Soft Scenes

Hello and welcome to your meditation.

In this session you'll be seated so make sure that your seat is comfortable,

That your back is able to rest on your chair and your feet should be planted flat on the floor and allow your knees just to relax and they can be hip width distance apart but just make sure that your legs are uncrossed.

Your hands can rest with fingers interlaced in your lap palms up or you can place your palms face down on your lap.

In this practice you'll be grounding so the energy in your hands is important to tune into so you'll have your hands palms down so that you can really tap into the way your body feels because this meditation will be a body scan.

So as you settle into your seat making sure that your back is resting comfortably but straight take a look around the room that you're sitting in.

Take in all the sights and smells and sounds,

Temperature that you sense and feel.

Now draw in a deep breath in and let a deep breath out.

Continue to look around the room and just take in all that you are sensing,

Bringing awareness to your surroundings and the space that you're occupying for the next few minutes.

And then gently take your gaze down to the floor just a few feet in front of you and allow your eyes to rest just below your eye level and take it another deep breath in and let that deep breath out.

Begin to soften your body and notice how your shoulders are feeling.

Notice whether they are up around the ears.

Notice whether you send some tension in your neck and shoulders and take another deep breath in.

As you exhale,

Soften your shoulders.

Continue taking some more deep breaths and allow the focus of your eyes to soften on the spot in front of you on the floor.

As you like and you feel comfortable go ahead and close your eyes.

Let your eyes soften in their sockets and rest.

So whether it be that you have a soft gaze in front of you or your eyes are closing,

Sense the nerves in your eyes,

The sockets that they're resting in.

Typically they are pulling forward,

Gleaning,

Looking forward to reading something on your phone or your computer or looking outward.

Allow your eyes to rest and sink and settle so you can begin to look inward.

Continue breathing deeply and notice your back settling into your chair.

Notice the way your sitting bones feel in your seat and the backs of your thighs,

How they feel resting in your chair.

Feel the weight of your body as it rests in its seat and get a sense of being held.

Held by the chair that you're sitting in and held by the earth and its gravitational pull.

Feel your body releasing into that space of being held,

Noticing the soles of your feet and how they also feel held.

Take in another deep breath in and let that deep breath out.

Continue with your deep breaths,

Noticing the way that your lungs feel as they expand and noticing how they feel as they contract.

Feeling also held as you breathe.

Bringing the attention to the crown of your head.

Notice perhaps the temperature above you,

The space above you,

The vastness that's above you,

All of the universe.

Draw that awareness down to the crown of your head and allow your awareness to move through your face,

The back of your head.

Noticing all of your facial features,

Noticing the way the air feels on your face.

Notice whether or not the space between your brow is taught or relaxed.

Remember we are just noticing.

Bringing your awareness now down to your neck and shoulders.

Perhaps there's a bit of tension there.

As most of us find ourselves on our devices these days,

There can be a lot of tension that you feel or sense or perhaps you're noticing it for the first time today.

Wherever you're noticing tension tightness in your body,

Take a deep breath in and then let a deep breath out.

Bring the awareness down to your heart space and your upper back.

As your awareness moves down from your shoulders to this part of your body,

You begin to notice the way your breath feels perhaps.

Moving the awareness down through your arms,

Down to your wrists.

Just imagine just scanning down those parts of your body and noticing how much work that they do for you and how they are being held in this moment.

Each and every one of us awakens and moves our limbs around.

Take a moment to express gratitude for all that your arms and hands do for you.

Bringing awareness down to your palms,

Backs of your hands,

Your fingertips.

Now moving down to your abdomen and low back,

Noticing what you may sense there.

Moving down towards your pelvis and sitting bones.

Bring awareness to how they are seated and rooted in your place of meditation.

These areas are helping to hold you upright even in your relaxed state.

Drawing awareness down now to your thighs,

The backs of your legs.

Sensing the gravitational pull of the earth as you sink even deeper in your chair.

Bring your awareness to your knees and backs of your knees,

Noticing the bend that this joint makes possible.

Moving down through to your shins and your calves.

Even further to your ankles and finally tops of your feet and soles.

Noticing here your contact with the earth which is holding you.

Noticing each and every toe.

Slowly scan your body from the reverse,

Starting with your toes and moving all the way up your body.

Noticing each and everything along the way and maybe something new.

As your awareness peaks and reaches the crown of your head,

Allow your awareness to gently hover a few feet above you.

Draw in a deep breath and then exhale it out.

Draw in another deep breath and exhale that one as well.

Now draw in one last deep breath and exhale that final long breath out.

Allow your breath to return to normal and take a moment to notice your body.

Recalling for just this moment what you noticed through the scan and then also noticing how you are held.

Take your hands and rub them together.

So rub them really fast and create some heat,

Some warmth in your fingers,

In your hands,

In your palms.

And then once you rub them really fast together and sufficiently enough to generate some heat,

Some energy,

Gently place the heels of the palms of your hands over your eyes and then just let the fingertips rest at your forehead and temple.

Draw in a deep breath in to draw the energy into your eyes and then exhale that breath out.

Go ahead and take two more deep breaths in and out on your own.

And at the end of your second exhale go ahead and remove your hands from your eyes and flutter your eyes open.

Allow your gaze to remain soft for a moment and as your eyes come into focus gently lift your gaze and look around your space.

Noticing the temperature,

The sights,

The smells and sounds.

Draw in a deep breath.

Exhale it out.

Before you rise from your seat take one more notice to notice,

One more moment to notice how you are held.

How you can take a few moments just to sit and release.

Namaste.