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How to Meditate: Meditation 101 for Beginners

10 Science-Backed Benefits of Meditation

What is Meditation?

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Process and Release

Melli O'Brien

00:00

00:00

Meditation

4.4

Duration

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Process and Release

In this meditation, we'll replay the day from start to present, helping to process any events that weren't addressed, or consciously setting them aside until tomorrow.

So let's settle in so we

can wind down from the day.

So if you haven't already done so you

can just find a comfortable posture now,

perhaps sitting or it could be lying down.

And if it feels okay to do so,

just allowing your eyes to close.

And we'll start by taking

a deep breath in together.

In through the nose.

And slowly out through the mouth.

And just inviting the jaw to relax.

Letting the shoulders be at ease.

And inviting the hands

and the belly to soften.

Just remembering in this moment,

there's no place else you need to

be, there's nothing else you need

to do, there's nothing you need to

accomplish, especially after a long day.

So see if you can give yourself

permission to just be here.

And to help us do that, we'll take a few

moments to tune into the body and just

breathing as a way to anchor attention

and connect with this moment of aliveness.

So just feeling the flow

of the breath in your body.

And you might notice the mind kind of

swirling with thoughts from earlier

today, or it might be swirling

with thoughts about tomorrow.

But for right now, we just get to notice

those thoughts as mental activity.

So just a thought moving kind

of flickering through the mind.

We don't need to get consumed by it

or overly identified with it, just

giving it some soft awareness and

then bringing the focus back to the

flow of the breath in your body.

You're just letting each inhale

and each exhale ground you a

little bit more deeply into what's

happening right here and right now.

So to help us let go of whatever's

happened today and to really

unwind and ground ourselves in this

moment, we're going to do something

that might seem to contradict

this intention of being present.

And we're going to actively reflect on

our day from the first moment that you

can remember all the way up until now.

So the reason for this is because we

often move through our moments so quickly

that we don't always get the chance

to process what happened in real time.

And so the mind can be kind

of subconsciously ruminating

about experiences that it

didn't quite feel complete with.

And so, as you replay the day,

you're just going to go through

as many moments as you can.

Remembering, moving through and just

noticing if there's anything that had

a little bit of an emotional charge.

Maybe an event that happened

where something feels unresolved.

And when you encounter that moment in

your reflection, any moment that has a

sort of feeling of charge or something

feeling unresolved, just pausing there

and taking a breath, and acknowledging it.

And thanking your mind for thinking about

something that might be really important.

And then just letting the mind know that

for right now, there's nothing we can

do about it, so it's okay to let it go.

And if it's really important,

we'll revisit it tomorrow.

So you can start this reflection now.

Just thinking to the earliest moment

of the day today that you can remember

and really visualize and feel yourself

moving through that moment of your day.

And it's okay to accelerate this

process so that the visualization

can happen kind of over the course

of just a few moments or minutes.

And just continuing now moving

through the course of your day.

And with each passing stage of

reflection throughout the day,

just let your body settle in a

little bit more and just let go.

Letting the body relax.

And if at any point you get a little

distracted and the mind starts ruminating

about something that happened or really

starting to feel that emotional charge,

just take a breath, reground yourself,

and thank your mind for thinking about

this and then just let the mind know that

for right now, there's really nothing

we can do and it's okay to let it go.

Remembering that it's possible to

revisit this problem or this situation

tomorrow, if it's still important.

So just continuing this reflection.

Moving through the moments of

your day until you come all the

way back here to the present

moment where you are right now.

And then beginning to re-arrive here.

So just taking a few more moments

to really land back here in the

present moment, in your body,

in this time and in this place.

And now as you're here, just notice what

it feels like to feel that momentum of

the day, to let it exist as a memory.

Knowing that we can't change

anything about how the day unfolded.

That's happened.

It's gone.

But we can meet this moment with

grounded-ness, with equanimity,

with curiosity and with presence.

So see if you can really

let yourself relax here.

Just relaxing into simply being

here and letting everything else go.

Just grounding into your body, and

feeling now where the body makes

contact with the surface beneath you.

Feeling the breath gently

moving in your body.

And remembering that this moment right

now is the beginning of the rest of your

evening and also the rest of your life.

So it's okay to let go for this

evening of everything else.

It's okay to unwind and then

you can start fresh tomorrow.

So we'll take one more deep

breath together before we close.

In through the nose.

And out through the mouth.

And if you're ready to do so,

you can reorient yourself back

into the space around you.

Inviting your eyes to open.

So well done.

And so as you continue to unwind before

sleep tonight, just take this time to

really be grounded, to be present and

to be at ease in your mind and body.

Enjoy the rest of your

evening and take care.

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