Rest, relax and reset your mindset

Mindfulness meditation to allow yourself time to sit and just be in the moment, settling the thoughts and becoming aware of your breathing.

Transcript

This is a mindfulness practice  to settle, ground and rest your thoughts,  relax your mind and body, 

Settling yourself into a comfortable position, 

Feeling the weight of your body on the chair  and your feet on the ground,  and your spine straight yet relaxed,  lengthening your neck slightly,  bringing your shoulders back,  opening up your heart space,  tucking your chin in slightly,  and you can keep your eyes open.  We can keep them closed,  whatever is more comfortable for you. 

If your eyes are open, gently lower them down to the ground.  Just gaze forward with a soft focus. 

Becoming aware of your breathing.  Noticing where you feel the breath the most in the body.  Is it in the nose, as you're breathing in, you can feel the cold air touching the back of your throat.  And as you breathe out, the warmth tickling the top of your lip.  Or is it in the rise and fall of your chest,  or the expansion and contraction of your belly. 

Or can you feel the breathing in your whole body. 

We're going to set an intention for this practice. And our intention is to practice mindfulness.  And to allow rest and relaxation into the body. 

And ask yourself,  why am I here?  What is my motivation for being here today?  And pop that into your own words. 

And bringing your awareness back to your breathing.  Your whole body breathing. 

And we're going to gently lengthen the breathing  on a count of four on the in breath,  and a count of four on the out breath. 

So breathing in for four, for a count of four. 

And breathing out for four. 

And if you find counting difficult,  doesn't sit well with you, you can use phrases such as  I know I'm breathing in  and I know I'm breathing out. 

So all we're doing now is focusing on the breathing  and the counting and the phrases. 

And you may find that thoughts arise as  they pop into your head.  That's fine.  It's very normal.  Just bring yourself back to your breathing  and your counting and phrases. 

Our thoughts are involuntary.  We have no control over them.  So when our thoughts arise,  don't push them away.  Just gently bring yourself back to your breathing and your counting or phrases. 

And don't judge any thoughts that arise. 

Don't get entangled up with a story. 

Just acknowledge that they are there  and bring yourself back very gently and kindly  to your breathing and your counting and phrases. 

Becoming aware of the out breath and noticing how the body relaxes as it releases the breath.  Feel the shoulders relax and drop as you release the breath out. 

Maybe the mind can learn from the body.  As the body releases the breath and relaxes,  so too can the mind release all involvement with thinking.  And begin to settle. 

And letting go of all the counting and phrases now.  And allow the breath to come back to its normal rhythm. 

And becoming aware of the weight of your body in the chair. 

And the pressure of your back against the chair. 

And the contact and weight of your bottom on the seat of the chair. 

And notice where your hands are. 

Are they connected? Are they on  the top of the thighs? 

What's the temperature around your hands?  Is it warm or cool? 

Can you feel any tingling or pulsing in the fingers? 

Can you notice any sensations in the fingers from the inside out? 

Becoming aware of any physical sensations in the body  that are attracting your attention.  Focus on these sensations. 

And we can do a body scan  throughout the body to notice any physical sensations.  So starting at the feet,  noticing any sensations in the feet and the ankles.  Any aches, 

tightness in the calves, the  knees, 

thighs, 

hips, any aching in the hips,  any joint pain in the area,  lower back,  tightness in the muscles in the lower back, 

the belly, the abdomen,  chest, 

the upper back,  any tight muscles in the upper back and the shoulders. 

The arms, the wrists, the fingers,  noticing any sensations that are attracting your attention. 

How does the neck feel,  the muscles in the neck? Are they tight? Are they sore?  The scalp,  the face, 

flowing back down through the body.  And as you flow back down,  noticing any sensations.  Attracting your attention  and allow yourself to  focus on that area.  Gently breathing into it. 

Allowing yourself time to sit with these sensations. And 

appreciating the ground is supporting your body unconditionally. 

And the body is supporting the mind unconditionally. 

The mind is resting in the body,  and the body is resting on the ground. 

And becoming aware of all the space around us. 

And as we sit here resting,  we allow the body and mind to  simply rest and be in the moment. 

Simply sitting here, 

just being. 

Nothing to do, 

nowhere to go, 

nothing to achieve. 

Simply being here,  right now. 

And as we come to the end of this practice,  and we reflect on our intention and motivation for this session,  to rest,  relax,  and reset the mind, 

we can offer gratitude  for giving ourselves the time  to be here  for ourselves, 

and to appreciate the benefits of being here  that we will gain from this meditation.  And not only us benefiting,  it'll be everyone else who come into contact with us  throughout our daily activities. 

Taking a slow, long, deep breath in  and out 

and gently opening your eyes  and having a good stretch,  taking a drink of water  and slowly  moving on to the next activity of your day or evening.