We'll start this practice seated in a chair or on a stool.
Place your feet on the ground,
And as you next inhale,
Reach the crown of your head up,
And as you exhale,
Press the soles of your feet down.
Begin to notice the pace of your breath.
Throughout this practice,
We will use an equal parts breath,
Which means that our inhales and our exhales will have an even pace to them.
This will look different in each body on each day,
But for example,
That might look like inhale,
Two,
Three,
Exhale,
Two,
Three.
Exhale,
Two,
Three,
Exhale,
Two,
Three.
Take a moment here to find the pace that works for your body today.
Finding a pace where your inhales and exhales are even,
Where the pace is sustainable,
But also holds your interest.
So throughout this practice,
You may continually be focusing your awareness on the pace of your breath.
Take two more rounds of breath here.
Take your full inhale to bring your shoulders up towards your earlobes and hold them there.
Inhale,
Reach them up maybe a bit higher and in towards the midline of your body.
Inhale,
Tighten and lift your shoulders.
Exhale,
Release them slowly down and back.
Inhale,
Lift your shoulders up towards your earlobes and in towards the midline of your body.
Exhale,
Release them back and down.
Place your hands in your lap so that your palms are facing up.
Check in with the pace of your breath.
Continuing to breathe evenly,
Take your full inhale to bring the tip of your pointer finger to the tip of your thumb.
Exhale,
Release.
Inhale,
Bring the tip of your middle finger to the tip of your thumb.
And exhale,
Release.
Inhale,
Bring the tip of your ring finger to the tip of your thumb.
Exhale,
Release.
And inhale,
Bring the tip of your little finger to the tip of your thumb.
Exhale,
Release.
Inhale little finger to thumb.
Exhale release.
Ring finger to thumb.
And exhale.
Inhale middle finger to thumb.
Exhale release.
Inhale pointer finger to thumb.
And exhale release.
As you next inhale,
Curl your fingers all in towards the palm of your hand,
Creating a peaceful fist.
Hold them there.
And on your next inhale,
Squeeze your fist tighter,
Noticing the sensations in your hands and along your arms.
Once more,
Inhale,
Continue to tighten your fist.
And then slowly exhale,
Release,
Reach your fingertips in all directions.
Create circles with your wrists in both directions.
And then place your hands palms down in your lap again.
Check in with the pace of your breath.
We'll take three breaths here,
Using the pace of your equal parts breath.
And as thoughts arise,
Bring your awareness back to simply noticing the pace of your breath.
Bring your awareness to your feet.
Reach your toes up and back as if you were going to place the nails on your calves.
And then release your toes back down towards the ground.
Inhale now and curl your toes under as if you were going to reach the pads of your toes towards the sole of your foot.
Stay here and as you inhale,
Tighten your feet fifth.
Inhale and tighten,
Pull your toes in.
Notice the sensation in your feet and along your legs.
And then exhale and slowly release your feet,
Spreading the soles of your feet on the ground,
Reaching your toes up and back.
And then take a moment and circle your ankles in both directions one at a time,
Maintaining your equal parts breath.
Now reach the crown of your head up,
Exhale,
Press into the soles of your feet.
Notice what thoughts come up and then bring your awareness back to the pace of your breath.
Take three more even breaths here.
Now,
Begin to extend your exhale.
So using our example that might look like inhale,
Two,
Three,
Exhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Exhale,
Two,
Three,
Exhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Continue to breathe here,
Noticing the pace of your breath,
Allowing that to be the focus of your awareness and extending gently your exhales,
Cueing your body to rest and be calm.
Two,
Three,
Exhale.
Take two more rounds of breath just so here.
Begin to let go of this pace of breathing and let your breath come gently and naturally.
Inhale and reach your arms up overhead.
Extend your knees and reach your feet out in front of you.
Take a full body stretch and then exhale release and come back to your seat.
Take a moment in gratitude for your body.
A moment in gratitude for your work,
For the personal work that you are doing and take a moment in gratitude for those who support you in this work.
Knowing that it is not only for your own benefit but for the benefit of all the lives you touch and we will close our practice here.
