Find a comfortable seat and prepare yourself for meditation.
Your spine needs to be long,
Shoulders down,
Soften the belly,
Soften the belly,
And close down your eyes.
This meditation is practicing Ahimsa,
Non-violence or non-animosity.
When we're defensive and reactive,
We act out of fear,
We look to protect ourselves.
With Ahimsa,
We move ourselves towards non-violence and equanimity,
And to do this we need to feel safe.
Building safety starts within the self,
Self-compassion,
Self-love,
And a feeling of steady self-worth that can't be shaken by the actions of others,
Non-judgment and acceptance of ourselves just as we are.
I'm going to start the meditation with a grounding breath,
Arming our nervous system so that we can feel safe.
Bring your attention to your breath,
Feel the cool air against your nostrils as it enters your body,
And the warmer air as it leaves.
Notice the qualities of the breath,
Maybe it's shallow,
Maybe deeper,
Maybe your breath smooth or maybe a little rugged,
And notice that as you notice,
The breath changes,
Slows,
Regulates,
Smooths.
Bring your attention to the length of the inhale and the exhale,
And I want you to bring an internal count to your breath,
A pace that suits you.
Inhale for four,
And exhale for four.
Little inhale and exhale,
Silent internal count,
Allowing you to place all your attention on your breath,
Four in and four out.
Bring your attention to your exhale,
And next time you exhale,
Lengthen the exhale to six.
Still breathing in for four,
Exhaling for six.
Inhale for four,
Exhale for six.
And then with your next exhale,
If it feels comfortable,
Take the exhale to a count of eight.
Inhaling for four,
And long,
Slow exhale of eight.
The exhale,
Double the length of the inhale,
Calming,
Soothing,
Grounding.
Notice the different qualities of the inhale and the exhale,
How the inhale has an uplifting quality,
And the exhale,
A letting go,
Grounding.
And just bring your attention to the end of the exhale,
The point where it turns back into inhale.
Just become aware of this slight pause,
And next time you reach that pause,
Just lengthen it slightly.
Inhale for four,
Exhale for eight,
And then pause.
Notice this pause without tension,
Without holding.
Allow yourself to drop into that pause,
Just for as long as it's comfortable,
Or allowing the breath to rise back up again,
With an inhale.
Inhale for four,
Exhale for eight,
And then dropping into that pause,
And allowing yourself to rest there,
Just for a moment,
Or breathing in again.
After the next exhale,
Just let go of that pause,
Allow the breath to rise straight back up,
And then bring the breath back to equal inhale and equal exhale,
Four in,
Four out.
And then drop the counting altogether,
And allow your breathing to regulate,
Back to its natural breath.
No need to control anything,
Allow the body to breathe.
And bring your attention to your heart space,
Notice the movement of your chest,
With every breath in and out,
And just rest in this space of the heart,
For a moment or two.
All your attention,
Pooled in this space,
And I want you to think of something,
Which allows your heart to feel open,
Might be a place,
A person,
An emotion,
Or a situation.
Just recalling a time when your heart felt really open,
And when you've identified that feeling,
Just bring your attention to that fully.
Notice how it feels,
To have an open heart,
Allow that feeling to grow,
It spreads beyond your heart space,
And fills your entire body.
Notice how it feels,
And allow it to grow even more,
So it spills out beyond the edges of the body,
Into the space to the left of you,
To the right of you,
In front and behind,
Above and below,
So you're resting in a space of open heartedness.
And just imagine yourself,
Walking through the world,
If you're walking through this space of open heart,
How would that feel?
Picture yourself,
Walking through that space.
This open,
Compassionate,
Kind,
Loving,
Open heart.
Walking through the world,
And bring yourself back into your body.
Bringing that feeling,
Compassion and kindness,
And openness with you.
Just bring your hands together at heart center,
And rub them together,
Create some heat between your palms.
When you feel some heat,
Just place your palms onto your heart space,
And thank yourself,
Taking some time out,
To practice.
Thank you for meditating with me today.
Namaste.
