Welcome,
This is Allison with Mindful Pause Center,
And I'm so glad to bring you this practice today.
Starting with gravity is this way to settle in,
Beginning to shift from any striving energy that might be left from the day,
Leftover from the day.
And you might notice there's still like a front forward direction to your energy.
And if you can use gravity to help let you settle into the backside of your body,
That might be a good foundation for practice tonight.
It can help to notice points of contact.
Where's the chair,
The floor.
Just taking a minute to feel this world on the other side of your body that in this moment can hold you.
So you don't have to hold yourself up.
Right now.
There's the support of gravity here,
The earth element,
Which is in our actual planet under us,
But also in all these other pieces of furniture in our lives,
Standing in for that sense of groundedness.
Noticing how the hands landed tonight.
If you want to play with changing the posture,
Do that now to see if there's a subtle shift that feels good.
And as your awareness begins to settle,
Maybe like those snowflakes in a snow globe.
You can see what feels good for awareness of the body.
Is it the whole body in this posture?
Maybe it's a smaller part of the body,
The hands or the feet,
Belly,
Whatever part helps ground your attention.
If it feels good to stay anchored in the body,
You can do that.
If you want to open awareness to include the body breathing.
See where the felt senses of the breath in motion.
Whether that's the belly,
The chest,
Or over the lip into the nose.
And if you're bringing awareness to the breath,
Remembering that the exhalation can soothe,
Can slow you down,
Can bring comfort.
If you're at the lower end of the stimulation scale,
Remembering that the inhalation can draw up energy,
Bring some more alertness.
Using just the next minute or two to rest awareness on one of these anchors.
Until you notice that your mind has been pulled away by thoughts,
Or a strong emotion has arisen.
When you notice,
You might even stay for a moment in observation.
The gentle label feeling,
Thinking,
Planning,
Worrying.
And then when you're ready,
You can let your home base come forward.
Body's always here,
Breath is always here.
Or if you want to play with sound,
Sound is always here.
So I'll give you a minute in silence to work with this.
Just noticing where your awareness is now.
And after making a note,
Begin to let sound in,
If you haven't already.
Sounds that are in the room with you,
Sounds that are drifting in from outside.
Sound of my voice.
And including now the sound of the bell.
As the sound fades,
Starting to move the body in a way that feels good.
And then as your eyes open,
Completing the practice by orienting to your space,
Letting the nervous system know that you're coming back from the practice through these senses.
Thank you for your practice.
