10-Minute Meditation with Kessonga

Hi there, and welcome to this live Headspace meditation. My name is Kessonga Giscombe, and I'm of the mindfulness meditation teachers here at Headspace. So for today's meditation, what I had in mind was a traditional sitting meditation, and want to transition eventually to a visualization practice. And I think this meditation and this practice is beneficial for those moments that we all experience, where we may be feeling a bit in a funk, we may have woken up on the wrong side of the bed, we might be feeling a bit sad, down in the dumps, if you will. So hopefully this meditation will help to lift your spirits some, and maybe shift you into that space of positivity, an optimistic mind state, if you will. So yeah, so with that being said, let's drop into practice and see what happens. So let's just start by taking a gentle, deep breath, in through the nose, and out through the mouth. With that exhalation, just allowing your presence and your attention to gently drop into this moment right here and right now. And as with all the meditation practices, the invitation is to be gentle with yourself, and to really pay attention to how you're feeling in each moment. So noticing if you become too overwhelmed, if you feel like it's too much, that's perfectly okay. You can allow yourself to stop, to pause, or even walk away if you need to, knowing that you can always come right back into the practice, and pick up where you left off. So with your next breath, adopting a comfortable and dignified posture of awareness. So noticing that your feet are flat on the floor, if you happen to be sitting on a chair, or you can allow your legs to be comfortably crossed, as mine are, if you happen to be sitting on a cushion. You can allow your hands to rest comfortably on your knees, or in your lap. Whatever's comfortable for you. Noticing your sit bones on the surface beneath you, noticing your posture. Noticing that your back is nice and straight, but not too tight and not too loose. So you may wanna shrug your shoulders up to your ears, maybe gently round them back, and just let them fall comfortably. And you can close your eyes if that's comfortable for you. Or you can adopt a soft open gaze, not really focusing on anything in particular. So as we have this posture of awareness, let's now shift our attention to our breathing, to our breath. Not forcing anything, no need to manipulate or regulate the breath in any way. So breathing naturally, breathing normally. And if it's comfortable for you to continue using your breath as a focal point, as an anchor, then you can definitely do so. Or you may find a focal point that's more appropriate for you in this moment. Like the contact that your feet is making with the surface beneath you, or...