Find a position that feels comfortable for you right now.
That could be sitting or lying down,
Anything in between.
Just really arrive here and let your eyes close if that feels okay,
Or soften your gaze toward the floor.
And just begin to notice that you're here.
You showed up to do this,
To take just a few moments to sit with what you're feeling and process it.
Take one deep breath in through the nose and let it go through your mouth with a sigh.
Just let it out however it wants to come.
And one more like that,
Breathe in and release.
Now let your breathing return to its own rhythm.
You don't need to control it or make it look any particular way,
Just let your body breathe just to be here.
Begin to feel the weight of your body wherever it's being supported.
Feel how the chair or the floor or the bed is holding you up right now.
You don't have to hold yourself up,
You can let something else do that work for a moment.
And as you settle in,
I want to offer you a small permission.
You don't have to fix anything in the next few minutes.
You don't have to solve anything or understand anything or make anything go away.
All you have to do is be here and notice what's here with you.
We're going to do a slow scan through the body now,
Not to change anything,
Just to check in.
Think of it like walking through your house and opening each door just to see what's in the room.
You're not rearranging the furniture,
You're just looking.
So let's start at the top of your head and notice your scalp,
Your forehead,
The space around your temples.
Is there any tightness there,
Any holding?
Just notice.
And move your awareness down into your face,
Your jaw,
Your mouth,
The muscles around your eyes.
So many of us carry tension here without even realizing it.
See if you can soften anything that wants to soften,
But don't force it.
Bring your attention to your throat and neck.
Notice what you find there.
And now your shoulders.
You can let them drop just a little if they're creeping up toward your ears,
Or maybe do a few rolls forward and backward.
It's so common to hold tension here and we almost never catch it in real time.
We don't notice until there's pain afterward.
So notice your shoulders.
And now move down through your arms,
Your hands.
Notice if your hands are clenched or open,
And you might gently open your palms if that feels right.
Maybe a few wrist circles if that feels right.
Bring your awareness into your chest.
This is a place where many people feel emotion most strongly,
Right around the heart.
Just notice what's there.
Is it tight or open?
Heavy,
Fluttery?
Whatever it is,
It's allowed here in this moment.
Move your attention into your belly,
Your gut,
Another place where feelings love to live.
See what you notice there.
Is it tense?
Churning?
Hollow?
Warm?
Just notice.
And finally,
Scan down through your hips.
Is there any tightness there?
Anything feeling stuck there?
Notice the front of the thighs,
The back of the thighs,
The front of the calves,
The back of the calves.
The tops of your feet,
The bottoms of your feet.
Notice how grounded or ungrounded you feel in the lower half of your body.
Somewhere during that scan,
You might have noticed a spot that felt heavier or tighter or more charged.
A place where something is sitting.
And if you didn't notice anything specific,
That's okay too.
You can gently invite your attention toward wherever feels most alive or most uncomfortable right now in your body.
And when you found that place,
Just rest your awareness there.
Maybe place your hand very gently on that part of your body.
See if you can get curious about it.
Not analytical or trying to figure it out.
Just curious.
What does this sensation actually feel like?
If you could describe it to someone,
What words would you use?
Is it sharp or dull?
Warm or cold?
Does it have defined edges or does it feel like it spreads out?
Is it still or does it pulse or move?
You don't have to name the emotion behind it or know if it's grief or anger or anxiety or something you don't even have a word for.
Or maybe it's just something happening in the body not related to how you're feeling.
For right now,
It's just a sensation.
It's just something that your body is holding.
And we're going to stay with it.
This is the part that's hard.
What we're about to do goes against almost every instinct you have.
Your brain is wired to move away from discomfort.
To fix it.
To distract from it.
To push it down or explain it away.
That's your nervous system trying to protect you.
But right now,
In this safe space and safe moment,
We're going to try something different.
We're going to stay.
Imagine that this feeling,
This sensation in your body,
Is someone you care about who's going through a hard time.
You wouldn't try to talk them out of it.
You wouldn't say,
Stop feeling that.
You'd sit with them.
You'd let them know they're not alone.
And that's what we're doing with this part of yourself right now.
You're just sitting beside it.
Keep breathing.
Let each breath move toward that area of the body.
Send the breath toward that part of the body that needs a little extra care right now.
Not to push the pain or the feeling out,
But to give it a little more room.
Like opening a window in a stuffy place.
That feeling is still there,
But now it has space to breathe,
Too.
If your mind starts to wander,
Or you notice the urge to pull away,
Check your phone,
Start planning something.
Jump into a story about why you feel this way.
That's completely normal.
That's your brain doing what it does.
Just notice and gently come back to the sensation in your body.
Tell yourself,
I can be with this.
This won't last forever,
And I can be with it right now.
Keep breathing.
Keep staying.
And now,
Without trying to make anything happen,
Notice.
Has anything shifted for you?
Even slightly.
Sometimes the sensation gets smaller.
Sometimes it gets bigger first,
Because we're paying attention to it.
Sometimes it moves to a different part of your body.
Sometimes the texture changes from sharp to dull,
Or from tight to heavy.
And sometimes nothing changes at all,
And that's completely fine,
Too.
Feelings and sensations aren't static things.
They're more like weather.
They move through us when we stop trying to hold them in place or shove them away.
So if you notice a sensation starting to shift,
Just let it.
Follow it.
See where it goes.
And if it hasn't shifted,
There's no pressure for it,
Too.
Some feelings need more time.
Some feelings need to be felt over and over,
Across many days,
Before they're ready to take shape.
This is the practice.
Whatever is happening in your body right now is exactly right.
You are doing this perfectly,
Because there is no perfect way to do it.
The only thing you can do wrong is refuse to show up.
And you're here.
Slowly and gently,
Begin to widen your awareness back out.
You spent some time with one part of your body,
One feeling,
And now we're going to zoom back out and remember the whole.
Feel your whole body again.
Your head,
Your shoulders,
Your chest,
Your belly,
Your back,
Your legs,
Your feet,
The whole physical container of you.
Take a deep breath in,
And fill up all that space.
Feel the belly rise and expand.
Breathe into the parts that hurt and the parts that feel fine,
And everything in between,
And exhale.
Let it all go.
One more time,
A big,
Deep belly breath in,
Filling your whole body with air and attention,
And release.
Return to your normal breathing pattern,
Whatever that might be right now.
And before you open your eyes,
I want you to know something.
What you just did takes courage.
Sitting with discomfort,
Choosing not to run from it,
Choosing to be present with the hard stuff,
The boring stuff,
The uncomfortable stuff,
It's one of the bravest things a person can do.
And it gets easier with practice.
Not because the feelings get smaller,
But because your capacity to hold them gets bigger.
And when you're ready,
You can start to bring some gentle movement into your fingers and toes.
You might roll your wrists or your ankles.
Take your time.
And whenever it feels right,
Let your eyes open.
Take in the space around you.
Notice one thing you can see,
One thing you can hear.
And know that you're here too.
You made it through.
You did the uncomfortable thing.
And you can come back to this practice anytime you need it.
