The Sage: 15 Minute Guided Meditation

[bell rings] So maybe starting with a few longer, slower, deeper breaths.

Just to allow the body, the nervous system, the mind to start to slow down, settle.

Sending that signal that it's okay right now to not have to be anyone, to not have to go anywhere, to not have to do anything.

And just settling into a natural rhythm of the breath.

Same way the body's resting on the seat, allowing the mind to rest on the body.

So staying with the full duration of the inhale, the pause, the full duration of the exhale.

And maybe just starting from a space of ease.

Not as a result we need to get, but as an attitude of the mind.

What would it feel like to meet your experience right now, however it is, with this attitude of ease or of peace? And staying with the rhythm of the breath, beginning to soften the body as well.

So noticing the forehead, the eyes, the muscles of the thinking mind, the jaw, the mouth, the tongue softening.

And scanning down through the shoulders, the shoulder blades, just noticing what's being held there, releasing what can be released.

And just noticing the weight of the arms, noticing the sensation of the hands wherever they're resting, the force of gravity, sense of kind of groundedness.

And scanning through the stomach and the lower belly, noticing if there's any protection, holding, softening, which can allow the body to breathe a little easier.

And breathing energetically down into the legs, noticing the contact with your seat and relaxing through the upper legs, down through the knees, the lower legs and the feet.

And for a moment here, just visualizing with each out breath that any remaining held tension or stress can melt down with each out breath through the legs, through the feet, into the floor.

And let's bring the awareness to the whole body.

So from the top of the head to the bottom of the feet.

Receiving each breath with every cell in the body, and releasing each breath from every cell in the body.

Just giving yourself some time to just settle into that simple rhythm.

And we're not trying to get the mind to completely stop thinking.

Just taking the simple approach of whenever we notice the mind wandering off down one of its familiar paths, just gently returning to the rhythm of the breath.

And also noticing the gaps between the thoughts.

Starting to tune into that quality of awareness itself.

Just that simple presence of mind.

It's always there.