Morning Meditation For Focus, Grounding, & Relaxation

Good morning.

Welcome to this 10-minute guided meditation.

Welcome back if you've done this before,

And welcome if this is your first time.

And if you're new to meditation,

Sometimes this can feel silly,

Or you're in a rush,

And that's okay.

Show up for yourself today and be proud of yourself for doing it.

This is a good one if you're feeling overwhelmed with thoughts,

Maybe a little bit of anxiety,

Or you really want to get out of your head,

Or simply you just want to calm your nerves and learn to be present a little more,

Or just feel relaxed.

Let's go ahead and get prepared to start the meditation practice.

Get comfortable sitting in a seat,

Such as a chair.

Make sure your feet are firmly placed flat on the ground.

Lay down with your head elevated a little bit.

Get comfortable,

Or sit cross-legged on the ground,

And again,

Feel free to sit on a pillow.

But make sure you are relaxed.

However,

Make sure you are in an active posture.

If you're sitting cross-legged or sitting in a chair,

Place your hands on the tops of your knees,

Palms facing up,

And gently close your eyes when you're ready.

As I mentioned,

There are many forms of meditation.

The one we are going to do today is a form of mindfulness meditation.

We're going to do some breath focusing and counting our breaths.

We'll do some body scanning,

Placing our awareness in places of our body.

And we're going to tense some of our muscles to really relax.

So we'll be doing some body tension as well.

And as we are about to get started,

I would like to mention once more,

Just show up for yourself today.

For the next 10 minutes,

Just be present for yourself.

If your mind wanders at any point in time,

Or any thoughts arise at any point in time,

That is okay.

That is one of the main points of meditation.

Even the gurus that have been meditating for years and years and years,

Their mind wanders.

That is the reason for meditation.

If you caught your mind wandering,

You're being very present in the moment,

Which is another benefit of meditating.

Just bring it back.

Now as we sit here with our eyes closed,

Let's start with a couple inhalation and exhalations.

Let's breathe deep in through our nose for five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One.

Sigh out of your mouth.

Let's do that again.

Breathe in your nose for five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One.

Sigh it out.

Again,

In your nose for five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

And on one hold.

Sip in just a little more air and sigh it out of your mouth.

Let's do that once more.

Breathe in your nose for five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

Hold on one.

Sip in just a little more air.

Hold.

Sigh it out of your mouth.

Now simply just breathe in and out of your nose like normal.

Allow yourself to feel relaxed and just check in with yourself.

Do you feel a little silly for doing the meditation?

Are you in a rush?

Do you feel excited for trying the meditation?

Are you calm?

Just check in with yourself.

No judgment.

Just observe how you feel.

Now as you're breathing in and out of your nose,

Place your awareness at the top of your head.

And breathe in and out.

Breathe in and as you breathe out,

Move your awareness to your forehead.

In between your eyebrows.

Breathing in and out.

In and out.

As you breathe out,

Move your awareness to your eyes.

And as you're continuously breathing on your next breath out,

Move your awareness to right below your nose where you feel the air coming into your nose as you breathe.

On your next breath out,

Move your awareness to your mouth into the bottom of your chin.

On your next breath out,

Move your awareness to the top of your throat.

Continuously breathing.

On your next breath out,

Move your awareness to the bottom of your throat and the tops of your shoulders and clavicle.

And on your next breath out,

Move your awareness to your arms and chest and upper back.

On your next breath out,

Continuing to move the awareness down your body,

Move your awareness to the bottom of your chest,

Tops of your ribs,

And right above your elbows.

Continuously breathing.

On your next breath out,

Move your awareness to your forearms and right above your hips.

Continuously breathing.

As you breathe out,

Move your awareness down to your hands,

The palms,

And right below your hips on your high upper thighs.

And continuously breathing.

On your next breath out,

Move your awareness to the tops of your fingertips,

Your thumb,

And the bottom of your thighs and hamstrings right above your knees.

And on your next breath out,

Move your awareness to your kneecaps and the backs of your knees.

And as you breathe out,

Move your awareness to the tops of your shins and calves.

Continuing breathing.

On your next breath out,

Move your awareness down your shins and down your calves to the tops of your ankles.

And on your next breath out,

Move your awareness to the heels of your feet and to the tops of your feet.

Continuously breathing.

On your next breath out,

Move your awareness to the soles of your feet and the beginning of your toes.

And on your next breath out,

Move your awareness to the very tips of your toes and toenails.

Now check in with yourself once again here.

Taking a couple deep breaths in your nose and out of your nose.

Recalling if you felt any strange sensations or if you're holding tension somewhere and you can ease it a little bit.

And again,

Come back to relaxation.

Just breathe a couple moments.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Breath in your nose.

Out of your nose.

One more time,

Breath in your nose.

And out of your nose.

Good.

Now on your next inhalation,

Tense your feet.

Your feet only.

Tense them and hold the tension for five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One.

Release the tension by exhaling.

Inhale to tense your calf muscles and your calf muscles only.

Hold the tension for five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One.

Release the tension.

Inhale to tense your thigh muscles.

Your thigh muscles only.

Hold the tension for five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One.

Release the tension.

Inhale to tense your ab muscles and low back muscles.

Abs and low back only.

Hold the tension for five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One.

Release the tension.

Inhale to tense your chest,

Shoulders,

And upper back.

Chest,

Shoulders,

And back only.

Hold the tension for five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One.

Release the tension.

Inhale to tense your arms and forearms.

Make a fist.

Hold this tension for five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One.

Release the tension.

Inhale to tense your neck muscles.

Your neck only.

Hold the tension for five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One.

Release the tension.

Inhale to tense the back of your head and your forehead.

Make a face.

Hold the tension for five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One.

Release the tension.

Now take a deep breath in your nose for five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One.

Sigh it out of your mouth.

Now,

This is a good place to check in with ourself again.

See how you feel relaxed now versus how you started the meditation relaxed.

No judgment,

Just observe.

And just continuously breathing in your nose and out of your nose as normal.

Feel in your body where you feel your breath.

Is it in your nostrils breathing the cold air in?

Is it your chest or belly expanding?

Wherever you feel your breath the most,

Place your awareness there and continue to breathe.

Inhale to tense your neck muscles.

Hold the tension for five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One.

Release the tension.

Inhale to tense your neck muscles.

Feel in your body where you feel your breath.

Is it in your chest or belly expanding?

Is it your chest or belly expanding?

Again,

If your mind is wandered,

Just bring it back.

Continue to breathe in your nose and out of your nose as normal.

But I want you to acknowledge yourself for a moment.

Think of one thing you are grateful for that has happened to you.

Maybe it's something that's happened recently.

Maybe it's something you've always been grateful for.

But think of that thing and just sit with that thought for a moment as you continue to breathe in and out of your nose.

Now slowly release your thoughts.

Allow yourself to stay with this feeling of gratitude for the next couple of breaths.

Take one more deep breath in your nose for five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One.

Hold it.

Sigh it out of your mouth.

And when you are ready,

Gently wiggle your fingertips and your toes.

Come back into the body.

Come back to life.

Flutter your eyes open.

Thank you for allowing me to guide you through this 10-minute meditation.

Namaste.