- [Narrator] Hey there, I'm John,
and welcome to our meditation.
If you're having a hard time right now, it's okay,
you are not alone
and there is help.
You can reach out to a loved one,
a friend, a colleague or medical resources.
If you're suffering from severe depression
or having harmful thoughts,
please reach out to your local suicide prevention resources.
Links are in the description of this video.
Go ahead and settle into a position
you can comfortably hold for a while.
Be gentle with yourself and honor what your body wants.
And if you can,
try to avoid a position you'd fall asleep in.
Noticing your connection to your feet on the floor
or your legs on the chair.
Allow these to ground you down to the floor
where it's still and solid.
Place one hand on your heart
and one hand on your lower belly.
Close your eyes or let them gaze downward
towards the floor gently.
And inhale slowly and deeply through your nose,
into your lower belly.
And feeling the hand on your belly move outward
as it fills with air.
Mother hand on your chest remains gentle and still.
Now slowly exhale all of the air out of your body
as if you were blowing out candles on a cake.
Feeling your belly contract back in.
And again breathing deeply into your lower belly,
feeling that inhale weaving
in and out of your muscles and yourselves,
nourishing your body,
beginning to allow you to feel lighter,
clearer, more still.
And as you exhale,
allow the breath to gently begin to carry away any sadness
and depression or heaviness that you may be feeling.
(uplifting music)
Continue breathing slowly and deeply into your lower belly.
Allowing your focus to remain
on the rhythm of your breathing
and the sensation of the expansion
and contraction of your belly.
And if you get distracted that's okay.
Just return your attention back to your breath.
Using it as your anchor for the rest of our time together,
your inhales nourish and lighten you,
and they steal you enough to see through the cloudiness
and your exhales gently carry the heaviness,
pain and negativity away
which opens up space for ease and gratitude to come in.
(uplifting music)
Take some time now to sit with a lot of compassion
and love for yourself.
Depression can feel overwhelming
and takes so much of our energy,
but here and now, from this more still grounded space,
you can give yourself all of the compassion you deserve
and all of the love too.
See if you can allow yourself
to just be exactly where you are.
And when judgment comes up,
breathe into it with love and compassion.
And let it gently float away, dissipating as it does.
And see if you can let yourself become aware
of a new feeling
of stillness and ease
of self love and of hope.
(uplifting music)
Remember in those times when the heaviness
and cloudiness set in,
you always have the capacity to return to this space
to take care of yourself
and love yourself exactly as you are,
to wrap yourself in a big hug.
There is hope,
this will pass
and you are not alone.
(uplifting music )
Now let's take three more deep breaths together.
Take a deep inhale in,
holding it for a bit
and exhaling it out.
Again, an even deeper breath than the one before
feeling it weave in and out of your muscles and yourselves.
And exhale it out.
The last time, your deepest breath yet,
this time sending that oxygen through your entire body
and when it reaches the top of your head and you're ready,
you can open your eyes.
(uplifting music)