Autumn Balance Meditation And Journaling

Welcome to your autumnal equinox meditation today.

We will find ourselves in some quiet,

Thoughtful mindfulness of breath meditation and we'll move into more of a balanced experience of breathing.

Release that and come back to our natural rhythm.

At the very end,

I welcome you to stay for some additional journaling practice to bring additional awareness and self-inquiry into this time of year.

As always,

Thank you for making time for your practice and I'm so happy to be here with you today.

So,

Find yourself into a comfortable,

Upright position,

Whether that's in a chair or on the floor.

You know what works for you and your body today.

Find that comfortable,

Upright position.

Allow your body to settle and take three deep breaths here to invite your mind to settle together with your body here in this place.

Deep inhale and again,

Deep inhale.

Last one,

Deep inhale.

Allow your breath to return to its natural rhythm.

No force,

No push,

Nothing to change here.

Bring your awareness to your body in your practice today.

Here in your seat,

Noticing any places of tension in your body and using your breath to invite release,

Relaxation into those tight places.

Just an invitation to relax,

Release,

Expand.

Be supported in your posture,

In your practice.

And you likely intuitively know where these parts of your body are.

Perhaps it's your jaw or your shoulders,

Belly,

Glutes,

Feet.

Maybe it's one,

Maybe it's many.

No worries.

Use that expansive inhale and calming exhale to invite that release,

Relaxation throughout your body.

Now turn your awareness to the rhythm of your body breathing.

No changing or forcing,

Just a gentle awareness of that rhythm in your body.

Ride that wave of expansion outward and on your exhale,

The coming back to your center.

And notice what part of your physical body is it easier for you to notice this rhythm.

Perhaps it's the rise and fall of your chest or belly.

One of my favorites is the temperature change on my upper lip just below my nostrils.

The cooling sensation on the inhale.

And the warmth on the exhale.

There's no right or wrong here.

Wherever it is easiest for you to bring your awareness to the physical sensation of your body breathing,

I invite you to do so now.

And this is just a gentle awareness.

No changing or controlling.

Just an anchor for your awareness.

Riding the wave of your breath.

And when your mind wanders here as it will,

Just simply come back to your breath.

No judgment,

No harshness.

Just,

Oh,

And come back to your breath.

If it helps,

You can say,

Thinking,

And come back to the breath.

No judgment.

Only holding yourself in compassion.

Coming back to your breath.

In and out.

Allowing your body and mind to relax into that rhythm.

As your mind brings up your to-do list or a never-ending string of thoughts or worries.

Just come back to the breath.

All of those thoughts in that to-do list,

Worries,

All those things will be there when your meditation is complete.

For now,

All we need is to be here with the breath.

Thoughts will come and go.

No problem.

No worries.

Just come back to that breath.

That rhythm.

In and out.

Nothing to change or fix.

Just simply noticing.

And now I'll invite you into a more structured breathing practice here to bring some additional attention into the breath.

And some really focused balance of the inhale and the exhale.

I'll guide you every step of the way.

If at any point you feel any discomfort,

Just drop the breathing pattern and return to your normal breath.

So we're going to do an equal inhale and equal exhale.

Now what count exactly is going to fit your breath is up to you.

I'll start with a count of four.

I'll guide that way.

If you find that is too long or too short,

Just go with your own counting,

Your own pattern.

Just keep the inhale and the exhales equal length.

And we'll just practice this for a minute or two.

So when you're ready,

Take an inhale.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Exhale.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Inhale.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Exhale.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Inhale.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Exhale.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Inhale.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Exhale.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Continue this pattern.

Equal inhales.

Equal exhales.

Remember at any point if you feel any discomfort,

Drop the pattern,

Return to your normal breath.

Let's do two more rounds.

Equal inhale.

Equal exhale.

Good.

Now release that pattern and just let your body breathe as it will.

And just notice here.

Just notice what your body has to tell you.

Just checking in.

Not fixing or forcing or changing.

Just a loving awareness.

And as we come to the end of our meditation portion today,

Begin to bring some movement to your fingers and maybe your toes.

Maybe you want to roll your neck or your shoulders.

Whatever your body is asking for.

Slowly blink your eyes open or raise your gaze.

If you are staying for the journaling portion of the practice,

I invite you to reach for your pen and paper.

And we'll move into some contemplation here.

Just to bring some awareness,

Some inner inquiry into this season of the year.

I'm in the northern hemisphere here.

It's back to school time and that always feels like a time for my own inner check-in.

Inner reflection.

How is the year gone?

What would I like to change or unfold or release for the remaining few months of the year?

So I'll provide a few journaling prompts here.

I invite you to just allow whatever is coming up out onto the page.

No editing in live time.

Just let it all come out.

And then once you're finished and we sign off,

I'd invite you to take a look back and see what came out during these few questions.

These few prompts.

So the first inquiry I invite you into is where in my life do I feel steady and balanced right now?

Where in my life do I feel steady and balanced right now?

And there's no time limit to these prompts.

Feel free to pause.

Take your time.

Really allow the space and the time for a full exploration of these prompts.

A bit of a free flowing consciousness to really delve into your own experience,

Your own inner awareness.

And now for the second prompt,

Where do I sense imbalance and what might help me return to my center?

Again,

Where do I sense imbalance and what might help me return to center?

Again,

Try not to judge here.

There's no right,

No wrong.

No too short,

Too long.

Some of these prompts may generate a lot of thoughts from you.

Some may not be so much.

It's all good.

All of them are good.

No judgment.

And the third one,

What is ready to be released to create more balance in my day?

What is ready to be released to create more balance in my day?

And trust that you have all of these answers within you.

It's all there.

And these may unfold for you more over the next few hours,

Day,

Week.

Let this be a process.

We're only just starting here together.

Perhaps for the next week you come back to these prompts in your regular practice each day and review.

Maybe you add some things.

Maybe some more details come forth for you.

And if I let something fall away this season,

What space might open for new growth?

If I let something fall away this season,

What space might open for new growth?

Everything is welcome here.

If I let something fall away this season,

What space might open for new growth?

And lastly for our session today,

What rhythms of rest and renewal do I want to honor in the months ahead?

What rhythms of rest and renewal do I want to honor in the months ahead?

This one feels really juicy for me in this chapter of my life.

Rhythm of rest and renewal do I want to honor in the months ahead?

As with the previous prompts,

Let it all flow.

No editing.

Just let it flow.

Let the words and thoughts all come out onto the page.

As we start to close out our time together today,

Thank you again for making time for your practice and your inner inquiry with me today.

And you can come back to this practice as often as is helpful.

Again,

These prompts aren't meant to be a one and done.

Perhaps you come back in the next few days or weeks and check in.

How is it feeling?

How are you feeling in this season?

Where is your balance right now?

What does balance mean to you right now?

We define what balance means for us.

Our choice.

Perhaps my most profound realization lately has been balance is not necessarily 50% of this and 50% of that.

The balance can come more from your internal awareness of how you're feeling.

And less the external where you are,

What you're doing,

What you're producing or not.

So I invite you to expand and really get curious about that word balance for yourself.

I know it's become a loaded word in our society these past few years.

So really allow curiosity.

And the very last minute of our time together,

I invite you to rest a hand on your heart or your belly or hands on down on your thighs.

And just bow your head in a gesture of gratitude to yourself for making time for yourself,

For your practice,

And for your inner inquiry.

Thank you for your practice today and take very good care.