Arrange the body in a way that feels comfortable and supported.
I invite you to use pillows or blankets,
Whatever you have,
To really support yourself and set yourself up to let go,
To relax,
To begin to find some surrender at the end of your day.
As you continue to arrange your physical body,
Please turn your awareness inward.
Begin to focus in on your breathing,
First taking note of the pattern as it is,
And then gently,
Intuitively,
At your own rhythm,
Just begin to deepen the breath just a little bit,
Whatever that means to you,
Taking long,
Slow,
Deep breaths and allowing all of the awareness to settle in to watching the rhythm of your body breathing.
Often as we attempt to close out our day,
The mind likes to take charge,
Uses the quiet space to review the day,
Or run some commentary,
Maybe look back over what happened.
So let's take a moment and just honor and acknowledge the power,
The beauty,
The service of the mind.
Maybe repeating to yourself or out loud,
Thank you,
Mind.
Thank you for helping me interpret the day,
To create understanding,
To process.
We're going to set down all of that for now,
And we'll pick it back up tomorrow.
It's now time to rest.
Next,
We'll check in with the body,
The vessel that has carried our mind and spirit through this day.
To do this,
I'm going to invite you to follow my voice as we scan throughout the body.
I'll name various body parts,
And I invite you to follow along,
Just bringing awareness to that part,
Checking in,
Noticing what's there,
And then moving on as the practice continues.
Letting go of thinking and letting your mind move through sensation.
We'll begin in the mouth,
Feeling into the sensations that are present in your mouth and your jaw,
The left ear,
The right ear,
Both ears at the same time,
The left eye,
The right eye,
Both of your eyes at the same time.
Continue feeling into sensation as you move up through the forehead,
The top of the head,
The back of the head,
Feeling down into your neck and shoulders,
Feeling all of the sensations that are present.
Resisting the urge to label them,
Change them,
Or just noticing what's there.
From the neck and shoulders,
We'll begin to move down the left arm,
Feeling through the shoulder,
The left elbow,
Down through the left forearm,
And landing in the left hand.
Feeling all of the sensations of your left hand.
Scan up through the left arm,
Moving across the chest over to the right shoulder,
The right elbow,
Down through the right forearm into the right wrist and hand.
All awareness is focused into the right palm.
Please scan back up the right arm and land in the center of your chest.
Notice what sensations are present in the center of your chest.
Allow everything to be just as it is.
Move down through your torso,
Landing in the belly and the low back,
Feeling into the hips and the pelvis.
Next we'll begin to move down the left leg.
Starting in the left hip,
Left thigh,
Left knee,
Shin,
Ankle,
And the left foot.
All attention and awareness is centered in your left foot.
Moving back up the left leg,
Crossing through the hips over to the right hip,
Right thigh,
Right knee,
Shin,
Ankle,
Right foot.
Please feel your right foot as sensation.
Coming back up the right leg and expanding awareness to include both of your legs at the same time.
The entire torso.
Please feel both of your arms at the same time.
The entire head and neck.
All awareness focused on the head and neck as sensation.
The entire body.
Grow your awareness to encompass your entire physical form.
Noticing the gentle support beneath you.
Notice how your physical form is supported.
It is being held by the surface beneath it.
As you feel each of those points of contact,
Allow the body to begin to feel heavy.
Feeling heavy and dense and letting all of that heaviness surrender into the support.
Next,
We'll cultivate lightness.
Please bring awareness to all of the places in your body that are not being supported by a surface and begin to cultivate a sense of lightness,
Of air,
Of space,
Of space.
Approaching with curiosity,
Expand your awareness to include both heaviness and lightness.
Please feel your body as both heavy and light at the same time.
Allowing the feelings of heaviness and lightness to dissolve as you bring the awareness into focus on your body's breathing pattern.
Notice the gentle rhythm that your body is naturally creating.
Notice that your breath has a rhythm very similar to your day.
There's a beginning,
There's a rising into the middle,
And then there's a releasing at the end of the cycle.
Paying attention to both the movement of the physical body as you breathe as well as the feeling of the air coming in and out.
As you watch this pattern,
Notice if you can tune into the very subtle space between the breath.
Often after we exhale,
There's a natural pause,
The space between the exhale and the next inhale.
If you're finding that space,
We'll use that as we count backwards.
If you're not finding that space,
Simply count on the exhale.
We'll begin at seven and count backwards until one.
If you're counting the space between,
Each time you land there,
Label it seven and then six,
Moving through the numbers.
If or when you lose count,
Simply begin again.
Wherever you are,
Allow the counting to dissolve and allow yourself to just be.
There's nothing to fix or change.
There is nothing more that you need to do with this day.
We've honored the beauty of the mind,
Checked in with the physical body,
Tuned into the breath,
And all of this together is signaling to your body your mind,
Your nervous system,
That it's time to rest.
This day is complete.
Releasing.
Relaxing.
You are exactly where you need to be.
May you rest well.
Thank you.
