Wherever you are right now,
Let yourself settle in.
You don't need to fix your posture or thoughts.
Just arrive exactly as you are.
If your mind has been busy today.
Running through lists,
Replaying conversations,
Jumping from one worry to the next.
That's alright.
That's just what minds do sometimes.
For the next few minutes,
There's nothing you need to solve.
Nothing you need to decide.
Just this moment and the breath that comes with it.
Let's begin with the bread.
Not changing it,
Just noticing it.
In and out.
Now take one slightly deeper breath in.
And let it do.
Slowly.
Like you're settling.
Something known.
One more.
And deeply.
And out,
Releasing the little tension you've been carrying.
Let your breath return to its own rhythm now.
Nothing to control.
Just breathe in.
Sometimes the mind circles back to the body,
To symptoms,
To sensations,
To questions it can't quite answer on its own.
If that's the place your thoughts go tonight.
You don't have to push it away.
Just notice it's there.
The way you'd notice weather passing by.
Right now,
In this exact moment.
Notice that you are breathing.
Your heart is beating.
Steadily.
On its own.
The way it has every moment of your life so far.
Your body has been carrying you through.
Today without having to instruct it.
Knows how to do this.
Whatever question is sitting in the back of your mind.
It doesn't need an answer tonight.
Isn't the time for that.
Tomorrow.
In day light.
With a clearer head.
Is a better time to think it through.
Or talk to someone.
Or take whatever next steps make sense.
Right now.
Your only task is to let your body rest.
That in itself is something worth doing.
Let your shoulders drop a little.
Let your hands go soft.
Some things,
Right now,
You simply don't know the answer to.
That's uncomfortable.
Minds don't like that.
Not enjoying the night.
Doesn't require anything of you.
You don't have to resolve it.
You don't have to predict it.
You can let the question exist.
Unanswered.
And still be at rest.
Just for tonight.
Be enough.
To see.
I don't know yet.
And that's alright.
If thoughts keep arriving.
One after another,
You don't have to fight them.
Picture each one like a car.
Passing on a distant road.
You notice it.
You let it pass.
You don't have to chase it.
Or follow where it is going.
Passing,
Gone.
If your mind drifts toward money,
Bills,
Plans,
Numbers,
Let it know.
Tonight isn't a working night.
Nothing gets solved by worrying about it at this hour.
It'll still be there tomorrow.
When you are rested and clear-headed enough to actually deal with it.
For now.
You can set it down.
Whatever you carried into this moment.
A worry about your body,
A question with no answer yet.
A mind that won't slow down.
A number that won't stop circling.
You can set it all down now.
None of it is needed right now.
Just as breath.
And the next.
You're allowed to rest.
