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How to Meditate: Meditation 101 for Beginners
10 Science-Backed Benefits of Meditation
What is Meditation?
How to Meditate: Meditation 101 for Beginners
10 Science-Backed Benefits of Meditation
What is Meditation?
Benefits of Mindfulness: Mindful Living Can Change Your Life
Mindfulness 101: A Beginner's Guide
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In this meditation, we'll use gratitude and appreciation as a way to pacify our mind and settle back into deep rest and sleep.
Hey there.
If you're listening to this,
you're probably awake in the night
trying to fall back to sleep.
I imagine this is frustrating.
So I'm here to keep you
company and to help you out.
How about we start by taking
a deep breath together.
In deeply through the nose.
Out through the mouth.
Releasing any tension that you
might be feeling in your body.
And relaxing into the surface beneath you.
A lot of times when we're up
in the middle of the night the
frustration that we feel creates
extra tension in our mind and body.
We start thinking about the next
day, all the things that won't
go well, thinking we'll be tired,
cranky, we won't have enough energy.
But these things are stories.
We don't yet know how the day will unfold.
All we know is right now where awake.
For whatever reason, the mind, the body
decided that it's a good time to be awake.
So we'll start by just meeting
that reality instead of fighting
it and trying to force ourselves
to sleep, which never works anyway.
Let's just settle into
what it's like to be awake.
You're welcome to have
your eyes open or closed.
And maybe just start by noticing anything
you perceive in your space, like sounds
or the feeling of your body against the
mattress, or the coziness of your covers.
Maybe even the subtle rhythm of your
breath moving throughout your body.
Even though you're awake when
you might want to be asleep,
chances are it's quite pleasant.
Nobody needs anything from you right now.
It's quieter than usual.
You get to relax and
just being in your bed.
And so if we step outside of the
thoughts that say we should be sleeping
right now and drop into the reality
of this moment, perhaps it's a little
more pleasant than you realized.
And this moment, like any other
moment, is a moment of your life.
So let's just drink it in.
We don't have to walk around
and energize ourselves.
But maybe there can be a soft awareness,
a soft appreciation for this moment of
stillness, of quiet, of being alive.
And being awake for this
moment of a aliveness.
Feeling the breath as it
moves through your body.
With every exhale, relaxing
more deeply into this moment.
And when you notice your mind
caught up in thoughts, perhaps about
tomorrow or judgments about this
moment or frustrations or why you're
awake, we just smile at the mind.
You could even say hello, thoughts.
I know, thoughts.
Thank you for sharing, thoughts.
And then just come back to being in your
body, the actual reality of this moment.
The mind can create an infinite
number of stories, ideas of
how tomorrow will unfold.
But we have no idea.
All we know is what's here right now.
And so we relax into it.
If the mind continues
to stay awake, so be it.
We're getting in good meditation
time, good relaxation time.
That in itself is restorative.
And if we happen to drift back off
to sleep, that's great as well.
And so continue to follow
this rhythm of your breathing.
If you'd like to take deeper breaths,
you're welcome to, or the breath
can move at its natural rhythm.
But we'll really tuned into the
softness, the ease and the letting
go that comes with an exhale.
Every exhale, see if you can
relax one percentage point more.
And even if you can't relax your mind
or body, can you drop into a relaxed
awareness around whatever's going on?
Just watching my thoughts,
moving through your mind.
Noticing and offering kindness
and compassion to any tension
that might be in your body.
We can't force anything to change.
All we can do is meet
what's here with presence.
With gentle awareness.
Relaxing into this moment.
And if at any point you find
yourself feeling frustrated, see
if you can shift your relationship
to this moment to one of gratitude.
A simple recognition that you're
alive right now, a peacefulness
that might be here in this moment.
The coziness of your bed.
The breath moving through your body.
You can allow this to
just be a meditation.
And if it happens to take
you to sleep, that's great.
Nowhere else you need to be,
nothing else you need to do.
Just another moment of your
life you get to tune into.
Feeling your body breathing you.
Inviting any tension that's
in the body to relax.
If you do notice a certain area of
your body that feels agitated, you
can visualize on an inhale, the
breath, moving into that region of
the body and enveloping with kindness
and care, like a warm blanket.
And with the exhale, inviting it to relax.
If at any point you get caught
in thoughts, you can just
come back to the mantra: just
this breath, just this moment.
Letting it settle your attention, relaxing
into presence, soft awareness, and gentle
gratitude for this moment of aliveness.
We' ll soon becoming to
the end of this meditation.
You're welcome to relisten if you'd
like to spend more time practicing, or
you can drift off into silence spending
some time just breathing, relaxing.
But just remember we can't force
ourselves to fall back asleep.
That will just create more tension.
And so see if you can
meet this moment as it is.
Appreciating it while you are awake
and letting that appreciation,
perhaps soften and pacify the mind.
So that if it is ready to, it
will transition into sleep.
I wish you a restful evening.
Thank you for your practice and take care.
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