Hello and welcome to this meditation.
I'm Christoph and I'll be your guide.
Thank you very much for being here and for your interest in my work.
Let's get really comfortable and enjoy this time to yourself.
Let's take a few moments to fully arrive here.
Maybe you've had a busy day or a busy couple of days.
Maybe you've had a very relaxing day and this is but an extension of that.
Whatever is the case for you,
Just allow yourself to fully be here and get that extra little bit more comfortable.
And what I find nice to do is to gently place one hand on my heart and the other hand on my lower belly.
And just notice what that feels like.
To hold yourself like this.
To be with yourself like this.
And let's take three deep breaths together.
And I would like you to inhale and then hold your breath for a few moments and then exhale for a little bit longer than your in-breath.
So here we go.
And hold and try to breathe out through your mouth.
And again in through the nose.
And hold and out through the mouth.
And one last time in through the nose.
Hold and out through the mouth,
Breathing deep into your belly.
And now you can let your breath return to its normal pattern.
No need to change the way you're breathing.
Just let your breath breathe your whole body as you relax further and further.
There is nothing you have to do right now.
No problems that need to be fixed.
This is your moment.
And it is good to be here.
And bring your awareness to your shoulders and your neck.
A region of the body where we tend to store a lot of tension and a lot of energy that is not always ours.
So have a gentle check in with the neck and the shoulders and see if you can let them relax a little bit more.
Bring your awareness now to your facial muscles.
This is a good time to let the jaw fully relax as well as your tongue and the muscles just behind your eyes,
Your forehead,
Your ears,
The back of your head,
Your nose and your chin.
And let's just be in this moment for a while.
Allowing yourself to further shift from the very busy doing mode to the being mode which is so much more productive than what many people first believe because the being mode restores you.
And now please bring your awareness to your breath and see where you can locate your breath.
It could be the rising and falling of your chest or your belly.
Maybe you feel the air flowing over your lips or maybe you're breathing in and out through your nose.
Of course there is no right or wrong but the invitation is to notice how the in-breath is a little bit more warm than the out-breath which is usually cooler.
And to follow your breath for a while.
And if this is your first time practicing mindfulness of breath then it can be a good idea to say in-breath,
Out-breath.
This is an in-breath,
That's an out-breath.
So I'm going to give you a few moments to practice in silence.
And when your mind wanders bring it back to your breath.
Back to the now but in a non-judgmental way.
It is normal for the mind to wander.
It's designed to do that.
It's constantly scanning to protect us.
Spending time in the future,
A lot of the time in the past and all of that is normal.
The invitation now is to build that mindfulness muscle of being present in the now moment.
And the breath,
Our breath is a great anchor for that.
For it is always here in the now.
And just stay with your breath.
The bicep curl of mindfulness meditation.
Being aware of our thoughts and feelings and emotions as they arise but without judging them as bad or sad or annoying or whatever.
But to simply observe them for what they are.
And what they are is mental events.
Some version of some truth but not the truth.
And that doesn't mean we are going to discard and ignore our feelings or emotions.
Not at all.
But mindfulness meditation helps us to create that gentle breathing space between us and our thoughts so that we are not knocked sideways by them.
It's like watching clouds drift by.
They come and they go.
Slow and fast.
All sizes and shapes.
And so I'm going to give you a few moments to sit back and observe any thoughts and feelings that present themselves to you without judging them,
Without entertaining them.
Look to simply let them come and disappear.
It's like being at the cinema.
You see things on the screen but from a distance that's safe and comfortable.
And if there is a fire on the screen,
Remember that the screen is not on fire.
And as you practice cultivating this gentle space between the stimulus and the way you respond to it,
Your whole system benefits greatly from this practice.
So trust that.
From your brain to your nervous system and the cells in your body.
Your mind and your body are so grateful for your practice.
And shortly I will be ringing the bells.
And when you hear the bells,
Gently bring your awareness back to the room and open your eyes.
Thank you for joining me in this practice today.
I look forward to connecting with you on a future meditation recording.
Bye for now.
