Welcome to our simple daily meditation practice to ground,
Center,
Balance,
And energize.
Come and sit in a comfortable seated meditation position.
Maybe you're sitting on a block,
A cushion,
Or a chair,
Supporting yourself to be nice and upright with a nice long spine.
Roll to the back edge of your sit bones,
Lift the heart,
Roll the shoulders up to the ears,
Down the back,
And take a nice mood draw with your hands.
So take your thumb and index finger to touch,
Your arms are long and outstretched,
And those three released fingers are nice and stretched.
Make sure to hug your belly in towards the spine to prevent any arching or sagging of the low back.
And tuck your chin in slightly.
Take a nice deep breath in,
Looking straight ahead,
Taking in all of the sights and the sounds that present.
And as you exhale,
Gently close your eyes and begin to turn the awareness within.
Allowing yourself a few moments to arrive here in this present moment.
Just letting go of anything that came before this moment,
Anything that comes next.
Relax your belly nice and soft.
Relax your hips and your chest,
Your face.
Relax your jaw,
Maybe gently move it side to side.
Begin to deepen your breath.
Nice long slow flowing breaths in and out through the nose.
Take a moment to notice how you're feeling in the body-mind.
How is your physical body?
Is there any tension or soreness,
Tightness anywhere?
See if you can consciously direct your exhale to any place of tension.
Creating more space,
More awareness.
Scanning the body and sending the breath.
Take a few moments now just to notice the quality of the thoughts in the mind.
Are your thoughts fast or slow?
Is your mind busy or present?
Noticing the quality.
Then bring your awareness to the heart today and notice what you may be feeling here.
Is there any emotion present,
Any sensation in the heart?
Keep your awareness resting at the heart center as you draw your hands into a prayer.
I invite you now to set an intention for your meditation practice.
Maybe saying a prayer,
Asking a question,
Or calling out for guidance.
Or you may like to simply offer gratitude if you feel full.
We'll seal this prayer,
This intention with the sound of OM one time.
Take a nice deep breath in,
Joining me if you feel.
Place your hands back to the thigh and begin to notice again the breath.
Stillness of the mind comes from steadiness in the breath.
So let's work towards equalizing the breath.
Inhale one two three four,
Hold two three four,
Exhale one two three four,
Hold two three 4.
Inhale 1,
2,
Hold,
Internalizing the count,
Exhale,
Hold.
Three more full rounds with your own rhythmic breath count.
Exhaling into 4,
Holding to 4,
And then exhaling to 4.
After your next exhale,
Releasing the breath,
The count,
And allowing yourself a few moments to witness the effects of even the short practice on your body-mind.
Again,
We'll join our hands in prayer,
Center of the heart,
The sacred space of the heart,
And I invite you to bring to mind three things that you feel truly grateful for.
Bringing gratitude perhaps to yourself for showing up to the practice,
Gratitude for the practice itself,
For helping to guide our way back to our center,
Back home to the heart,
And maybe letting a few more gratitudes flow into your heart.
From the space of love and gratitude,
We send that energy out into the world,
Praying for all beings to be peaceful and free.
We'll come into Om,
Followed by Shanti,
Shanti,
Shanti Om.
Peace to the body,
Peace to the mind,
Peace to the heart.
Take a nice and deep breath in.
Om Shanti,
Shanti,
Shanti.
Shanti bow your chin to the chest,
Rub your hands together creating heat between the palms and place the palms of the hands over the eyes,
Looking down as you gently massage the face awake,
Release the hands,
Stretch the body,
And have a beautiful day.
