Hello,
My name is Cristiane Machado and I'm here to guide you through a meditation that will leave you feeling more grounded,
Calmer,
And perhaps even more focused.
We're going to start by finding a comfortable position.
Whatever comfortable position feels right to you.
You could be lying down,
Maybe with your knees propped onto a pillow,
And using your highly intelligent and creative mind,
Visualizing that you are seated upright.
If sitting upright feels right for you,
I invite you to explore that position.
Grounding yourself through your sits bones,
Either on your visualization or literally in your body.
Wiggling,
Finding a position that really feels doable for the next 10 minutes.
Allowing your hands to be restful on your knees or by your sides,
With the palms facing up,
In sign of receptivity,
As you are here to receive.
We start our journey by taking a moment to notice your breath.
Nothing needs to be controlled yet.
Just notice your breath.
And you're going to start taking control of that breath.
You're going to fill up your abdomen,
Your thoracic cavity,
By taking a deep breath in.
And exhaling,
Allowing the air to go out naturally through your nostrils.
We are going to be breathing through the nostrils.
Unless you feel congested,
Then it is okay to use your mouth.
The breath starts on your pelvic floor.
And you sip up as if you're pulling air into a straw,
All the way through your chest.
And you exhale,
Letting all the air go.
And at the bottom of the breath,
Squeezing your navel gently into your lower back.
Filling up,
Growing tall on your spine.
And exhaling,
Relaxing and releasing.
This is the breath for the reminder of this meditation.
If at any time throughout this meditation you lose your breath,
Know that that's natural.
Our thinking process tends to get in the way.
And all you have to do is to notice that you're no longer breathing consciously.
And bringing your awareness back into the breath.
Noticing if your mind is judging or criticizing your process.
And then let that go and come back into the breath.
As you breathe consciously,
I invite you to get curious about the breath.
The volume of air that comes in through your nostrils.
And the volume that goes out.
Noticing if with your in-breath,
There is any smell,
Any essence to be felt.
Noticing the feelings with your breath.
Breathing in.
And exhaling,
Letting it out.
This is your primordial function.
The breath is the most amazing tool that we possess for self-regulation.
Breathing in slowly and long brings the mind and the nervous system into a parasympathetic state,
Which is the rest and digest.
And that's where we want to live.
In modern life,
We tend to breathe very rapidly.
And that actually makes our nervous system feel like it needs to fight or flight into the sympathetic state.
But by practicing this beautiful gift of breath,
We can change and shift the way we are perceiving a situation in our lives.
Keep on going with your breath.
And now I invite you to keep the breath going,
But also notice the sounds that you can hear.
The river that rolls down into the rocks.
The water flowing.
The trickling of droplets coming into this pool of water.
Maybe you can even notice the vibration of the cicadas.
Maybe you can even feel it in your body.
If by focusing on what you hear and feel,
You lost the breath,
Come back to it.
Breathing in long and exhaling long.
Curiosity,
It's a beautiful gift.
And what a wonderful thing you are doing by devoting your time and your energy to go within,
To travel into the vast universe that resides in you.
By doing so,
We become more aware of our thinking processes and how,
At times,
We allow our minds to take over our lives.
The mind,
Powerful,
Highly intelligent,
And creative,
Is meant to be at our service and not the other way around.
Breathe,
Connecting your body with this beautiful mind of yours.
Noticing all of your senses,
Your capacity to smell,
To hear,
And even your capacity to see.
If your eyes are closed,
Maybe you get curious about what is happening inside of your eyelids.
If your eyes are open,
Focus on one point in front of you,
Noticing also your capacity to taste.
Maybe you swallow and notice if there is any taste on the back of your mouth.
Transfer all of these senses into the sensations of your body.
Maybe you feel a little breeze from a fan or air condition.
Or if you are outdoors,
The breeze brushing the hairs on your arms.
Getting back to your breath in case that you lost it.
Being present here and now with this practice of being.
Nothing to do besides paying attention to yourself.
And now you're going to take five of the longest breaths you can master.
Breathing in fully,
Filling up your whole entire body.
And exhaling,
Squeezing any old,
Stale,
Stagnant air out.
Breathing in from that new space that you just made with the exhalation.
And exhaling,
Squeezing everything out.
Take three more like that at your own pace.
And here we are.
We have arrived at the final destination of this practice today.
I hope you enjoyed it,
Knowing that you can always come back to this place.
Cultivating awareness,
Calm,
And intentionally going about your life.
Be well,
My friend.
