Welcome to this meditation.
Begin in a seated position,
Most comfortable for you,
And that could entail sitting with the legs crossed,
Using a bolster,
Or even kneeling in hero pose.
And as you settle in,
Begin to close the eyes and rest your hands comfortably.
Give yourself permission to relax.
I invite you to start to notice how your body feels in this seated position,
Not judging yourself,
But allowing yourself to be the observer.
Observe what it feels like for your body to be supported by the earth.
Allow yourself to melt into that support.
Notice how your skin that is in contact with the floor feels,
Or perhaps your skin is in contact with your clothing and not the floor directly.
Either way,
Just notice any and all sensation that you're feeling on your skin,
And be open to receiving those messages from your senses.
Perhaps some of your skin is in contact with the air in the room,
And you may notice that that air is cool,
Warm,
Or perhaps just neutral.
You may feel the air moving against your skin,
Or notice that it's at a standstill.
When you are open to receiving,
You'll find that there are so many sensations that your senses can pick up right now.
Gently shift your awareness to what you can hear.
Aside from the sound of my voice,
What else do you observe?
Perhaps you hear the movement of air in the room,
Slight fidgeting,
Maybe even your own breath.
As you inhale,
Feel how that in-breath changes you.
As the air passes through the nose or mouth,
You may be able to feel it flow down the path into your lungs,
Filling and lifting the chest and collarbones.
You may be able to feel that breath lift and expand the belly,
Expand the sides of the waist.
Observe that before the exhale,
There is momentary stillness.
After that stillness,
That pause,
The breath begins to exit the body.
Notice what happens and how it feels when you turn into that pause,
And then move that observation to the exhale.
Observing that exhale,
Watching with the mind's eye as it creates more sensation in the body.
That breath flowing outward,
The belly and chest deflate,
A sense of relaxation enters the body before there is another moment of stillness.
Another pause to the breath before the next inhale begins.
Now move your hands to your belly.
Feel your breath flow in and out with your hands and not just your mind's eye.
Allow those sensations in the hands to let yourself turn even more inward.
Experience the breath in as many ways as possible inwardly.
Continue to observe all parts of the breath and all sensation that this process brings to your body.
The breath can change due to stimuli outside the body,
But we also have the power to control the breath.
With that control,
We can do so many positive things for ourselves.
Invite relaxation in and allow peace to flow into the body,
Exhaling gratitude back out into the world.
Namaste.
