Guided practices from our Wednesday sessions at the Chicago Public Library's Edgewater Branch, recorded so you can practice at home.
Meditation is turning your attention inward and choosing where it rests. You're likely doing it already: the long breath before a hard conversation, the minute at the window watching the snow come down. These recordings give that moment more time and some structure.
A busy mind is part of it. Each time you notice you've drifted and return to the breath or the body, that noticing is the practice. Start with three breaths. Stay longer when you have the time.
Six practices, from three minutes to twenty. Each one comes from something we've done together on Wednesdays.
The practice we begin with every week. Hands on your heart and belly, three full breaths, and a pause before whatever comes next.
Attention moves slowly from the top of the head to the soles of the feet, then rests in the whole body at once.
A guided rest built around setting things down. If you drift off, your body is taking what it needs.
Listen lying down, and never while driving.
Gives a busy mind one steady job: counting the breath down from eleven. It ends without bringing you back, so you can stay asleep.
Never while driving.
Use your own sound to lengthen the exhale, first with the ears open, then with the ears gently closed.
If you have glaucoma, keep the ears open throughout, as the recording explains.
Find a place in your body that feels steady or at ease, so you know the way back to it.
I'll let my mailing list know when new recordings are ready.
Every Wednesday from 1 to 2 pm, in the Betty A. Barclay Community Room on the second floor of the Edgewater Branch, 6000 N. Broadway. It's free. Chairs are provided, or bring a mat if you'd like to lie down. Whether it's your first session or your tenth, you're welcome.
Through December, each Wednesday builds on the one before: attention and breath, the body as an anchor, rest for sleep, kindness toward yourself, and a practice you can take home. Come to one session or all of them.
Sessions run through December 16. There's no class the week of Thanksgiving (November 25). Offered in partnership with Edgewater Village Chicago.
I'm Kathryn Norris, a yoga therapist and somatic practitioner in Chicago. My work is body-first: breath, movement, rest and attention, drawn from yogic and Daoist practice and from current nervous system research. I work with people one-on-one online, on sleep, chronic tension, stress and the patterns that keep repeating, and I teach group classes around Chicago.
Work with me one-on-one →These practices support general wellbeing. They aren't a substitute for medical or mental health care. Go at your own pace, and skip anything that doesn't feel right for your body.