And now,
You can begin to also close your eyes,
Closing off the sensory impressions and just connect into your body.
So see if you can find a comfortable seat,
Sitting cross-legged,
See if you can have three points of contact with the floor,
And close your eyes if you haven't already.
And now start to notice your breathing.
You don't have to do anything,
Just notice the way that it's moving through your body.
Whether it feels shallow,
Maybe it's stuck in your chest,
Or if it feels deep,
Maybe you haven't really ever tried to notice your breath before.
So now is an opportunity to just recognize where it is in your body,
How it flows through your body.
And maybe notice if you can relax your shoulders a bit more,
Relax your jaw,
Feel if there's any tension around your temples or behind your eyes,
See if you can relax this area.
Relax your arms,
Let them just rest on your knees,
And allow your body to be at ease.
Our breath flows naturally through our body,
You don't have to do anything.
Right now you can just be aware.
Maybe you can feel your chest rising with the inhale,
And falling with the exhale.
And as you start to notice how your body moves with your breath,
See if you can gradually begin to deepen your breath.
Deeper inhales,
And longer and slower exhales.
When we have the chance to deepen our breath,
It begins to calm our nervous system,
So we're engaging the parasympathetic nervous system,
Which allows for calm,
Restoring in your body.
And at any point during this meditation,
There will be thoughts coming into your mind.
Allow them to be there,
And allow them to go with non-attachment and non-judgment.
You can recognize,
Oh,
There's a thought,
And bring yourself back to your breath,
And allow the thought to flow away.
Focusing again on deepening your inhale,
And lengthening your exhale.
And you can see if you can visualize your breath,
The full cycle of your breath.
So from the bottom of the inhale,
All the way up to the top,
And then flowing back down through the body on the exhale.
Inhale,
You might feel the energy moving up through your body,
Maybe even up all the way to your throat or your nose.
And on the exhale,
Flowing back down your chest through your belly.
It can be helpful to visualize this,
To give you a point of attention.
Now we can begin with some gentle diaphragmatic breathing.
So on the inhale,
You'll allow your belly to release.
And on the exhale,
You pull your belly back in towards your spine.
It might be helpful to place the hand on your belly so you can feel the movement.
Inhale,
Allowing your belly to release.
And exhale,
Bring it back towards your spine.
Inhale,
Allow the belly to release.
And exhale,
Bring it back towards the spine.
You can continue at your own pace here,
Allowing gradually your breath to deepen and lengthen.
And you still might notice that thoughts will arise.
Just let them come,
And with non-judgment,
Let them go.
The practice of meditation is not being perfect at meditating or perfect at breathing,
But it's to practice our ability to be able to be resilient with the thoughts that come and with all the challenges that life brings.
And you know that your breath can be a moment of safety,
A moment of comfort,
Putting your hand on your belly,
Connecting with your breath,
Lengthening the inhale and deepening on the exhales.
Now you can notice maybe if it's easier to visualize and follow the full cycle of the breath,
The full inhale and the full exhale,
As you're still moving your belly,
Releasing on the inhale and pulling your belly slightly back towards your spine on the exhale.
And you'll notice gradually with this subtle attention on our breath,
Our breath naturally begins to deepen.
Now you might also feel a bit more calm in your body or in your belly,
And you can release the breathing,
Go back to your normal breath,
And feel what that feels like in your body now.
You can feel if there are any points of tension in your body,
Maybe in your shoulders,
In your back,
In your legs,
On your feet,
And see if with the gentle awareness that you cultivated with your breath,
You can flow your breath and ease energy to that area in your body,
And on every exhale,
Allowing your body to calm.
And again,
On every exhale,
See if you can allow your body to relax even more,
Easing with every exhale,
Aware of your body with every inhale,
Easing your body with every exhale,
Aware still that thoughts might come into your mind.
Allow them with acceptance and let them flow with non-judgment.
Now I invite you to set an intention for your day this Friday ahead.
In this state of calm and ease in your body,
Feel what comes up,
And just keep it for yourself,
And know that when moments of stress or frustration come in throughout the day,
That you have this intention and this breath that you cultivated to go back to,
And that you can always take a few moments,
Close your eyes,
And connect to your breathing.
Breathing in,
I know that I am breathing in.
Breathing out,
I know that I am breathing out.
In-breath and out-breath.
And to end this meditation,
I will invite three sounds of the bell.
You can keep your eyes closed and notice how the sound of the bell invites you to come back to your body and to your breath.
Now I invite you to,
Now that you are back into your body,
Slowly open your eyes,
Maybe keep the gaze a bit downward at first to let the impressions in.
You can uncross your legs,
Or you can massage your knees,
Massage your legs and your feet.
And I wish you a beautiful day forward.
