Let's begin this meditation with greeting the breath.
Feel your breath coming in through the nose and releasing fully through nose and mouth.
Make your next breaths mindful,
Noticing the sensations of air coming in and out of your body,
The rise and fall,
The expansion and contraction.
And can you feel the way your breath fills the trunk of your body and then leaves it so you might relax and let go?
Take a few breaths and notice how your breath is coming in and going out from your body.
Imagine yourself letting go,
Relaxing a little more with each exhale.
And now notice how your body is situated.
And when you sit in meditation,
An upright posture is ideal,
Aligning your spine in a straight but not rigid upward line,
Sensing into a feeling of gently lifting yourself to a full unfolding from the base of the spine to the crown of the head.
Can you sense that upright but relaxed and alert feeling from within as you straighten without straining?
For the next few breaths,
Notice your posture.
Notice where you might be straining or overreaching or where you're unable to lift and hold fully.
Notice how you feel if you adjust your posture to fully upright.
Practice and time conditions your muscles to sit fully upright without straining or becoming fatigued.
For now,
Just notice what you might be adjusting over time so that you can become fully aligned and upright from within.
Keep your attention on your posture for the next few breaths.
Now notice your emotional state.
Can you greet whatever emotions are present with an openness and an acceptance?
Can you name any emotion that's present?
Are there more than one?
With any emotion,
It's helpful to explore what sensations in your body the emotion is causing,
Any tightness or disturbance that's brought about by the emotion.
In this way,
You're able to allow the emotion to move within you,
Freely pass through your body as you focus within,
And allow it to actually come through,
Inform you,
And then release from your body.
Now bring to mind a feeling that's difficult for you.
See if you can bring it forth in real time,
Right now.
Experience that feeling in the now.
Begin by naming that feeling.
Actually say to yourself,
I'm feeling this right now.
Next,
Notice and describe how it's showing up in your physical body.
For instance,
I feel this in my chest,
Or this in my shoulders,
Or this in my belly.
Maybe I feel this in my legs,
Or my back.
Just noticing and literally describing it to yourself,
What it is that this feeling brings up in your body.
And then,
As you're doing this,
You might refocus on your breath,
Imagining yourself letting the feeling keep moving on your breath,
Throughout your body,
Passing through your body as you breathe in and out.
You might remind yourself that you're safe in this moment,
That there's nothing you need to do right now,
But relax your body and let the feeling move and pass as you focus on your breath.
Now,
You might not be able to release the feeling because it's attached to something in your life that's not going well,
Something you're concerned about.
This concern keeps entering your mind,
Your thoughts turn it over,
Re-stimulating the feeling.
In this moment,
Can you acknowledge what it is that holds your concern?
Can you honestly tell yourself what you might be fearful of,
Or how you've not managed something well in your life that could be done differently?
Or what you want that is not happening,
But you can't let it go.
Or a relationship that's not in a good place,
And you can't seem to stop a repetitive pattern.
Or you judge yourself harshly for a choice you've made.
Or you don't have a plan to change what needs to be changed to relieve yourself of this concern.
So,
In this moment,
Can you discern what you truly want?
What's behind your concern so that you might be able to relieve yourself of the concern and this feeling accompanying it?
Can you say clearly to yourself what you want so that you might resolve this concern?
If you were to take responsibility for its resolution,
What's a step you need to take?
And will you take the step to begin the resolution?
Just wondering right now and being with the feeling and the concern,
And allowing yourself to just be with it fully.
Now,
Can you come back to your breath?
Imagine for a moment that you've resolved your concern.
You are freed of it completely.
And breathe a big sigh of relief.
Imagine how good it could feel to always feel this liberated,
This relieved.
Imagine knowing you have the power to resolve any concern in your life by giving it good attention and care,
By turning towards it,
Not away from it.
Imagine feeling that your whole life is manageable and you can make positive decisions every day that create a sense of ease and flow in your life.
How willing are you to work towards this lifestyle?
You can create this quality of life one step at a time,
One decision at a time,
In alignment with the feeling you desire to be free of concern,
To be liberated.
For now,
Bring your attention back to your breath.
Notice the breath coming in the body and out of the body.
Become aware of your posture again.
Have you lost your upright quality,
And can you bring that back?
Can you relax your shoulders and your belly and your throat?
When you're ready to close this meditation,
You might make notes about any steps you want to take to free yourself from any difficult feeling that is challenging you right now.
I thank you for being here with me.
