These guided practices will benefit beginners and experienced meditators and yogis alike.
No prior experience necessary.
Let's begin.
You may want to grab a pillow or a rolled up hand towel,
Bath towel,
Just as some added support during this meditation time.
Come into a comfortable seat,
Whether in a chair or on the floor,
Or lying down if you like,
Whatever you find most comfortable.
Close your eyes,
Or you can soften your gaze on a stationary object in front of you and maybe close them later if you decide to.
Place your hands on your knees or thighs,
Palms facing down or open to the sky,
Or gently in your lap or on the abdomen.
If you are seated,
You may want to place that pillow or the small rolled towel beneath the tailbone for some added support to help keep your spine erect.
If you're lying down,
The pillow beneath the knees may feel very nice.
I'll give you a moment to just get situated where you'll be most at ease for the practice and then we'll begin.
So let's start by just taking a moment to notice how it feels to be in your body right now.
In this single moment,
How does it feel to be right here in this body?
This body carries us through so many days and it is truly a miracle of nature.
As you inhale deeply,
Give thanks for the wonder that is your body and all it does for you and others every day.
And as you exhale,
Just let go any thoughts that no longer serve your well-being today.
Another big,
Full belly inhale and imagine that the deep exhale is just like opening the window to let any negative energy flow right out,
Letting it exit through your nostrils or mouth so that there is more room for the good stuff inside you to grow.
Let's draw attention now to the places where you feel your body touching the surface beneath you,
Where you feel gravity grounding you into your foundation,
Rooting you in place.
And just notice the sensations there.
Notice what it feels like to be resting fully on these spaces.
And next you might notice if there are any places where you feel the energy really activated inside your body.
Any tingling,
Pulsating or other sensations,
Even an itch or an urge to fidget shows that our nervous system is activated.
Just take care to listen to your body and honor what it needs in this moment.
Imagine drawing your deep,
Full inhales to those spaces where you feel any tension or focused energy that needs releasing and letting that tension go on the exhale.
Again,
Just allowing any thoughts or tensions that need to make their exit to do so along with each exhale.
As you continue to breathe,
Really draw the deep breath into the abdomen so it expands.
And then allow that expansion to flow up through the lungs,
The chest,
Up into the collarbone area and then press that air out by lowering the collarbone,
The chest,
Drawing the tummy in so that it can fully press out that exhale.
Notice the sound this deep breathing pattern makes.
And take notice of how it feels to breathe in this way.
Let's bring some attention now to the mind.
Sometimes it is still up there just working away at its job,
Bringing thoughts into our consciousness.
And we're going to just imagine those thoughts are like clouds in the sky.
We don't judge them or get attached to them.
We just notice them and let them pass on through.
Now sometimes our mind may not want to take a break.
We may need to occupy it by just mentally labeling those thoughts as thinking.
You can silently acknowledge that's just thinking.
That's more thinking.
Occasionally our mind is so persistent that we need to give it another job to do.
So we can try focusing the mind on our breathing,
Just silently repeating to ourselves,
I'm breathing in,
I'm breathing out,
Or I'm here,
I'm inhaling,
And I'm exhaling.
And if your mind needs something even more focused,
You may repeat simple phrases to yourself like,
I am strong,
I am safe,
I am loved,
I am healthy,
I am tired,
I am content.
Whatever you may need or want to say to occupy your overly active mind if it is today.
We always want to be gentle with ourselves and with our mind during meditation.
Mind helps us every day doing this thinking business.
Sometimes it just has trouble slowing down and we can have compassion for that,
Just like we sometimes have trouble slowing down.
You can have compassion for that too.
So we're going to start to close our practice with that thought,
Compassion.
Let's take the peace and tranquility that we have cultivated here in our meditation time and extend it into our daily practice of self-compassion.
The more self-compassion that we have,
The more we can extend to others as we move about the world.
We cultivate self-compassion when we listen to and honor our body's messages to us about what it needs.
When we listen to our hearts and souls,
When they tell us they need rest and play and love.
When we offer ourselves grace as our flaws and our vulnerabilities show up.
When we accept and forgive ourselves for our human frailties and mistakes.
When we recognize our perfect imperfection as we work to grow and improve.
Let's take another full belly inhale and a deep audible exhale.
If you're so inclined,
Bring the hands to prayer position at the heart space and then lift the hands so the thumbs rest on the forehead.
May we have peace in our thoughts.
Draw the hands lower so the thumbs touch the lips.
May we have peace in our words and then lower the thumbs to the heart space.
May we have peace in our hearts.
The light in me recognizes and honors the light in you.
And I bow as I say Namaste.
Thank you for being here to practice and for just being here on this earth.
I look forward to our next time together.
Until then,
Namaste.
