blowing up a balloon.
And then exhale all the way out.
Let the balloon deflate.
We're going to do 10 rounds of deep,
Heavy breathing.
So together we'll inhale through the nose,
Sealing off the lips,
Inflating belly,
Holding it for a moment.
Exhale out the nose.
Think of squeezing the navel towards the spine.
Exhale all the air out.
Inhale through the nose,
Holding it for a moment.
Exhale out.
Inhale through the nose.
Exhale out.
Dropping into the present moment,
We inhale.
And we exhale out.
Inhale.
And exhale out.
We have five more rounds to go.
Inhale through the nose.
Exhale out.
Find that space in the rib cage,
In the belly,
In the chest.
We inhale.
And we exhale.
Beautiful.
Three more.
Making these as deep as you can go.
Inhale through the nose.
Find that expansion,
Holding the breath.
Exhale out the mouth.
Sigh it out.
Let it go.
Inhale.
Exhale all the way out.
Last one.
Inhale.
And exhale out the mouth.
And release.
Take a moment now to settle back into the body.
Finding a natural rhythmic breath and releasing all breath control.
Maybe noticing the expansion in the body.
Now the breath moves freely through the body as you inhale and as you exhale.
Let us direct our focus,
Attention and our awareness toward our mind.
Checking in with our inner landscape by just simply observing.
Not getting directly involved,
Observing and noticing the thoughts,
The emotions,
The feelings that might be coming up to us in this moment.
Noticing the thoughts floating around in our mind.
Thinking of each thought representing a cloud.
And there's a gentle breeze blowing the clouds and in this case the thoughts through the mind.
So soon as one thought enters the mind,
It exits just the same.
In this way we take on the role of the observer.
Maybe just noticing the happenings of the mind without controlling,
Without changing,
Without latching on to any specific thought.
And I invite you whenever this feels a bit overwhelming,
Just coming back to the awareness of breath.
Coming back to your inhales and coming back to your exhales.
And then ask yourself now,
How am I doing in this moment?
Checking in with the self.
Trying to be as honest and authentic as possible with yourself.
How am I doing in this moment?
How am I feeling in this moment?
What serves me in this moment and how can I release the things that don't?
What ideas,
Emotions,
Feelings don't I want to carry into the rest of my day?
What would I like to let go of right here,
Right now?
And not letting these questions overwhelm the mind.
Try not to think about it too much.
Usually the first answer that arrives comes from an intuitive place.
Coming from an authentic and honest place.
And taking this time to check in with your inner landscape.
And then expanding on these answers,
Painting the picture for the rest of the day.
Setting your mood,
Your atmosphere,
Your environment internally,
So it can show up in our actions externally.
Setting our intentions and how we would like to show up.
And once you have done so,
You can just come back to the breath.
Once again focusing your attention,
Your awareness on the breath.
Gently expand the belly and the chest.
And allow the belly and the chest to fall with your inhale and your exhale.
As air moves in and out of the body.
And if you would like,
You can place both palms flat on top of the chest.
The center of the chest.
Find a moment of connection here.
We end our meditation with gratitude.
Gratitude to self.
Thank yourself for taking time in your day to reflect and to check in.
Thank your body and your breath for what it does for you in every moment.
And will continue to do for you in the moments that follow.
Thank your practice for what it teaches you.
And when you are ready,
You can gently open the eyes.
