Hi and welcome to another meditation with me,
Mallory,
Or Meditation Mal.
I'm super excited for today's meditation.
It is one that I've been working on with a couple clients or across classes and was actually highly requested.
So without further ado,
We'll dive right into it.
Today,
I want you to find a position that's comfortable.
Find a spot,
A seat,
Either laying down or sitting up.
Taking a moment,
Just settle wherever you're at,
Maybe swaying side to side or getting out any last little wiggles that you might have stuck in your body.
Then starting to scan from your feet all the way up through your legs,
Your calves,
Your shins,
Your upper thighs,
And then into your hips.
Starting to breathe into the body,
Seeing if you can direct the air down into the hips.
Seeing if each breath in,
You can create more space and each breath out,
You can let go of any tension that you might have.
Continuing to work our way up the body,
Working our way through our stomach,
Our backs,
Straightening up the spine or lengthening out here.
Seeing if you can maybe find some space or openness in a spot you haven't felt it before.
Letting your arms start to fall,
Letting them be heavy and soft wherever they're at.
Starting to feel gentleness go through your forearms,
Your wrists,
Your shoulders.
Then on your next breath in,
Breathing in,
Picking up the shoulders,
And as you exhale,
Letting them roll down,
Just fall down your back.
Another one here,
Inhale,
Picking up the shoulders,
And exhale,
Letting them fall down.
Inhaling,
Coming to the face now,
Intentionally unclenching the jaw and starting to soften the face,
Letting that gentleness spread over the face.
Each breath that you take in,
Letting that gentleness just spread over your face,
Your cheeks,
Your lips,
Even your eyelids and the space between your eyebrows and your forehead.
Maybe even noticing the space above the top of your head here.
We'll do a short pranayama breathing practice here,
Where we'll breathe in for four,
We'll breathe out for four through the nose,
Breathing in for four,
Three,
Two,
One,
And out for three,
Two,
One.
In for three,
Two,
One.
Out for three,
Two,
One.
Continuing on your own.
In.
Coming back to your natural breath or keeping this breath,
Maybe even extending it one second longer on the inhale and one second longer on the exhale.
Knowing that your breath is something you can come back to at any part,
Any point of this practice.
Our breath can act as an anchor in starting to bring your awareness to your breath.
Notice how it moves through your body here.
Notice how your ribs expand to the sides of the room,
Your belly expands,
Your chest lifts.
And then as you exhale out,
Noticing all of your body settling down,
Your diaphragm continuing to be used.
Inhales,
Expanding,
And exhales,
Relaxing.
Relaxing.
Knowing that your breath is something you can always count on and not judging it or trying to change it,
But really just observing it here in this practice.
Last week we had a full moon.
It was the strawberry full moon and some call that full moon a harvest or a honey full moon when we are harvesting at this time of the year.
And it got me starting to think about harvesting and how we harvest when our seeds have grown into something that is ready to be picked or ready to be harvested.
Looking at our own lives,
We can take this and apply it by looking at where we have spent our energy,
Where we have put our time,
And what seeds we have planted in our own lives.
I invite you to imagine a garden in your mind,
Taking a look around at the seeds that you have planted.
Start to notice what seeds have I planted.
Start looking at which ones are ready to be harvested.
Where have you been putting your attention,
Your care,
What seeds have you been watering?
And then looking around your garden,
Look at the seeds that you want to water more.
Knowing that a plant or crop can't grow by only being watered once.
I'll give you some time here to explore your garden.
Explore the seeds that have now grown and are ready to be harvested.
Explore the seeds that you want to give a little bit more tenderness and attention to.
And explore the seeds that maybe you haven't even planted yet that you would like to plant.
If your mind starts to wander,
Know that you can always come back to your breath or come back to that garden.
Start to look around and really take it all in because this is your life.
Choosing the seeds that you want to grow.
Starting to notice your breath a little bit more here.
And taking one last look around your garden.
I urge you to take note of everything you've seen but really take with you what seed you want to continue watering.
What seed you want to tend to.
What part of your life you want to pour a little bit more of yourself into.
And also remember that you can return to your garden at any point.
It's yours.
We'll do a short repetition or affirmation practice here where you can repeat these statements to yourself in your mind or out loud if you feel comfortable.
Starting with,
I plant the seeds of my life.
I notice where my attention goes.
I have the power to observe my life.
I can harvest the things that have come to fruition.
Again,
I plant the seeds that make up my life.
I choose the seeds that I tend to.
I have the power to notice and observe what grows.
And I can harvest what has come to fruition.
And if there's anything else that you want to repeat to yourself around this theme of planting and growing and then harvesting,
Repeat it to yourself now.
Something you can take with you for the next day,
The next week,
The next month,
Whatever it is.
And then bringing awareness back to your breath.
Observing how it moves in your body.
And observing your body.
Observing your fingers,
Trying to bring awareness to your toes,
Maybe rolling out your wrists,
Your ankles,
Your head.
And then coming back to the sounds that you might hear around you,
The cars outside,
The animals,
Whatever it might be,
Bringing you back into the real world,
The physical world.
And whenever you're ready,
Taking a big breath in,
Stretching your arms up over your head or just reaching out wide and bringing your hands back over your chest,
Connecting back with yourself here,
Taking a moment to thank yourself for showing up,
Taking a moment to give yourself a little bit of care,
A little bit of compassion,
And some time spent on awareness.
From my heart to yours,
I thank you so much for joining me in this practice.
And as always,
Thank you.
Whenever you're ready,
Start to come back into the space that you're in,
Blinking open your eyes,
Knowing you can take as long as you need.
And I hope to sit with you again soon.
Thank you.
