Hi,
This is Paige.
A foundational teaching of the yoga tradition is how valuable it is to spend time quieting external noise.
All the stimulation,
Urgency,
Chatter and distraction that fills our senses almost constantly for many of us.
This practice of quieting and drawing inward can allow us to listen to ourselves and perhaps eventually to touch more focus,
Clarity and peace.
Today's embodied meditation combines slowing down movements,
A guided visualization and a bit of stillness to cultivate that state of quiet.
You can do this entire practice sitting,
So make yourself comfortable wherever you find yourself.
Whether it be sitting in a chair at your workspace,
Sitting in your parked car,
On a cushion on the floor,
You will have the option to lie down toward the end of the practice.
So if that sounds like something that appeals to you,
You might make sure you have space and any props you would like for that.
Will also toward the end of the practice fold forward a bit.
And so if you're near a surface like your desk or the edge of a coffee table or the seat of a couch that might allow you to fold in with a little bit more comfort,
You could also draw props in for that such as bolsters,
A stack of pillows,
A stack of blankets,
Whatever you have handy.
Settle into your seat.
Maybe mark the beginning of this practice by allowing yourself to draw in an easy natural inhale and you might open your mouth and just sigh out your exhale.
Feel your whole being land here a little more fully.
We'll begin with some gentle slow movement to invite that process of coaxing ourselves inward.
Let's start with some seated cat cow moving.
Start by extending and arching through your spine,
Maybe broadening through your collarbones,
Drawing your shoulders together behind your heart and then reverse that by rounding through your low back,
Your middle back,
Your upper back.
You might drop your chin and bow your head inward and we'll start to move along the breath with that.
So when you feel ready to inhale,
Go back to that extension,
Maybe that arching of your spine,
Broadening through your chest.
When you feel ready to exhale,
Let it be a slow drawing in,
Rounding through your low back,
Your middle back,
Your upper back,
Maybe bowing your head inward and see if this move movement now as you continue along the cadence of your own breath,
Perhaps slows down a little bit.
And the next time you round your way in through your low back,
Your middle back,
Your upper back,
You might pause very gently at the bottom of that quiet,
Still exhale.
And then when you're ready to inhale again,
Lengthening,
Arching,
Gently opening up.
And as you feel ready to exhale,
Drawing out the length of that exhale,
Diving inward,
Perhaps lingering at the bottom,
Quiet and still.
Let yourself move and breathe through this another couple of times,
Letting yourself really dive into the exhaling half of your breath and perhaps even pausing at the very base of that exhale for just a moment of still quiet.
And the next time you bring yourself back through upright,
You can pause.
And when you're ready,
Rest your right hand on your left shoulder.
Let it just be heavy,
Restful,
Weighting that shoulder down a bit.
Tap your chin toward your chest and explore how it feels to roll your right ear over toward your right shoulder.
You might tip your chin up.
You might rock your jaw a little bit and let your chin roll all the way back down toward your chest.
And then your left ear can drift over toward your left shoulder.
Still half neck rolls here with that tiny bit of comforting weight of your right hand on your left shoulder,
Rolling your head and neck side to side,
Maybe tipping your chin,
Maybe rocking through your jaw,
Allowing this slow movement to draw you a little more fully out of your thinking brain and into your stilling,
Quieting body.
The next time your chin comes through center,
You can float your face back to upright.
You can relax your right hand and arm down.
Just taking in a quiet breath here.
Then we'll switch sides.
So your left hand resting nice and heavily on your right shoulder.
You don't have to clench or grip.
Just let it fall there easily.
Little bit of weight,
A little bit of grounding.
And again,
As you're ready,
Your chin can drop to your chest and see how it feels for your left ear to drift over toward your left shoulder.
Maybe tip your chin up,
Maybe rock your jaw a bit.
Let your chin roll all the way back to your chest,
Right ear toward your right shoulder.
Again,
Moving through some half neck rolls with the added bodily input of that hand resting in a comforting,
Grounding way.
All of this coaxing you more fully into your body,
Away from outer distraction.
The next time your chin falls toward your chest,
Float your gaze up,
Relax your left hand and your left arm again,
Just a quiet,
Still breath or two here.
Let your attention drift down to your trunk,
A whole barrel of your torso and begin to draw some circles with your trunk.
So you can just roll your whole rib cage over to one side and back and to the other side and forward and keep moving in that first direction a few times.
These movements can be very slight or they can be more full and exaggerated.
That's completely up to whatever feels natural to you right now.
Again,
We're simply using this movement to draw our awareness all the way into the body,
Out of the thinking brain.
Maybe after you have drawn that circle around with your trunk one more time or so in that first direction,
It would feel balancing to reverse the direction.
Circle your ribs,
Your whole trunk and torso over one way and back and to the opposite side and forward as if you were inside a barrel and you're just tracing the inner circumference of it with the whole space of your torso,
Your body drawing more fully inward and with it gathering your attention and your awareness down and in.
Finally when you're feeling pretty even in your body,
You can let that circling settle back into stillness.
Allow your awareness to continue to drift down and in.
Quiet and still.
And from here we'll forward fold.
So if you're sitting cross-legged on the floor,
You might put your hands in front of you.
You might put them on the surface of something that can support you,
As I said,
Maybe the edge of a coffee table,
A couch,
A bed,
If you're sitting in a chair at a workspace,
You might put your hands on a table or desk surface.
So how far you hinge forward doesn't matter at all.
Just the action of hinging at your hips and bowing your whole torso,
Head and shoulders inward is what we're after.
So you can hinge a little bit or a lot,
You may just dip your chin down toward your chest and let a little bit of your energy follow.
Take in the physical sensation of folding in and down.
You might go back to that action of letting your attention rest on the exhaling half of your breath.
And perhaps pausing just slightly,
Not holding,
Not clenching,
Just gently pausing at the very bottom of your exhales.
And still folded forward and in as much as you'd like.
You could explore walking your hands and arms over to the right,
Maybe just a little bit.
Maybe they want to move a little bit farther over to the right.
And as you do that,
You might feel your left hip sinking back and down.
Notice what you're taking in on the left side of your body as you continue to bow and fold inward with this tiny bit of an added side stretch.
And then when you feel ready,
If you've moved over to the right,
You can walk everything back through center.
Pause and quiet and still in the center for a breath.
And then perhaps explore walking your hands and arms over to the left,
Maybe just a little bit.
Maybe they move a little bit farther.
And as you do that,
You could let your attention rest on your right hip sinking back and down.
Just explore this variation of an inward turn and fold.
One more breath.
And then if you moved over to the side all the way back through center again,
Let yourself feel centered.
Let yourself draw in one more inhale here.
And as we did at the very beginning,
Maybe a conscious gentle sigh of your exhale,
Pausing for a moment all the way at the bottom of that exhale.
And then move your way back to upright.
And we'll prepare for just a few minutes of a guided visualization here.
So you can stay in the upright seat that you're in.
You can adjust it if you'd like to adjust it.
Or if you'd feel more comfortable and restful lying on your back or in any other position,
You can make your way to a shape that would feel supportive and restful and present.
Bring to mind the image,
Even the sensation of a small stone dropping into a body of water.
Begin at the surface of the water.
And in this imagining,
Let the stone move in extra slow motion as it sinks its way down.
Everything getting quieter and quieter as the stone drops.
The surface of the water getting more quiet and still.
Each depth the stone passes through.
Faster and more inward as the stone drops down.
Perhaps even allow yourself to become that body of water.
See the slow drop of your attention down and in.
You getting quieter and quieter as the stone sinks.
Bitter and more still as that stone sinks all the way down to the bottom.
You still and quiet.
Better sounds and distractions a little more distant as you drop into the quiet rhythm of your own breathing.
Your own heart beating.
Stiffening.
Stilling.
Receding further and further from outer stimulation and noise,
Dropping more fully inward.
And we'll simply abide here for a few moments of still,
Deep,
Quiet.
You'll hear my voice again as we complete the practice.
You'll hear my voice again as we complete the practice.
You'll hear my voice again as we complete the practice.
As you're ready,
Allow yourself to very gently and gradually drift back toward the surface.
A part of you staying anchored to this state of still,
Quiet presence that you've cultivated as you head into what's next.
Thank you so much for creating this time for yourself.
I look forward to being with you again soon.
