Welcome to your guided meditation.
For this practice,
I'll recommend that you are seated comfortably.
If that is not possible or not appealing,
You are also welcome to practice this meditation lying down.
If you're able to be seated,
I'll invite you to make yourself comfortable there.
You might find some support to place beneath your hips so that your seat is grounded and you're able to sit up tall and comfortably.
And then nestle into your seat and shimmy your hips a little bit from side to side.
Let your legs relax towards the floor and make any minor adjustments here to the position of your body or your clothing so that you can be at ease.
And then bring your attention to your base,
Your seat,
Where you feel support and contact with whatever is beneath you.
If it helps,
You can shift around a little bit here to really feel the places of contact between your body and the earth.
And on your next few breaths,
Focus on your exhale.
Each time you breathe out,
Let your body rest down into these places you feel support.
Let your body relax into the earth,
The props,
Whatever holds you here.
And then turn your attention to your inhales for the next few breaths and invite your body to lengthen.
You might feel or sense pressing up away from the earth.
Let your spine lengthen,
Your heart lift,
And gently reach through the very top or crown of your head.
Now bring your attention to both parts of your breath,
Your whole breath,
Inhales and exhales flowing together.
Invite your breath to be smooth,
Relaxed,
As effortless as possible.
Just letting your breath flow naturally at its own pace in its own way.
Notice if there's any pauses between your inhale and exhale.
If there are,
Just gently invite your breath to move closer together until your breath becomes seamless,
Continuous.
Just gently,
Effortlessly flowing from inhale to exhale,
From exhale to inhale.
Great.
Then bring your attention to the very top of your head,
Around your crown and your scalp,
And invite all the little muscles here to gently release.
Soften any tension you might feel.
And then relax your face,
Your forehead,
Your eyes,
Your cheeks and nose.
Let your tongue rest and soften your jaw.
Relax your throat,
Your neck,
Your shoulders.
Let your arms and hands rest.
And then soften your shoulder blades,
Your chest,
And heart,
Your abdomen.
You might feel a gentle movement here with each breath in and out.
And then release your hips,
Your legs,
And feet.
Then bring your attention from your feet back into your legs,
Your hips,
Your torso,
Your neck,
The head.
Let your attention return to your crown.
Now direct your attention to the flow of your breath as it moves in and out through your nose.
And pay attention to what sensation you can physically feel related to your breath.
You might feel the air comes in on the inhale a little cooler and leaves on the exhale a little warmer.
You might feel the movement of air as it brushes against the tips of your nostrils flowing in and out.
You might feel the movement of air just touching and grazing across your upper lip each time you breathe in and out.
Whatever sensation you can connect with,
Let this become your new focus.
Noticing that sensation,
What it feels like with each inhale.
And with each exhale.
Let your attention just continue to rest and flow with your breath.
Gently,
Seamlessly inhaling and exhaling.
Now check in with your mind and notice where your attention is.
Our minds are curious.
They like to explore other things.
And so if your mind has drifted from the focus on your breath,
Gently invite it back.
And take a few more relaxed breaths here,
Really sensing your breath at your nose.
We'll incorporate a simple mantra here to encourage the mind to focus even more.
And this is the so hum mantra.
Each time that you inhale,
Just silently say in your head or hear in your head the sound so.
And each time you exhale,
The sound hum.
Coordinate this focus with the flow and length of your breath.
Each inhale,
Hearing in your head so.
And each exhale hum.
And continue to practice with the so hum mantra for a few more rounds of your breath.
You can release the awareness of the mantra.
And gently deepen your breath.
As you inhale,
Do so a little longer and slower than usual.
And as you exhale,
A little longer and slower than usual too.
Do that just a couple times,
Maybe two or three total.
Deeper inhale and exhale.
And then let your breath return to its natural rhythm.
And very gently start to bring some movement back into your body.
Wiggle your fingers,
Your toes,
And your ankles,
Wrists.
You might rock your head,
Sway from side to side.
And then bring your hands together at your heart.
Your palms can press together in prayer or rest open on your chest.
We'll take a few relaxed breaths here just to reset,
Recalibrate,
And check in and see what might have shifted within you during our practice today.
I'd like to close with gratitude,
Grateful that we're joined here together today for this practice.
I acknowledge the beauty,
Courage,
Love,
And light in you that is deeply and infinitely connected with the beauty,
Courage,
Love,
And light in me.
In Sanskrit,
We say namaste.
