And welcome to tonight's session, for those of you who are coming in live, it's nice to be with you. And for those of you who are accessing via the recordings, this is Mike and looking forward to us just kind of . Using some mindfulness, using a couple of meditations today to start to think about, let's start.
Bringing about a bit of restoration after. The Kind of torrid time that so many people have had and. After this period of in our lives, I think when it's been.
So uncertain, and it does sort of feel like privileged enough, I suppose, to have both my vaccinations now, and that's feeling a bit safer and. The world starts to be opening up and. For us, at least in this country, tragically not so much elsewhere, but there is a sort of sense of, right, well, maybe we could start getting back and .
Beginning to think about restoring ourselves and, you know, like, after a really busy time, sometimes we just need to look after ourselves and get to that place. So we're doing two meditations, as you saw. I wanted to do a variation on the mountain that I'm using quite a lot at the moment with people.
And it really just is this sense of trusting in, the, the stuff of permanence that's. That's there for us, you know, our breath, trusting in our breath, trusting in the seasons, trusting in that sometimes, you know, we can just relax into life a little bit and as we're coming out of this thing and it feels a bit safer, we could start to trust. I think that it's that variation on the mountain that I wanted to take us through.
And then. In terms of how we restore ourselves, the second one is a really physical, process that I thought might be helpful for people tonight. So with no more ado.
Particularly for the mountain meditation, we see the position the young woman's in, as she sits on top of her hill, just looking at her mountain. And, this is something I really like to do when I'm on holiday, is, . If I'm finding a view, and I do try to go on holiday where there are mountains, cause I love mountains and hills.
And, I, I love just to sit right at the top of the hill and overlook a valley and just find the, the real live mountains. And as this young woman is doing here, and try and sit with that lovely straight back and. Once we've got over that sense of the other walkers looking up and sort of rolling their eyes and you can almost hear them thinking you're flipping hippie, but I don't care.
And there's something rather lovely about that too. So if we can get ourselves into that seated position. And either close the eyes or half close the eyes.
Or maybe just soften that focus. Let's begin By Noticing the breath. Which is just a great way.
To start medicine meditating. Quietly just. Saying to yourself in that inner voice.
That is common Has a bit of a smile in it. I'm just breathing in. And I'm just breathing out.
Paying attention as you follow the breath. And you might notice a warm. Or a coolness.
As a breath passes thee. Upper lip or And tea Nasal cavity just. Being aware of the temperature of the air.
And after a little while. You may just find that your out breath starts to naturally. Extend And it's really useful sometimes to allow this to happen.
And to meet it with curiosity and to realise that. As we're just breathing in. And just breathing out.
But after a while The out breath does naturally extend as we begin to soften and maybe relax. And we observe the breath as it moves down the diaphragm. And gently back up again.
Now let's just trust in. The truthfulness of this that We can set aside the focus of the breath. And it will do it all on its own.
And we can begin to notice the rise. And fall of your abdomen. Just allowing the attention to ride and rest where it will.
And in your mind's eye. I'm just gonna ask you to bring up the image. Of a mountain It might be your mountain.
Or you may just wish to look at the screen and. Get a sense of the young woman's mountain in front of her. And as you begin to pay attention.
To whichever mountain you've found. You might notice its shape. It may be a small wide mountain or a tall narrow mountain.
It doesn't matter. Because as you look more closely at the mountain. Just see if we can't find that sense of it.
Being a really special mountain. And this mountain has a secret. It's been here Since time immemorial.
And this mountain has witnessed so much. And as you sit Observing this mountain that has witnessed so much. You notice how The sun passes over it.
Creating pools of light and shadow. And if we sat there for long enough. We'd watch the sun set and Notice how the sun.
As it sets gently illuminates our mountain. With a soft glow. And we might reflect that each day.
Passes in this way. And as we bring our curious mind. To our mountain, the one in our mind's eye.
Notice the mountain doesn't judge the day or the night. It doesn't prefer one. To the other It doesn't cling to the heat of the sun.
Or the coolness of the night. In fact, our mountain. Does no pulling And no pushing It just sits.
With a simple Immovable presence. And so it is with the seasons. And as you observe this mountain in your mind's eye.
We get a sense that. In time Spring Moves into summer. And the summer Gently moves into autumn.
Into winter And back to spring. And summer again. And the mountain Just sits through all of this.
No need to fight the wind. Or repel the rain. And in this way it remains free.
Just trusting in the rhythm of the seasons. Just waiting to emerge from behind clouds. Because the mountain can teach us perhaps.
To be patient and present. To each moment. It knows that the buds on the trees will unfold.
And we can be the observer of the mountain. We can travel. Even in our imagination to the other side of our mountain.
And see it for the first time. And get a sense of perspective that it's, it's different. And if we want to, we can.
Be more like the mountain with its patience. Its trust And its acceptance. Maybe we can become.
A witness to our own experience. Maybe we can choose to let go. Of attachment and striving.
Like the mountain, maybe we can set judgement aside. And just relax into the truth. That there are things we cannot control.
And as the mountain does every day. We can accept times of darkness. But stay strong.
And steady like the mountain. We can trust and wait for the sun to shine again. Because The mountain holds a secret.
The air doesn't breathe. Water has no mind to swim. And snow is simply Snow What is Yes Just settle into that, just that what is, is.
And I think as we come out of this COVID experience. Oh, it is about taking a breath and Just thanking Whoever we want to really, whoever, where our meaning and our tension lies that we, we have come through this really difficult time and now's the time, I think, to learn from. Mindfulness and perhaps to learn from mountains.
About just finding that acceptance and Letting go of that kind of struggle and fight that so many of us have been in. And We settle ourselves. And I thought you guys might like this slide.
From a veterinary profession, I thought it was rather a splendid cat. But It made me think of what cats do. They stretch, don't they and.
Then they just let everything go and it's that sense of tension release, I think that I'm looking at here. And if we can get better at just releasing the tension of the day throughout the day. Just begin to restore physically and mentally after this tough time.
So to begin this meditation. We just adopt as comfortable. A position as possible.
Just Resting the hands. On the belly or the hips. With your palms Downwards or upwards Whatever's most comfortable.
Allowing your shoulders to be soft. Making sure that the position of your hands in your lap. Creates a little strain, as little as possible on the arms and the shoulders.
Allowing your face to soften. And your jaw to relax a bit. And your head in a position that allows your throat to soften.
And we just allow our bodies. To settle down into gravity. Feeling the points of contact.
Between your body And the surface upon which It's resting. Allowing your weight. To just sink down.
Through these points of contact. Again And again. Now let's gather.
Our attention and our awareness. Around the sensations and the movement. Of the breath In the body I wonder, can you Let me feel.
The breath in the chest. And in your tummy And if we really focus even the back. Of the body And as we breathe again, can you feel the movement of the ribs?
In the back of the body as well as the front. Maybe you can even feel the breath. In the lower back.
Feel the way the body expands a little. On the in breath And subsides a little. As we exhale.
Being careful not to force. Or to alter that natural breath too much. As we sit and Allow this process.
Can you just let the breath? Breathe itself. It's what it does when we're not focusing on it anyway.
Letting the breath breathe itself. Now, Very, very gently. Just guide your awareness.
To the areas in your body where there might be. Some discomfort. And let's just see if you can let your awareness.
Gently Rest there Almost if you can imagine holding. A tiny baby bird in your hand. Cradling it softly.
It's with this level of gentleness. And attention that we escort the breath. And the awareness.
To wherever you feel any discomfort. It's gentle. And notice if you can feel the breath.
In that part of the body. Let the breath gently soothe. And massage any of these areas of tension.
And perhaps even You might be able to bring, and I love this, a quality of care. And love for self. To the breath.
Saturate your breath with kindliness. And gentleness. And tenderness.
And allow it to rock. And cradle this part of your body. Where the discomfort sits.
And treat yourself the way. That you would naturally treat someone that you loved or cared for. Who was hurting Hold yourself.
With that level of tenderness. And if at any time you get to a place of struggle with this. Just broaden your awareness.
To include your whole body. And pay particular attention to the sense. Of the body Once again Settling down.
Into gravity. And each time that you catch yourself. Tensing up Gently allow gravity.
To settle you once more. Let's go and find Another part of the body. Another part of the body where there may be.
Tension Or discomfort. And with that Wonderful attitude of tenderness and gentleness and kindliness. Escort you, bro.
That breath that is saturated with these. Warm, soft qualities. And allow your breath to settle.
Wherever the tension is. Let it sit there. And just spend a few moments.
Resting deep in the body. In the And allow Your discomfort, be it physical. Or emotional To be soothed.
If it gets too much. Just go back and Use gravity to settle once more into your chair. And then send your breath off again.
On its mission Allow your breath to find wherever that. Tension sits. And saturate that area with kindness.
With tenderness. And with love And as we bring this short tension release. Compassion focused meditation to a close.
Just broaden your awareness. To include any sounds around you. Open your eyes.
And gently, gently move that body. And really importantly, see if you can bring this quality of breath-based bodily awareness with you. As you re-engage with your week.
With your day Just notice how good it felt. To just Immerse yourself. And kindness And tenderness and love.
Well done, everybody. Quite an ambitious. Meditation, that one, but I'm running a course for our local CCG on Monday evenings and that's one of the, it's a pain, psychological pain management course.
And to try and get people off opioids, opioid medication. And that's the meditation that this current group are doing best with. They really, really like that one because It helps them to meet themselves with kindness.
And just find that whatever the cat's face is saying there, it looks really. Kind of like soothed and. Restored, doesn't it?
So I hope you found that useful tonight, I enjoyed sharing it with you. And look forward to seeing you all. And where are we May in June when we're all unlocked.
And we're all getting back to something of a normal life. Thank you all so much for taking time with us and as always, thank you, Dawn. I hope you got nice and relaxed there.
And see you soon. Bye bye guys.