Guided Meditation/Asana Practice/Relaxation on the First Foundation of Mindfulness

Sit in a comfortable position, allowing your body to be upright. Start to draw awareness to the breath as it moves in and out of the body. Notice the belly rising on the inhales. Notice the belly falling on the exhales. Start to follow the breath. Notice how it enters the nostrils, travels down the back of the throat and into nasal pharynx, down into the bronchial tubes, into the lungs. Notice the lungs as they expand and contract, following the breath on its journey out of the body. Notice if the breaths are long, or if the breaths are short. Feel the position of the body on the ground. Draw awareness to the feet and legs, and what parts are touching the floor. Notice any sensations in the toes, feet, shins, knees, thighs. Moving upward, noticing sensations through the hips, belly, chest, shoulders, arms, hands, fingers. Notice any thoughts moving through the brain. Draw the focus back to the breath and how it moves in and out of the body. As the bell sounds, draw your attention to the sound, gently opening up your eyes. Palms into prayer, and bow.

Start your practice in virasana, hero's pose. Sitting tall, draw the awareness towards the breath and how it moves in and out of the body. Grow taller through the spine on the inhales. On the exhales, feel the body root itself towards the floor, noticing what parts of the body are touching the floor.

Slowly make your way into a table top position. Shoulders above the wrists, all ten fingers spread wide on the mat. On the inhale, lift the tailbone and the forehead towards the ceiling, giving a slight compression to the spine and a stretch to the abdominals, in cow pose. On the exhale, tuck the tailbone towards the floor, tuck the chin to the chest, creating a stretch in the spine, coming into cat pose. Repeat as many inhales and exhales as you wish. Notice how the positioning of the body changes on the in and out breaths. Notice how the feelings in the body change between the postures, how both front body and back body expand and contract with the movement of the breath. Try changing the movements and the breath. Exhaling to cow and inhaling to cat. Notice any thoughts or feelings that come up in the body when the order is reversed.

Come to a neutral spine. Curl over the toes, and life the sits-bones towards the ceiling coming into a downward dog. Draw awareness to the sensations in the body. Feeling the blood pool towards the feet, head, hands and arms. Feel the hamstrings soften towards the back wall. Relax the calves and heels towards the floor, melt the heart towards the feet. Take a couple breaths in this posture, noticing how the air is moving differently throughout the body.

Come back into a table top position, and press the hips back towards the heels, extending the arms out in front of you, coming into balasana, or child's pose. Keep the pose active by pressing the palms of the hands into the floor, fingers wide apart, feeling how the forearms and elbows come off the floor. Notice how the forehead is gently resting on the floor. Feel the release through the lumbar spine and the stretch through the back body. On the next inhale, gently release the pose, slowly coming into hero, then exhaling and laying on your back for final savasana.

Closing your eyes, and quieting your mind, draw your attention to your belly. Imagine yourself in a bubble. With every inhale, feel the bubble expand and get bigger. On the next in breaths, imagine the bubble covering your entire body. Then the mat. Then the room. The bubble gets bigger with every in breath, encompassing the surrounding neighbourhood, city, province, continent, hemisphere, planet, solar system, galaxy, universe. Drawing awareness to the exhales, take yourself back with every exhale. The bubble shrinks, from the universe, to the galaxy, solar system, planet, hemisphere, continent, province, city, neighbourhood, room, mat, body. Feel the self completely relaxed, being as much a part of the mat, the floor, the room, etc as you are with the body. Stay for as long as you wish. Namaste.