Welcome.
The following is a recorded mindfulness meditation with the emphasis on slowing down.
So practicing a pace that's deliberately slower than our typical pace.
So we'll just start by finding a comfortable position.
That might be seated on the ground or in a chair.
Might be lying down or standing up.
But looking to find some balance between uprightness,
Wakefulness,
And easefulness.
Rest.
And then once you're there,
Allowing your eyes to either close or just gaze softly down at the floor in front of you.
Not looking at anything in particular.
Just kind of allowing your eyes to go soft.
And you'll start with a full round of breath in.
And a full breath out.
Again,
Breathing in.
And breathing out.
Now allow your breath to return to a natural rhythm.
But notice the breath.
Deliberately put your attention on this wave-like motion of the breath.
Noticing the breath in,
That rising sensation.
And noticing the breath out.
Release.
And just by noticing our breath,
It starts to take the pace down.
Because the breath is in no rush.
There's no end goal for the breath.
There's no finish line.
So it moves much more slowly than the mind.
And then start to notice the whole body.
The heaviness of the body against the seat or the ground.
The density of the body.
The fact that your body takes up space.
And this taking up space quality in the body,
Again,
Makes it move much more slowly than the mind.
Right now your body is stationary.
It's not going anywhere.
And there's an inertia to the stationariness.
So allow yourself to settle for a moment into this stationary spot.
Nowhere to be.
Nothing to do.
Just noticing your stationary body and your slow,
Deliberate breath.
And you might notice some anxiousness arise in the body or some antsiness or impatience.
That is normal.
It's a normal response to slowing down.
But it doesn't have to take you out of it.
You are settling into the stationary body.
The slow breath.
And the antsiness of the body is just existing on the periphery.
You don't have to fight it.
It's not the enemy.
But you are connecting to that which is slow.
That which is more grounded.
And inevitably your mind will pick up.
It will think important thoughts and arbitrary thoughts.
Plans and memories.
That's okay.
Continuing to settle into the breath,
Into the body.
Right alongside all of that thinking.
It might help to notice the thought content just briefly.
Kind of noting,
Okay,
That's planning.
Okay,
That's worry.
Give it a label.
Give it a stamp.
And then return back to the center,
Dense point of your body.
The center of your breath.
You might even picture a big oak tree.
With a thick trunk and roots that extend deep into the earth.
There's a strength and stability there.
Deep patience.
And even when the wind blows or the leaves flutter and fall.
The tree is sturdy.
And even if your mind picks up and you get lost in thought,
That's okay.
The sturdiness,
This patience,
This slowed down feeling is right there waiting for you.
Choosing to settle back into the slowed,
Dense center.
Just a final few moments here of noticing your breath.
And noticing your body.
And then start to notice the sounds that you hear around you.
Noticing that the sounds have a beginning and end.
There might be a lot of sound or just a little bit of sound.
And even here,
You're not reaching out to grab the sound.
You're not searching for it.
Just sitting,
Allowing it to reach you.
And then start to notice the air around you.
The temperature,
The texture.
Start to notice the contact of your body and the chair or the floor.
And then while maintaining some of this slow nature,
Begin to open up your eyes.
Let them open gently.
Taking in the room around you,
The colors,
The shapes.
And then take a moment to thank yourself for practicing.
Release any judgment about how you think it went.
And just thank yourself for taking the time to do this.
It's a really big deal.
I appreciate your time.
I hope to see you back here soon.
