Take a moment,
Make sure that you are warm enough and that you're seated comfortably.
Rest your hands loosely in your lap and now close your eyes.
Take a long,
Slow,
Deep breath in,
Hold it for a moment at the top and then slowly exhale.
Begin to allow any tension to melt away as easily as warm water melts ice.
As you gradually relax more and more deeply with each breath.
Go ahead take another long,
Slow,
Deep breath in,
Hold it and then exhale.
Empty your lungs completely with your out-breath and now take a third deep breath in.
Take your time,
Hold it for a moment and then let it go.
Already you are beginning the journey of drifting into a deep state of relaxation.
Continue to breathe slowly and gently.
Relax.
Now bring your awareness to the top of your head.
Release or imagine a feeling of relaxation beginning to spread and drip down from the top of your scalp.
Allow the muscles over your brow and in your forehead and temples to let go.
Allow your eyes to relax.
Let your jaw and cheeks soften and release any tension you're holding onto.
This peaceful feeling now flows down your neck and deep into the muscles in your shoulders,
Soothing them,
Releasing them.
Breathe.
And allow this peaceful feeling to flow through your arms,
Relaxing and calming all the way to the tips of your fingers.
As your body relaxes,
So does your mind.
Your thoughts become weightless like wisps of clouds on the sails of a breeze.
This peaceful sensation flows through your chest and down towards your stomach.
Feel how this area gently rises and falls as you breathe slowly and deeply,
Soothing and relaxing.
Now turn your attention to your back.
Feel this relaxing sensation flow all the way down your spine.
Now this peaceful feeling has arrived in your lower body.
Relax your bum,
The backs of your thighs,
The tops and front of your thighs.
Feel all these large,
Strong muscles becoming loose and relaxed.
Soothing feelings flow down your knees into your calves.
Your ankles begin to relax.
And now your feet,
Each and every toe,
Your big toe,
Your second,
Third,
Fourth and pinky toes release.
The entire body is softening,
Calming and relaxing now.
Now it's time to leave the external world behind and go on an inward journey.
A journey to a place of deep inner stillness.
Even here,
And I say especially here,
Let go of the distracting and possible negative thoughts that may arise about yourself,
About others,
About how you're seated,
Anything and everything.
Being unattached to the voice as it tries to send thoughts through you without actively trying to push the thoughts away,
Let them come and pass through you without judgment.
Relax your shoulders and soften the space around your heart.
Might literally feel a softening as your collarbones spread a little wider.
Make this an opening,
A channel for everything to pass through.
When negative forces or distracting and unappealing thoughts come,
Perhaps it's other people's negative energy that tries to pull you in one direction.
Begin to relax your shoulders and soften around your heart space,
Quite literally placing some space between yourself and the stimulus.
Recognize that getting pulled in won't make you feel better or more relaxed.
Use your meditative space to learn how to get behind the energy or the thoughts by bringing yourself back down a notch by relaxing and letting go of tension.
As you sincerely let go of the inner energies you are watching,
You begin to feel a deeper energy come in from behind.
Up to this point,
Everything you were watching inside was in front of you.
But now that you are no longer being drawn into those energies,
You'll realize that your inner universe is actually very expansive.
You'll begin to feel spirit flow in from behind.
It lifts you,
Supports you,
And brings you great love and joy.
This is meditation.
I once heard a man describe meditation like the ocean.
He said,
Imagine you're on a small boat in the middle of the ocean and all of a sudden out of nowhere,
These huge swells of 40 and 60 foot waves come up and you think,
Oh my goodness,
The whole ocean is in an upheaval.
But if you were to take a cross section of the ocean,
In reality the waves are just 40 feet on the surface and the ocean is miles and miles deeper.
So on the surface,
Yes,
The ocean is active.
But at its depths,
The ocean is naturally silent and calm.
It's simply the nature of the ocean,
Active on the surface and silent at its depth.
This is analogous to our mind.
The surface is our thoughts that are constant all day long like waves on the surface of the ocean.
But at our depth exists an inner peace.
It already exists within each and every one of us.
We just have to go deep in order to access it.
So see if you can access that place of inner peace and stillness deep within the waters of your mind without trying too hard,
Knowing that this inner stillness is within you always.
Too much effort in meditation is self-defeating,
Like trying to turn a jar of muddy water clear by shaking and stirring it.
If you just let it sit,
The mud eventually settles to the bottom and the water turns clear.
So go ahead and sit with yourself.
Allow the monkey mind to settle and feel the stillness when you go deep.
