Hello there,
Good evening.
Allowing yourself to settle,
Land,
Arrive in this practice as a way to wind down from your day.
Framing the end of your day with intention and presence.
Giving yourself full permission to arrive.
There isn't a need to suppress or edit,
No fixing,
No changing.
Whether your day was joyful,
More tricky,
Easy,
Perhaps even a little mundane or repetitive.
My gentle invitation if you like is to contemplate what went well today?
What went well today?
And if you're not sure,
If your thought pattern is telling you that nothing went well today,
You have chosen to be here choosing a practice,
Choosing connection with yourself.
Perhaps that is something that has gone well today.
If this is a reflective question you ask yourself more regularly,
Perhaps you start to notice some patterns,
Some intriguing responses.
And even when our days might be more challenging,
What is it like to find just one thing that has gone well?
Maybe you'd like to create a little bit of movement in your body.
What is the expression of your body,
The way that you're holding yourself in this moment?
What information is that expression giving you?
If the day has involved a lot of hurrying,
Rushing,
A sense of urgency,
Maybe there is a sense of alertness.
In the language of your body,
If there has been some fatigue,
Some lethargy,
Perhaps even some disappointment,
Observing whether the shoulders might be rounded,
Curled inwards.
You might even try to exaggerate each of those expressions,
Round the shoulders forwards,
And roll the shoulders back,
A little arch perhaps through your spine.
Floating between these two shapes,
Maybe finding somewhere in the middle,
Somewhere that today feels steady,
Supportive.
And as you are creating that movement in your body,
Observing the places where your body is in connection,
In relationship to whatever surface you're resting on,
Finding that sense of grounding,
Inviting the aliveness,
The buoyancy from the earth,
The ground,
Allowing your body to receive that energy.
As you allow your body to release just a little bit more,
Trust in that support that is underneath you,
That support that is holding you,
Inviting your body to soften just a little bit more.
And choosing now whether you'd like to be in a little more movement,
Or whether stillness is calling out to you.
There is no wrong choice.
Allowing here just a little bit of space without the sound of my voice.
Tuning in perhaps to the sound of your breath,
Any sensations you can feel and want to notice.
Offering yourself the option of a little more movement,
A gentle sway of your head from side to side,
A roll through your shoulders perhaps,
Shaking out of the wrists and your fingers,
Maybe even a squeeze and release of the feet,
Anything at all that feels like a way to connect to your body.
How does your body respond to this gentle tenderness and attention?
Your body that has carried you through this day and has offered this vessel of living,
Breathing,
Alive movement,
This vessel that has carried you through this day,
There's the possibility of staying with this practice,
This connection to yourself for as long as you choose,
As long as feels useful,
Supportive,
Nourishing and kind.
And whenever you feel ready to bring this practice to a close,
Your inhale,
Letting the shoulders float upwards any amount,
Maybe a little squeeze at the very top before you invite this melting,
Sinking,
Softening down of the shoulders and a releasing,
Settling,
Grounding breath.
Your gentle breath in rises the shoulders up,
Perhaps a little squeeze at the top,
And let the shoulders flow downwards.
The option of completing one more round if you like,
Feeling that grounded energy,
Settling down,
Perhaps this sense of dissolving a fraction of the heaviness from the day.
As you gently wave through your spine,
Your torso,
Blinking open the eyes if they've been closed,
Arriving,
Orienting into this moment,
Into the space that you're in.
I'm beginning to move into the rest of your evening with this sense of grounded presence.
Thank you so much for choosing to spend this time with yourself,
Intentionally framing the end of your day.
Wishing you a nourishing,
Beautiful,
Spacious and gentle evening ahead.
And I hope that we can practice together again soon with much care and endless presence.
