Rachel Podger Therapy: Recent Episodes
Rachel Podger
Research has shown that a regular meditation practice has lasting benefits that can greatly help everyone deal with external stressors and feelings of anxiety, depression, overwhelm and other unwanted sensations and emotions. Meditation can enrich our inner experience, allowing us to feel greater contentment, energy and awareness necessary during this moment of change. Using meditation regularly herself, Rachel has recorded a number of meditations that can help you through various difficulties you may face during your daily life. Listen and enjoy.
The earth beneath our feet is a constant. A steady, grounding presence, that we can rely on in the present moment.
Seeking a stronger connection to the earth is proven to improve our wellbeing. Immersing yourself in the sensations, smells, sounds, and calm that the earth resonates is a precious experience and one that can cradle you in peace.
I hope you find calm and relaxation with my latest mediation.
Gratitude is a tremendously powerful tool. If I experience frustration, particularly around aspects of life that are outside of my control, practising gratitude provides softness and gentleness.
Gratitude enables us to see another perspective, enjoy positive experiences, feel our emotions, deal with challenges and share in others' happiness.
This is a meditation to connect with inner joy. I invite you to take a moment to stop in your busy day, and to find a sunny, peaceful spot to listen to these words, breathe deeply, and bring awareness to your heart.
As you breathe into your heart space, thereby breathing into your embodied awareness, it is possible to reconnect with the joy that resides within you.
Nature has much to teach us, and even in the city, it is all around us.
I encourage you to pause for a few minutes and engage with this meditation, where you can listen to, and learn from nature.
The wind in the trees and the birds singing remind us that the beauty of life continues regardless of any difficulties we may be experiencing. Learning to tune into the sounds of nature helps build resilience and a sense of inner calm.
This weekend I am celebrating my marriage and as such joy is present, radiant, and all encompassing.
However, at mundane, or difficult, times in our lives me may forget that joy is within our grasp.
This is a meditation to come into your heart and connect. Connect with a friend, a loved one, someone who makes you smile and bring the warmth of joy into your body.
The lightening mornings are giving me the space to pause, collect my thoughts, and notice how I'm feeling. I find the sounds of birdsong so soothing and uplifting to wake up to. The birds in the trees outside of my window are one of natures most beautiful gifts.
I created a birdsong meditation to help you find this little bit of calm and beauty too.
This is a meditation to help you find space through the medium of breath.
The inward breath energizes and the outward breath calms our system. By focusing on the bodily sensations as we breathe we can find pleasure, peace, and relaxation both in our hearts and minds, and in the world outside.
With space, we can forge resilience and equilibrium to face life's obstacles with positivity and confidence.
In this short meditation, I invite you to find somewhere quiet to sit or lie down and focus on letting in the good.
As you breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth, think of something that brings you joy. This could be a person, a place, being in nature, or the warmth of the spring sunshine.
Let the positive feelings and sensations that come to mind travel through your body from the top of your head down to the soles of your feet.
No matter how busy or stressful may life seem, remember you can come back to this place and focus on the good at any time.
In my latest meditation, I invite you to find somewhere quiet to sit or lie down and take in the beauty of the moment.
Taking some time to acknowledge your surroundings and remember a place, person, or sound that you think is beautiful and uplifting is sure to put a smile on your face.
Remember, you can always come back to this place. Just close your eyes and take a moment to pause and reflect.
This is a mediation to help support you through difficult times.
Whether you are feeling unwell, overwhelmed, sad, burnt out or deflated this soothing meditation will help guide you towards peace and tranquillity.
Tuning in to the sounds of nature can help us connect with our bodies and loosen any areas of tension that we may be experiencing.
I find that listening to the birds singing as I walk in the mornings helps me take a moment to breathe, relax, and reflect on anything that may be causing me any stress.
This weekend, I hope you find some time to enjoy nature and listen to all the wonderful sounds around you.
Spending time in the spring sunshine this week has filled me with hope and helped me relax and recover from being unwell.
Whether you sit in the sun or imagine the sensation of the warmth on the sun on your skin as you lie somewhere quiet, I hope this meditation enables you to take advantage of nature’s healing properties.
When we think about touch, we often think about the touch of other people. But the touch of nature can be just as beneficial for our mind, body, and soul.
Immersing myself in nature helps me feel at ease. Whether it's the wind in my hair or the brush of leaves and grass against my skin, the touch of nature helps me reconnect with my soul and reminds me to breathe and be at one with myself.
This week, I hope my meditation helps you appreciate the touch of nature.
This week, I have been experiencing some pain due to lifting a box of books that were heavier than I thought they would be. Although uncomfortable, being with this pain and breathing into it has helped me.
In this short meditation, I help you acknowledge and accept any pain you may be feeling throughout your body.
Every now and again, I think it’s essential that we take the time to stop and connect with the sounds around us.
In this short meditation, I invite you to listen to and connect with the sounds of the sea. As you listen to the waves, breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth.
Allowing yourself to be in this moment of connection, pay attention to any thoughts or other sounds that come to you. Let them pass before coming back to the sand and the sounds of the waves.
As you open your eyes, remember that you can come back to this at any time.
This week, I welcome you to take part in this short meditation to acknowledge your achievements.
As you focus on your breathing and the sound of my voice, let your thoughts turn to something you’ve worked hard at this week, month, or year. It doesn't have to be anything big, just something that comes to mind.
As you open your eyes, remember that you can come back to this at any time. Just take a moment to pause and reflect.
This week’s meditation invites you to find somewhere quiet and peaceful to lie down and perform a body scan.
As you lie down, take a deep breath in and slowly release it whilst bringing awareness to your toes, feet, calf muscles, shins, thighs, hips, and pelvis. As you continue to monitor any feelings or sensations throughout your body, pay attention to any tension or changes in sensation.
If there’s anywhere in your body that needs a little more focus, spend some time really connecting to these areas.
This week, the lighter mornings have reminded me to truly soak in the nature surrounding me. When out walking, the light that shines through the trees as the sun rises leaves me looking forward to the spring and summer months ahead. It also helps me connect with myself and rejuvenates my senses.
As the mornings gradually become lighter, I hope this meditation helps you take a moment to sit and breathe somewhere comfortable and reflect on your week.
Focusing on a sound, be it a birdsong, a song, or even someone’s voice, allows us to focus and reconnect with ourselves. During meditation, I often like to focus on the sounds of nature, especially when performing a body scan.
As the week draws to a close and a new week lingers, I hope this meditation helps you connect with yourself and focus on your thoughts, feelings, and breathing, even just for a short time.
Immersing myself in nature helps me take a moment to relax and enjoy my surroundings when things feel a little hectic. Over the years, I’ve noticed just how beneficial this can be.
As nature has many healing properties, pressing pause and listening to the sounds around us when life feels a little overwhelming can be advantageous.
I hope this meditation enables you to do just that today.
As busy as life may seem, I know just how important it is to take some time to stop, rest, and rejuvenate every once in a while.
Whenever I feel overwhelmed, I pause and take a few moments to focus on my breathing. This helps restore a sense of calmness and enables me to distance myself from any distractions I may face.
I hope this meditation helps you do the same on this Winter morning.
I invite you to find a quiet space, hopefully, one where you feel close to, or surrounded by nature.
This meditation will help you to relax and experience the serenity that being amidst nature provides. By focusing on the breath and paying attention to the sounds of the wind, leaves, and birds, you can find a place of concentration and calm.
I hope this helps you find peace this Sunday.
Pause at some point today to listen to this meditation and reward yourself with a moment of reflection.
Allowing ourselves to find a quiet solitary space in which to focus on our inner worlds provides, clarity, resilience, and strength.
This is a meditation to help you find your state of inner stillness.
The holidays can be a tumultuous time. A whirlwind of activity and socialising. It can sometimes seem as though we struggle to get our breath.
I encourage to pause for a moment, take some time just for you, and breathe into your body. This meditation will help you relax and find to pond of calm that resides in us all.
This meditation aims to decrease the discomfort experienced during hot flushes.
By taking advantage of mindfulness practices and gaining awareness of our senses, we can soothe ourselves psychologically as well as cool and calm down our bodies.
I hope this experience brings both a sigh of relief and a smile to your face.
In our busy lives, we must find time to reflect, rejuvenate, and restore.
We live in a world where being busy is praised and so it can be a real challenge to carve out the space needed to focus on ourselves.
This meditation will help you to embrace the inner stillness that resides within us all.
This meditation will help you to open your heart to joy. Joy is at our fingertips each and every moment but it can be so easy to overlook it, and instead focus on the negatives.
Smiling releases powerful endorphins which boost our mental health and lift our energy. I hope you enjoy this guided meditation to connect you with joyfulness and positivity.
When I stop and allow myself to focus on what I feel grateful for, I come back to now; time and time again to the present moment, and to all that I feel gratitude for.
I can breathe and feel enriched and connected to a more spacious and open-hearted relationship with time. Gratitude gives me permission to acknowledge all that I have experienced in my day.
Time stands still and there is a connection with eternity that feels so simple and yet so profound.
Joy is just within our grasp, but we can sometimes forget this. We may experience it when out in nature, listening to music, with our pets, or when engaging in something we find meaningful.
This is a meditation to come into your heart and connect. Connect with a friend, a loved one, someone who makes you smile and causes feelings of warmth in your body.
This meditation will help support you at a time of stress.
Stress and anxiety is a nearly impossible thing to think your way out of. The emotion is experienced in your body and can feel extremely unpleasant.
By focusing your attention inwards, you give yourself the opportunity to notice the stress, where you are feeling it, and to then let it go through the breath.
This meditation will help you connect to support offered by a friend.
We all need connection with others to thrive. Friends give us comfort, safety, and acceptance.
All too often we think we must 'soldier on', refusing assistance and turning instead to ourselves for security. Whilst resilience is of course a tremendous skill to develop; it does not replace friendship and the joy connection brings.
This is a meditation to support yourself through change.
Everything changes, everything is transient, all things come and go. This is a hard lesson to take as we seek security and stability. We wish for things to remain fixed in order for us to have a sense of control.
True agency, however, comes from accepting the passing of things. To allow yourself to be in the present moment without grasping onto something or pushing an unpleasant experience away.
I hope this meditation brings you some peace in our ever-changing world.
All of us will experience loss and sadness at some point in our lives. It may be a sudden, intense and overwhelming emotion. Or one that lingers, ebbing and flowing, at the brink of our awareness.
Suppressing these painful emotions may help temporarily but the respite will be brief and the feelings will remain present.
This meditation will assist you in facing your loss and sadness. Breathing into your experience and replacing it with calm and resilience.
As much as I love to lie back and let the soothing sounds of nature envelop and soothe me, I think that sometimes we need a little help along the way! I love to pay attention to the bird song and the wind whistling through the grass, so I hope this meditation helps you!
This is a meditation to support you whilst having a hot flush in the heat.
As you bring your focus inwards to become aware of your breath notice areas of tension, discomfort or unpleasant sensations such as heat. Do not force these sensations to change but instead pay attention to them with a kindly awareness. Radiate cool, calm, and gentleness to these areas of your body.
Being menopausal in the heat isn’t easy, but this mediation should help embrace the moment and ease discomfort.
This is a meditation for taking in the sunshine. The glorious summer rays have been very welcome the last few days. The warmth fills my body and relaxes my muscles and bones.
Tiger, my dog, loves to bask in the warm patches in the garden and the birds and insects seem to have been busier than usual.
Let this mediation soak into your being and allow you to find the softness and ease that only the summer seems to bring.
This is a mediation to connect with an inner calm amongst the sounds of nature.
In this meditation you can hear the breeze drifting, beautiful birds singing, bees buzzing. It is amazing what you can hear in nature when you really pay attention.
Allow yourself to relax a while in nature. Feel the warm sunshine on your face, the ground beneath your feet. Just take this moment to breathe into the spaciousness of the sky and enjoy the sounds of nature.
It's that time of year again (sort of) when nature is at its most accessible, although I do love it the whole year round! I made a brief meditation for you to do outside ideally, but it's totally up to you where you choose to practice. What is more important is noticing how it feels within your body, and what your response is.
It's designed to help you be still, acknowledge your thoughts, let them pass, and connect with nature. I hope you enjoy it!
This is a short breathing space meditation to help you be with a hot flush, allowing you to reconnect to your inner-self and breathe through your discomfort.
Let my voice guide you and experience gentleness and comfortable warmth, allowing yourself to thoroughly embrace the moment.
Enjoy this moment of calm and awareness.
This is a mediation to pause and simply breathe. We breathe unconsciously, automatically and perpetually. And yet, we are so rarely aware of it. Of the sensations on our nostrils, our lips, the rise and fall of our chests, the swelling of the abdomen.
This meditation encourages you to just notice, and stay with, the breath. Not to alter it or force it but to allow it to just be.
This creates a sense of peaceful expansiveness and connection.
I'm on holiday at the moment, and really enjoying the space to pause, collect my thoughts, and notice how I'm feeling. I find the sounds of birdsong so soothing - I made a meditation to help you find this little bit of calm too.
This is a meditation to re-energise yourself. Are you aware that meditation naturally improves brain function and replenishes the body's energy levels?
Meditation, especially when in a correct posture, aligns your chakras and enables energy flow. Meditation also releases endorphins, increases blood flow to the brain, and of course helps reduce focus on ruminative thoughts.
This is a meditation to pause. Please find somewhere quiet and comforting to sit or lie.
I have been finding myself struggling with tiredness lately and this mediation, connecting with the rise and fall of your breath, gives a moment of rest.
This intention to rest can expand from the sense of calm that resides inside you towards the rest of your sensory experience. Allow yourself to let go of all distractions and be held in peace.
This is a meditation to help come into your heart. To connect with the warmth of loving-kindness.
For many of us, we find it easy to be kind to others, but difficult to extend the same love to ourselves. This meditation will help cultivate your sense of self-worth, cherish yourself and be gentle and kind. to those parts of ourselves that we are usually harsh towards.
This is a sensory pause. To help you come back to the beauty of the moment through your six senses.
To notice what it feels like to stop and to take a pause. Try and notice what you can hear, what you can smell, what you can taste, what you can feel and what thoughts are arising.
Notice where in your body there is warmth, cool, softness, or tension.
Breathe into all of your senses and listen to what they are telling you.
This is a meditation to find stillness within our busy life. Take a deep breath, and exhale into this stillness. Align all of your being into one that wishes peace, calm, and tranquility.
By focusing on our breath and sensations in our body we can connect with both the stillness within us but also the stillness that is in the world all around us.
I find that in this hectic modern world when I take time to reflect, to pause, and just be, I am at my happiest. It’s a great opportunity for me to take stock and simply exist.⠀
This is a meditation to help clear your head. It can be difficult to find clarity and focus amidst our daily lives. Through stillness, being in the body, and awareness of the breath we can find simplicity and calm.
This is a meditation to help use the breath as an anchor, providing grounding and serenity.
Focusing on the breath is a simple, but beneficial, meditation practice that provides clarity and a sense of calm.
Take a moment to yourself today.
Creating inner space is essential for our physical and psychological wellbeing. We live in a world of constant stimulation and as a result, can suffer from stress and anxiety. This meditation will improve your resilience, and in turn, create a more positive and peaceful outlook.
This is a meditation to invite you take a moment of reflection. Focusing on the break focuses your concentration and grounds you, connecting you to the earth and world around you. Together we bring to mind inspiring images from nature which create emotions of peace and joy.
This is a mediation to allow you to take in the goodness that is all around you. It can be difficult in our daily lives and struggles to recognise the good things that surround us, and by recognising them you will find yourself naturally awakening to a place of gratitude and joy.
Allow yourself a moment to slow down, stop and stand still today. Loss is a painful, human experience that is sadly unavoidable. Kindness, gentleness, patience, and acceptance are essential in order to engage fully and positively with the world.
The unknown can be a scary concept for us. As humans, we’re hardwired to want to understand things – we have an innate need for comprehension. However, we live in a very complex world and we can’t possibly understand everything.
My latest meditation is designed to help you with being in the moment during these often confusing times.
In times of busyness it can seem like we’re swept away. We can get caught up in being busy, and often, when we’re jumping from task to task trying to please everyone we don’t actually accomplish as much as we would by just focusing on the task at hand, and being in the moment.
I hope that this meditation helps you find that moment of quiet.
This mediation allows you to experience and become aware of your stress in a safe environment.
Together we will work at transforming the unsettling stressful feelings into a more positive calming emotion.
This is a 3-minute breathing space exercise. I am inviting you to find somewhere quiet to sit or lie down where you won't be disturbed.
Breathing is a miracle cure for stress, tumultuous energy, anxiety or excitement, and even pain.
Try this simple exercise and let me know how you found it.
This is a meditation to pause and be with silence.
By focusing your attention inwards, paying attention to the breath and the senses of the body you will find stillness and peace.
This is a meditation to take in the warmth of the sunshine.
Warmth relaxes the muscles in our bodies and creates an inner stillness. Bringing to mind an image of the sunshine, and its rays will encourage you to connect with the warmth. The sun shines indiscriminately on all beings, all plants, trees and flowers. Allow yourself to bask in the pleasure that the sunshine brings.
This is a meditation to allow you to take a moment to listen to evening birdsong.
During lockdown, you may have noticed birdsong more due to the decline in man-made noise. Birdsong is nature's symphony and stirs a deep tranquillity within us.
I hope you enjoy the sounds of these birds singing as much as I did.
This is a meditation to be with something unexpected – the good kind of surprise! We all need sudden moments of joy in our lives, and they deserve to be celebrated.
I hope you enjoy it!
This is a meditation to help you be with noise. All of us are affected differently by noise and experience sounds in unique ways. Some sounds that you may find pleasurable, such as wind chimes, may be jarring to another person. Sound affects us on so many levels. It can distract us from our work, it can disturb our sleep, it can affect our enjoyment of activities, and of course it can draw you away from meditation.
If only it were possible to find a disruptive noise unobtrusive, even peaceful. Through this meditation I will show you how to just let a noise be, so that you can remain steady and unaffected.
This is a meditation to connect with gentleness towards yourself and others. Meditative states enable you to cultivate positive emotion. Such as love, friendship, joy, compassion and gentleness.
We may naturally have a strong inclination towards these emotions, or we may struggle with them. Either way it is beneficial to develop these states as it will lead to happiness for yourself and others.
We live in a fast paced world! We’re constantly surrounded by technology and other things that provide constant ‘alerts’. It’s no wonder that many of us find our thoughts being similarly busy!
It can be really hard to deal with racing thoughts. I made this meditation to help you not only slow these down, but to help accept them and be in the moment.
Recently, I know a lot of us have been feeling disconnected. Many people have not been able to see and spend time with their loved ones. However, humans are made to connect, and we've discovered hundreds of innovative ways of remaining so during this difficult period.
I thought that I'd add to this with my latest meditation. I made it to help us send some love, warmth, and connection to a friend or loved one. I hope you enjoy it!
This is a meditation to take yourself into nature. Spending time in the spring sunshine amongst the wild flowers I was reminded of the importance of noticing the little things that bring pleasure.
I talk often of nature and yet these small flowers and their mass of colour gave me such joy that I felt it important to share this simple gift of meditation to connect you with the inspiring nature around us.
This is a mediation to help you slow down. To put you in touch with your body, the rhythm or your breath and your mental states. Taking the time to pause, calm your nervous system and connect to self is a valuable asset in our day-to-day lives.
All too often can feel that we are too busy to stop and so do not give ourselves enough self-care and nourishment. Take the time today to listen to this meditation and find some tranquillity.
This is a meditation to help you be with, and accept your busy mind.
Oftentimes, if we catch ourselves, we are wishing to be in a different moment other than the present. We may wish we are in the future when all of our to do list is completed and accomplished. We may wish to be free of any difficult or unpleasant emotions we are experiencing and so take ourselves back to a memory of a more relaxed time.
This meditation will help you, with kindness, notice and accept where you are, in this moment, today.
A meditation to listen to the sound of the Butanese Singing Bowl. Focusing on just one sound is a powerful, sometimes invigorating but always peaceful experience.
Our senses are constantly overwhelmed; our clothes on our skin, the smell of perfume, the sounds from outside the window, the taste of our morning coffee.
By honing our concentration on just one sense, in this case sound, we can achieve tranquillity.
This is a meditation to connect with stillness. We start this meditation with a calming body scan. I then invite you to turn your awareness to the breath. The easy rise and fall, the natural rhythm. By focusing on the steady breath you will be honing your ability to concentrate, to turn inwards and to draw your attention to the stillness within you. This stillness is always present, yet many of us cannot get in touch with it amidst the business of our lives. Let me guide you towards your natural mode of peace, away from distractions
A meditation to help you connect with the earth. The earth's energy has a grounding presence which helps calm our nervous system. By being aware of, and connecting with, the sensations in our feet on the ground we can enhance our natural ability to self-regulate and be at peace. During this meditation imagine yourself in a forest, the shores of a lake or a meadow. Wherever invokes tranquillity and positive emotion.
This is a meditation to connect with sunshine. We have had a cold, frosty, icy February. And yet, we have had stunning bursts of sunshine with rays of light glittering through the branches of the trees. Bring to mind the warmth of the sun on your face. The clear blue skies overhead. A warm breeze across your skin. Perhaps a smile appears on your face. Continue to connect to this moment of sunshine and allow your heart to soften.
This is a meditation to connect with spaciousness. Inside of us we have a vast blue sky of infinite possibility. Our lives are so busy we forget to take the time to be in our present, to connect to the reality around us, and then to realise that our perspective and perception is often very narrow. Mindfulness meditation allows us to reconnect with the true nature of things and to realise that our natural state is one of calm, joy and serenity.
A meditation to tune into the colour indigo, the colour of the sixth Chakra which is located above the bridge of the nose. An invisible yet powerful third eye, this is your center of intuition.
By coming into contact with your Third Eye, you can connect with your ability to visualize, to imagine, to see clearly, and to hold a greater vision for your life.
It is represented by the colour indigo and I ask you to bring this rich blue to mind. This colour promotes deep concentration during times of introspection and meditation, helping you achieve deeper levels of consciousness.
This is a meditation to allow yourself to pause and be with stillness. Both the stillness within you but also the stillness that is all around.
Perhaps contemplate a scene or memory where you feel connected to peace and a sense of calm, or it might be helpful to bring to mind the physical and emotional qualities that stillness would mean for you.
An important, short, meditation practice to create space in our busy lives.
Practicing gratitude is a beautiful experience. Gratitude is a powerful tool. It enables us to see outside of ourselves, to relish good experiences, to feel positive emotions, deal with adversity and share in others joy.
This meditation will walk you through a gratitude practice that will leave you feeling calm, integrated and connected to the world around you.
A meditation to connect with your crown chakra and the colour violet. The crown chakra is situated at the top of your head and is associated with the transcendence of our limitations. With wisdom the crown chakra disperses the Universal energy or life force into your six chakras and so this meditation is a powerful embodying experience.
Gently bringing the colour violet to mind, the colour of the crown chakra, you can connect to the sense of peaceful spaciousness.
This meditation will allow you to connect to the tranquil sounds of nature. The sound of the wind, the trees rustling in the wind, the blades of grass stirring, the birds soaring and soft animals in the undergrowth. As you connect with the sounds of nature notice where in the body you feel tension, unease or peace.
This meditation will help those who are struggling with fatigue, tiredness and low energy levels. The cold, wet weather can exacerbate our feelings of lethargy and dampen our spirits.
By connecting with your body through this meditation you can release blocked energy and re-vitalise.
This meditation will help you connect to a place of warmth and joy. Somewhere where the sun is shining and the sky is blue. A place that envelops you in feelings of safety and peace.
We all need reassurance and comfort in our daily lives. To be able to provide this for ourselves through meditation and being amongst nature is a gift that will serve you your whole life.
A meditation allowing you to connect to your throat chakra through the colour turquoise.
We all have chakras, or energy centers, in our body. Your throat chakra is connected to your ability to communicate and speak your inner truth.
In this time of global crisis, we can find ourselves becoming overwhelmed and losing sight of our own voice, aspirations, ideals, and creativity.
Through this meditation, you can find what it is you wish to express.
Body Scans are a wonderful introduction to a meditation practice. They encourage you to connect to your body and connect to the ground. By bringing your attention to your body and your physical sensations you promote relaxation and healing. I would love to know how you found this body scan, especially if you are new to the practice.
This is a meditation to help when there is pain in your body. Pain can be a challenging obstacle for many in meditation. It can be an unwelcome distraction and chronic pain especially can cause people to turn away from mindfulness altogether. However, in this meditation I will help you accept the pain and allow yourself to gently explore it. All things are ever-changing, even pain, and breathing into physical pain can help release tension and discomfort.
This is a meditation to help come into your heart. As you focus your attention inwards you will naturally calm. Bring your awareness to your heart space while bringing to mind someone who you love. This could be a person or an animal. Focus on the love you feel and allow yourself to connect with it.
This is a beautiful meditation that creates warmth, serenity, and feelings of compassion.
This is a meditation to practice receiving your breath and connecting with your body and sensations. As you become aware of your breath gently notice where you feel it in your body, where you receive it and how your body experiences it.
This New Year is uncertain for many of us and this can cause unease and anxiety. I Invite you to relax and soften with this meditation.
After the festive period it’s common for people to feel worn out and tired. Often we’ve travelled, spent a long time cooking, and socialised more than we usually do. This can be emotionally as well as physically tiring – 2020 has certainly also been more trying than other years. I made a meditation to help restore your energy levels and give you a boost!
I made a meditation to focus on the colour yellow and the solar plexus chakra, just beneath your ribs. It’s right in the centre of your body, and I like to use meditations like this to feel more centred!
We take note of our thoughts, acknowledge them, and let them pass like clouds in the sky.
Take this moment in your day to pause and listen to the soothing notes of nature. Noticing any thoughts, acknowledging them, and then returning your focus to the sounds of nature. How does it feel to be amongst the music of birdsong? The stillness that the sky induces? Nature helps us find peace within our self and in our connection to the world around us.
My latest meditation focuses on connecting with the colour orange, and to the Sacral Chakra. This is connected to creativity and endurance, which are things we need all year round!
I invite you to take a deep breath in, and out, bringing your attention to the area beneath your tummy button, and to focus on orange. We picture this area, and we nourish it with our breath, and connect with the energy.
Although it’s cold outside, we can still find a source of warmth and inner joy. In my latest meditation I show you how to connect with your heart. We take a deep breath, coming into this moment.
This can feel like a stressful and fast-paced time of year, and allowing yourself a moment to connect with your body and be still goes a long way. I hope you enjoy it!
I am inviting you to find somewhere to sit or lie and reflect upon the colour red. To breathe into the space that this colour creates.
The purpose of this meditation is to focus on our root chakra and the colour red. As you do this bring to mind an image connected to nature, a symbol to help you find restorative calm.
Strengthening and rooting yourself through the soles of your feet and the base of your spine. Connecting you to the earth, a sense of spaciousness and enjoying the flow of energy this contemplation creates.
This is a meditation to pause and listen to a sound of your choice. Be it birdsong, wind or rain, to take a moment and listen, noticing how you feel. Allow your attention to turn inwards and for space and calm to be created as you focus on the sounds of the present.
I'm inviting you to join me on a guided meditation on the colour pink. A contemplation of the emotions, memories, thoughts and feelings that arise and are connected to the image and colour pink. Noticing where in your body you feel response and association. Allowing yourself to soften and breathe into relaxation.
You can never go wrong having a moment of calm! The world can be a confusing place, and modern life can move at such a rapid pace it can be easy to lose track at times. I made this meditation to help you have a moment of tranquillity, which hopefully will resonate throughout your day.
I made a meditation to focus on the colour green. Find a quiet, safe space, and close your eyes. I love the colour green – I find it reminds me of nature, one of my favourite things and a place where I always feel centred.
This is an opportunity to listen to, and meditate on, the tranquil sound of water. Tune into the sounds with your body. Pay attention to your reactions and how you feel. What emotions, thoughts, and physical sensations well up within you during this contemplation?
This meditation is inspired by my morning walk. I realised that when I pause, when I look up and see the tops of the trees, and connect with the huge sky above me, I gain clarity. This clarity gives me perspective which in turn brings me down to earth, grounding me, and helps me to see things more clearly. I hope this helps you to receive clarity also.
I love using my Bhutanese singing bowl! I really enjoy focusing on how I feel, absorbing myself in the moment, and being still whilst I am bathed in the nourishing and relaxing sound.
We all need to come back to the moment sometimes. Our thoughts can run away with us, and I always find it helpful to bring myself back to the room and notice exactly what I’m feeling in the moment.
My latest meditation focuses on stillness; we all need to be still sometimes. Take a deep breath, and exhale into this stillness. I find that in this hectic modern world when I take time to reflect, to pause, and just be I am at my happiest. It’s a great opportunity for me to take stock and simply exist.
I thought with all that is going on in the world it would be helpful to make a meditation centred around gratitude. When I talk about gratitude, I don’t just mean material objects; it could be having friends you can rely on, a roof over your head, or simply being able to see the change of the seasons and beauty of nature
In turbulent times like these we all need a source of inner stillness and calm. During this meditation we notice how we are feeling both in our minds and our bodies, acknowledging areas of tension. Connect with your sense of calm; allow yourself to breathe into this space, and release the tension.
I made a meditation to help with loving awareness; to allow you to connect to your heart through your breathing. I invite you to be held by this connection, and feel it flow throughout your entire being, filling yourself with its nourishing energy.
I made a meditation using the calming sounds of one of my favourite tools; my Bhutanese Singing Bowl. I love listening to the deep rich tones, and feeling them resonate throughout my being.
I made this tension releasing meditation to help you connect with the earth, and with Nature. Picture yourself in Nature and breathe into this space. Feel the earth beneath your feet, and allow Nature to hold you and help you release any thoughts you might be holding on to.
I made a meditation to connect and appreciate your body as it is today; I think that this is one of the most important things you can do at any stage of your life.
In this meditation I invite you to pay attention to your body from the top of your head to the soles of your feet. Breathe into them and allow yourself this moment in time to be still, acknowledging the connection between all of the parts of your body. Allow the feeling of love to travel through your breath and circulate throughout your whole body, nourishing your whole being with this loving awareness.
I thought a meditation to give yourself gentleness and loving kindness would be appropriate in these times! In this we acknowledge any thoughts that come, acknowledge them, and kindly bring yourself back to the room and your breath. Always remember to appreciate yourself!
This is a mediation to relieve tension in the body. Find a comfortable place, and start to become aware of your breathing. Take deep breaths in and out, noticing the connection with your body. As you do this scan your body, and come into contact with any tension you can feel. As you do this breathe into this space remembering that you are simply giving yourself the opportunity to soften this tension by acknowledging it.
This is a meditation to connect with nature. I invite you to find somewhere quiet to sit or lie down; whichever is most comfortable. Notice your breath and your body, and let your thoughts pass. Picture yourself somewhere in nature. I invite you to feel the earth between your feet, noticing how it feels to you. We find peace through absorbing the light of the sun, or the sensation of the rain, and the spaciousness of the sky.
I made a meditation to help you de-stress and re-charge, with is something we all need from time to time! As we bring our attention inwards and noticing your breath we acknowledge them, notice them, and come back to the present moment. We picture ourselves by a river, taking in the landscape, letting our thoughts and feelings of stress flow into the river like leaves as they pass by.
In this meditation I explore how to calm yourself by simply focusing on your breathing. As we bring our attention inwards we take our focus all the way down to the soles of our feet through the rest of our bodies.
In this meditation I encourage you to find somewhere quiet to either sit or lie down. Gently bring your awareness inwards to your breath, and use it to anchor yourself in this moment. Breathe in out through your nose and in through your mouth, and bring a place which brings you joy or happiness to the forefront of your mind. We find peace through exploring our sensory experience in this place, and uplift ourselves though reliving this experience.
I was feeling inspired by the way our breathing nourishes our bodies, yet we often find ourselves forgetting this. In this calming meditation I invite you to find somewhere comfy, focus on your breathing, and let your thoughts pass. As you become aware of your breath, allow your body to be fed by this. Take in the stillness and if you feel your thoughts taking you away bring it back with kindness.
I have recorded a meditation focusing on spaciousness which helps me in moments of tiredness to return and be with myself. This allows me to feel more connected to myself and others and helps me to let go of the things, thoughts, and reactions, which are not serving my highest good and my overall well-being. This is often hard and at times feels impossible to do, but this connection with spaciousness is something that is bigger than myself and helps me to find perspective and equilibrium. When I am able to remain present, no matter the circumstances, I am able to trust that Mindfulness and meditation are a way of life which benefit me hugely and allow me to come back to my heart and live a richer more fulfilled life.
In this meditation I take you through some calming breathing exercises, moving on to a scan of how your body feels. Today I also focus on gratitude; we give thanks for the little things in our life which make us happy.
Pain in the body can be experienced at any time in life and it may seem difficult to manage, perhaps even more so during menopause when other symptoms present themselves.
It is important to be aware of our bodies when dealing with pain, particularly where it is powerful, as we have a tendency to tighten and resist pain, causing it to increase and become more intense.
In this meditation, I guide you to help you soften and be with aches, pain or discomfort in your body.
Allow yourself time and space to be with pain and take these few moments to acknowledge the sensations it brings. I hope by taking this pause to become aware of your body, you will feel soothed and ready to face the day ahead.
Often life can feel intense and, particularly during menopause, every thought, feeling, and moment seems to quickly change into the next. Some moments may feel as if they will never pass and minor uncertainties develop into a seemingly bigger difficulty.
However, if we just slow down and give ourselves the time and space to be mindful of these difficulties, if we are gentle and kind to ourselves, we can see clearer and feel a greater sense of peace within.
In this meditation, I invite you to connect with your breath and your body as a whole, and I hope to help you be with a difficulty that may be present in your life at the moment.
With the pace of modern day, it can be difficult not to be overcome by noises around you, or indeed, inside your own mind – especially during the menopause.
With this mediation, I hope to bring you a few moments of stillness, where you can take a pause and be undisturbed, feeling refreshed thereafter.
Enjoy this time to reconnect with your mind and body as a whole, being kind and gentle with yourself. Bring yourself back to this present experience of peace, space and stillness at any time throughout your day, or whenever you need time to acknowledge how you are feeling.
In this meditation, I will be helping you to notice where you feel your senses so you can become more aware of your body as a whole. This will help to ease some of the stress or anxiety you may be feeling along your menopausal journey.
Take a few moments and make yourself comfortable. Listen to my voice as I guide you through observations – absorb whatever you can feel, smell, taste and see.
Allow yourself to be with your senses and become better connected with your body, using this greater awareness to support you through your day.
This meditation will help you to be with the sound of the sea and notice how it feels just to listen.
Be still and acknowledge any thoughts that distract you away, returning to the soothing sounds of the ocean.
Tune out from any menopausal stress or anxiety you may have been experiencing as the sounds of the sea wash over you. Enjoy this moment of stillness.
In this meditation, I introduce the sounds of a singing bowl from Bhutan.
Also known as ‘Himalayan bowls’, singing bowls are traditionally played by Buddhists to signal the beginning and the end of silent meditation cycles. As well as religious ceremonies, singing bowls are also used in yoga, music therapy and sound healing, and are recognised for their ability to restore balance and wellness through the subtle harmonious vibrations they produce.
The relaxing bell-like resonance provides a therapeutic soundtrack to meditation, enabling you to embrace both stillness and clarity, and thus easing the daily stresses of your menopausal experience.
Take these few moments to immerse yourself in the sounds of the singing bowl and acknowledge what it is to be with the pure tones that rise comfortingly to your ears.
Along the road of your menopausal experience, there will be moments you might need to remind yourself to focus on your well-being and show yourself loving kindness.
Take this opportunity to listen to my voice as I guide you through a meditation which will help you bring your attention inwards and focus love and kindness towards your inner self.
Enjoy this pause and bask in the feelings of warmth and self-compassion, greeting your thoughts and feelings with loving kindness and awareness.
This meditation will help you find much-needed space within and restore balance to your menopausal experience.
Listen to my voice as I guide you through breathing into your body, noticing and gently acknowledging any tensions as you continue to focus your awareness of your whole body.
Enjoy this brief pause and feel the uplifting benefits of creating more inner space.
This meditationwill help you to stop and come back to the present, easing your mind from the conflicting thoughts or worries you may be experiencing along your menopausal journey.
If you’re finding it difficult to come back to the present moment, take these few short moments to turn your attention inwards and allow thoughts to pass as you focus on your breathing.
Enjoy this time to be with the experience and absorb yourself in this moment, reconnecting your mind and body as a whole.
This meditation will guide you on how to be with tiredness, helping you to navigate your way through the thoughts and feelings triggered by menopausal fatigue.
Listen to my voice as I help you to bring your attention inwards, and experience the sensations that tiredness is bringing to your body and mind.
Take this moment to give yourself space and acknowledge your tiredness.
In this meditation, you will be encouraged to connect to your sitting bones as you deepen your awareness of your seat.
Find somewhere quiet and listen to my voice as I guide you through breathing and help you to turn your attention inwards. Notice your body as a whole, along with any feelings and thoughts, and then calmly allow them to pass.
Take these few moments to reconnect with your body.
This short meditation aims to help guide you back to the present moment.
Focusing your attention inwards, I guide you through breathing freely as you become aware of each sensation you feel throughout your whole body.
Take this brief pause to return to the present, before continuing with your day.
This short meditation helps to increase awareness around breathing, helping you to connect your breath with your body as you embrace the comfort of silence.
Take a moment to pause and, as I guide you through being with silence, you will feel your mind calm and your concentration enhanced.
Enjoy a serene few moments without any distractions.
Find a comfortable space and clear your mind for this restoring meditation which will help you feel the sensations of loving kindness through your entire body.
Let my voice guide you and experience gentleness and warmth, allowing yourself to thoroughly embrace the moment.
Enjoy this moment of calm and awareness.
This invigorating meditation brings harmony and balance to both mind and body, encouraging mindfulness through body awareness. Experience your inner energy as my voice and guides you through a range of breathing exercises.
Observing sensations in each part of your body, this short meditation will help you to recognise and release any areas of tension, leaving you feeling relaxed and more in tune with your body.
At the end of the meditation, ease slowly from your position and feel the full sensations of your mind and body as they align.
I hope you enjoy this short pause for serenity.
This is a body and breath meditation that can help you come back to the present moment. Listen to my voice and let it guide you back when your mind starts to wander.
Focusing on your breath and the sensations in your body can help anchor you to the present, enabling you to feel more grounded and calm at the end of the short meditation.
Once the meditation ends, allow yourself to sit for a moment, feeling the sensations as they flow through your body.
I hope you enjoy these few moments of peace.
This is meditation and a space to listen to the sounds around you. Listening to what is happening all around allows to to come back to what is. Notice the thoughts as they come and go, and just let them pass, coming back to all of the sounds that you hear in this present moment.
This meditation is really useful to help ground you when life gets too stressful, or too overwhelming. Just listen, and keep coming back to the sounds and how you feel them in your body.
Explore what it is like just to stop and allow yourself the time just to be with the sounds of nature.
This is stage 4 in the loving-kindness meditation, where we send loving-kindness to ourselves, to others close to us and further away. We send loving-kindness to all beings on the earth.
This guided meditation will help you learn the invaluable skill of being able to settle anywhere by grounding yourself through your body, down into your feet and then the earth.
By grounding yourself with your feet you will be able to calm yourself when feelings of unease of anxiety try to take over. It is a simple yet extremely effective meditation.
I hope you enjoy it.
This loving-kindness meditation is the 3rd stage of loving-kindness. It covers the first two stages - sending loving-kindness to yourself and someone that you care about, and then asks you to think about someone you do not particularly like or dislike. Your feelings are ‘neutral’. This may be someone you do not know well but see around. You reflect on their humanity, and include them in your feelings of metta.
Today I have recorded a meditation for you, to help relieve pain and suffering.
Studies have shown that meditation, which is actually the formal practice of what you may know as mindfulness, can change the way the mind perceives pain. Meditation can actually make main more bearable naturally and without the use of painkillers.
The idea of being mindful of pain may seem counter-intuitive. Normally you want to forget about your pain. You want to escape it, numb it, rid yourself from it. Unfortunately, when we fight against our pain, or even ignore it, we put our bodies under stress.
It may sound unbelievable, but it is actually possible - with some practice - to be in physical pain but also be in a calm and content emotional state.
This meditation builds upon the meditation I posted yesterday - sending Loving Kindness to ourselves. With this one you will send loving kindness to yourself and another.
Practicing sending loving kindness both to ourselves and to others can help teach us compassion, love and empathy. It can also help us ground ourselves and reduce stress while also reducing judgement of ourselves and others.
This is a meditation to bring loving kindness to yourself. Practicing loving kindness towards yourself in meditation, even if it's a short meditation like this one can help boost well-being and reduce stress.
When I started going through the changes that the perimenopause, and then the menopause brought, I often felt anything but kindly towards myself. I hardly knew who I was anymore, and I certainly didn't want to be becoming what I thought I was becoming.
However, fortunately on my own journey I discovered mindfulness and meditation practices which have guided me away from destructive thought patterns and taught me how to forgive, connect with myself and others and of course, one of the hardest things; accept and love myself. It's a work in progress, but using meditations like this one on loving kindness, ensures that I do continue to move forward. I very much hope you enjoy these five minutes to yourself.
This is a short meditation to learn how to be with something difficult. I should say that this meditation is just to learn how to navigate a small difficulty, not something overwhelmingly difficult.
Spending a few minutes a day meditating can benefit you in a vast number of ways, not least grounding you in the present moment, and helping you to re-size problems.
Allowing yourself to be with a difficulty, without judging it, or your reactions to it, can help you let go.
This is a mediation to help clear your head and bring a sense of stillness and clarity in moments when you are finding it hard to concentrate and focus.
This is a meditation to help you focus on giving love to yourself. This is one of the hardest things to do, but so very necessary. It is often much easier to love others, and to give to others. However, unless you are able to replenish yourself by giving yourself back the love you need and deserve, you will find that your resources are depleted when you try to give to others.
Give yourself this short moment to be with yourself and allow yourself to receive the love that is there for you. Allow it to fill your body, enter every corner, breathe it in and then take it with you, supporting you as you go about the rest of your day.
This is a meditation to help you become aware of the sensation of touch. Find somewhere you can be quiet for a short period of time and bringing your awareness inwards, using your breath to guide you, I will help you explore the sensation of whatever is beneath you.
This is a meditation to invite you to focus on your sense of sight. During this meditation you can either look at something in your minds eye, or physically.
There is so much beauty around us in the natural world during spring time, taking some time to appreciate what you see around you will help bring you into the here and now.
Learning how to bring yourself back into the present can be a really useful tool in times of stress, anxiety, overwhelm or other negative symptoms your might be feeling as a result of the menopause.
Allowing yourself just five minutes to connect to your present moment will enable you to continue your day in a more peaceful and mindful state.
This is a meditation to help you be with your anxiety. By thinking of something small that makes us feel anxious, we are able to teach ourselves the tools to examine the feeling that the anxiety evokes in us, and also how release those feelings without judgement.
This morning I woke early to the sound of the dawn chorus. I have wanted to record this symphony of sound (see audio) for as long as I can remember; it uplifts me and brings a smile to my face and reminds me of a presence far greater than myself. It was wonderful to witness the song of a tiny wren who has survived the bitter winter and is now able to celebrate the resurrection of Spring with an extraordinarily powerful song for something so small. Each bird is not alone, but a soloist in natures greatest choir.
Waking up to Nature has awoken my inner nature. I notice and take in its many sounds and I feel blessed by and in awe of its everlasting presence.
This is a meditation to invite you to listen to the sounds around you. To help bring you into the present moment. It will help you be with the sounds and connect to your body and enable you to see how it feels to be connected to the world around you.
This is a meditation to help you connect fully with the warmth and love that is already part of you. Within you is a loving kindness that you can access whenever you need to. Sometimes we find this love easier to give to others than ourselves, so it's important to take time for yourself and give to yourself, what you give so easily to everyone else.
This is a body scan to help facilitate body awareness. This meditation is designed to help you become more aware of feelings and sensations in your body.
A Body scan meditation is a good way to release tension you might not even realise you're experiencing.
This is a breathing space meditation for anchoring yourself and bringing yourself back into the moment in times of overwhelm.
When all of the external world is very busy and you need this time just for a few minutes to find your breath and the calmness within you.
This then helps you to have more space and capacity to meet all the external demands so you are actually able to do more than you thought you would be able to do.
This is a short breathing space meditation to help you be with a hot flush, allowing you to reconnect to your inner-self and breathe through your discomfort.