A gentle morning meditation designed to be done at the kitchen table with your cup of tea or coffee. This practice helps you settle into the day with presence and kindness, using simple breath awareness, a brief visualisation of your day ahead, and three quiet affirmations to carry with you.
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DETAILS
Level: Beginner Practice type: Breath awareness, Visualisation Duration: 12:31
WHO IS THIS FOR?
You want a calm start to the morning before the busyness takes over
You're looking for a short practice that fits into your morning routine
You tend to rush into the day and want to slow down before it begins
You'd like to carry a sense of kindness and presence into your interactions
You find formal meditation intimidating and prefer something relaxed
BENEFITS
A sense of calm and steadiness before your day starts
A simple framework for meeting the day with less haste
Three affirmations to anchor you: calm, self-kindness, and kindness to others
A reminder that the stillness you feel in meditation is available all day
A gentler, more compassionate approach to your daily encounters
ABOUT STEVEN WEBB
Steven Webb is a meditation teacher, podcaster, politician, and the host of Inner Peace Meditations. A former mayor of Truro in the county of Cornwall, Steven continues to split his time between politics and the contemplative work he is best known for. After a life-changing accident left him paralysed from the chest down, he found his way to inner peace through mindfulness, Zen philosophy, and the teachings of Alan Watts and Shunryu Suzuki. He now helps others find calm and resilience — especially those who find meditation difficult. Steven lives in Cornwall, England and shares his work at stevenwebb.com. You can also find his podcast on politics and public life, Stillness in the Storms, at https://stillnessinthestorms.com/
Welcome to your morning calm. A guided meditation for starting your day with a little peace and quiet and a little bit of awareness. This is an ideal meditation, perhaps to be sat at the kitchen table or sat down with your cup of tea or coffee in the morning and just taking a little time out and just slowing down. So just settle into a comfortable position. You can either let your eyes just soften a few feet in front of you, or you can just gently close them and just allow your body to find the nice sweet spot of being really comfortable and relaxed, but also alert that you're not going to fall asleep or you're very aware of your surroundings and what's happening. And as you bring your awareness to your breath, we're not going to do anything with it. Your body knows how to breathe and your body knows how to breathe in any given moment. It's been doing it for a long time without you getting involved. But you are to be aware of your breath, aware of your chest rising, aware of your body moving gently forward and back and just breathing in calm and breathing out. Relax. Allow the body to relax. Allow your shoulders to relax. Your face and your eyes. Now your ears, even your nose and your jaw, your hands, your feet. Your body knows how to relax. You don't have to do anything with it, you just have to just invite it. Just be aware. Simply breathing in, calm, breathing out. Relax. And this moment here is enough. You don't need to be anywhere else. You don't need to be doing anything else in this moment. Just this, just breathing, just being. Notice the stillness in this moment. And it may not feel like it, but this stillness, this calm is always present. It's just very often when we're thinking about other things or we're rushing around or doing something, we're stuck in thought or we're stuck in doing mode. And that's okay. It's just remembering that if we do need a bit of calm, we can just become aware of our breath and just slow down just for that moment. There is no rush. And even when your day begins today, this calm stillness can still remain. Even in calm, even up. Relax. And now gently bring to mind your day ahead. And you don't have to go into detail, but just see it unfolding before you. But see it differently. See it as if you're moving through it calmly, unhurried. Each task, each conversation, each moment met with the same presence you feel right now. You have time. You are centered, you are open hearted and just ready to respond in each given moment. And during the day you'll give yourself just a bit of extra time, a little extra time to get somewhere. A little pause when you go somewhere, maybe opening a door. Just a pause and breathe in calmness. When someone speaks or says something, you'll just listen that little bit longer. And as you're picturing your day, just that kindness flow through it. Your basic foundations of who you really are. Below all the noise and the haste and the thoughts. Below all that, just open hearted, kind, wise, non hurried. Just imagine that kindness flowing now, that compassion first, it's flowing towards you. May you meet yourself with kindness today, especially when things feel difficult. And now imagine that kindness towards all those you encounter. May your presence bring a little peace to their day as well, as we know we all need it. Now we're going to go through three affirmations and just imagine these as if they are totally true. And you feel them in every part of your body as if it's true right now, as it'll be true later and this evening be true to your whole day. I am calm in this moment. I am kind to myself. Today I bring kindness to all those I meet. And just let those words settle into your heart just like little seeds as your day go on. They'll just grow a little bit each time. And now finally, just this awareness of gratitude for this moment and gratitude for this day. I know it always sounds a little bit, I don't know, I'm corny or something, but this day is a gift. This breath is a gift. And whatever it brings, you have this moment right now. And this moment's enough. We don't need anything more. And in a moment I'm going to come back from five. But just before you do that, remember this calmness can be there all day long. Just plan your day a little with a little space between, with little pauses, little breaths every now and again, a little mindful breath, a little understanding and compassion that everybody's struggling some way. And we don't have to meet everybody with solutions. We just meet them with an open heart and a kindness. We very often know how to remain calm and respond. And we know what we need to do. You are the gift of space today. You are the gift of calmness. And as we count back from five or just gently open your eyes, three. Shake out your arms, wiggle your fingers and toes and your ears if you can. And two, look around the room and just stretch on one. And just, yeah, just remember that this calmness is always there. It's always available. You don't need guided meditation you don't need all those things. You've got this. And with the way we cultivate it, it's just gentle pauses every now and again. I'm Steven Webb and thank you for your time with me today. And if you want to see my other podcast or support my work in any way, just head over to stevenwebb.com. Thank you. Have a beautiful day.
