Join Alice York for a meditation to guide you into a space of serenity.
Broadcasting from her home in Chicago, Alice leads this meditation to bring peace during a time that has likely, consciously or not, brought stress into our lives. We invite you to take a moment to enjoy this practice and set an intention for the day ahead.
"The mind is so often out in the ether, traveling through time and space—racing, busy, navigating stressors, working to understand the world around us and the situations we find ourselves in—while our bodies are tangible, solid, concrete, and—following the rules of science—always in one place. Let an awareness of the breath, a mindfulness of our own breathing, bring a sense of centering, allowing the mind to integrate with the body and take a pause in the present."
-Alice York
Transcript of Serenity Meditation Video
Hi everybody, I’m Alice. I’m a yoga and meditation teacher, a writer and a plant enthusiast here in Chicago. And I wanted to share with you a little meditation for grounding, for joy and for finding a little bit of peace. I’m sipping on my Sun Potion Matcha that’s boosted with a little bit of Yin Power for balance and their Mucuna Pruriens which is my favorite for stress relief, for soothing. So I invite you to grab a little something to sip, a tea or whatever potion of your choosing and join me for this meditation.
Find a comfortable seated position on a pillow, on a chair, on your couch, and let your eyes start to flutter closed. And begin to connect to the natural rhythm of your breath, its cadence. Feeling the breath glide in and out of the body. Settling in to a state of being rather than doing. Cultivating an awareness of the breath and noticing without control, without force. Letting the breath itself become an experience. And start to notice the directionality of the breath, feeling it move up and down the body. As we find ourselves in a seated position, the base of our pelvis and the crown of the head become the north and south poles of our body. Let the breath travel between those two poles, those two points. Every inhale the rise, every exhale the fall. Every breath in, a lift, every breath out a giving-in to gravity. And we’ll start to weave a mantra into the breath, an intention. A mantra simply being a repetition of words repeating in order to imprint on the body, on the mind.
Our first mantra as you breathe in I am, and as you breathe out, strong. “I am-- strong.” Inhale, I am, exhale, safe. “I am-- safe.” Breathe in, I am. Breathe out, calm. “I am-- calm.” Inhale, I am. Exhale, present. “I am-- present.” Inhale, I am. Exhale, where i'm supposed to be. “I am-- where i'm supposed to be.” Breathe in, I am. Breathe out, who I'm supposed to be. “I am-- who I'm supposed to be.” Allow those words to move into the back of the mind, but keep the sensations, the feelings that accompany them, keep those in the forefront. That sense of possibility, of power, of expansion.
And together we’ll take a nice inhale through the nose, and a big exhale out through the mouth. Breathing in through the nose, and a big sigh out through the mouth. A softening. One last time all together in through the nose, and a big exhale out through the mouth. A cleansing, a letting-go, a release. Let your chin begin to tuck gently into the chest bowing the head and let your eyes begin to flutter open first taking in your body below you and as you slowly lift the chin lifting the gaze take in your surroundings, taking any small movements that feel good.
Thank you all so much for joining me and sitting here in this meditation. I hope everyone is safe and well wherever you are. Thank you so much.
