I invite you to come to a comfortable seat,
Sitting up tall,
Feet flat on the ground,
Alignment from the top of your head down to your tailbone,
And also choose to lie down if it's more comfortable for you,
Just slowly settling into the natural rhythm of your breath,
Inhaling and exhaling,
Making each breath deep and intentional.
With each inhale,
Really aligning with yourself.
With the exhale,
Letting anything that does not serve you go.
If the mind wanders at any point,
No worries,
Just gently bring it back.
Experimenting with the length of your inhale and your exhale,
Maybe even holding at the top of the inhale and then releasing the exhale.
Recognizing that this is a moment for yourself to take time and space to see what's really going on inside.
Taking the time now,
Start to bring awareness to the body,
Bit by bit,
Starting from the feet,
Five toes of your right foot,
The bottom of your foot,
The heel,
The five toes of your left foot,
The bottom of the foot,
And the heel,
Traveling up now,
The calves and the shins,
The knees,
The thighs,
Front and back,
The hips,
The pelvis,
The lower back,
The middle back,
The upper back,
The belly,
And the chest,
The neck,
The chin,
The cheeks,
The forehead,
The eyes,
The nose,
The mouth,
The shoulders,
The biceps,
The elbows,
Forearms,
The wrists,
The hands,
And the five fingers of the right hand and of the left hand.
Gently inviting each body part into awareness and then inviting it to relax.
If your mind wanders at any point throughout the exercise,
Simply acknowledging that's a thought and gently bringing the mind back to the breath,
Back to the present where you are.
Noticing now the entire body again,
Observing any places of discomfort.
You zoom in on a place,
Breathing into it,
Maybe gently placing a hand on that space,
Inviting it both comfort and a space to relax.
Going deep into that place and thinking,
Asking,
What does this part of my body need in this moment?
What's going on here?
What's really going on here?
Allowing some space and silence for an answer,
And if nothing comes up,
That's okay too.
Invite you to pay attention if there's any emotion that corresponds with that bodily sensation.
Maybe it's fear in the pit of the stomach,
Apprehension and tightness of the throat,
Overwhelmed,
Trapped in the shoulders or the hips.
Matter where it is,
Just observing what happens when you breathe into it,
When you put a hand there,
When you acknowledge it in all that it is without wishing or asking it to be any different.
And now releasing the attention from that single body part,
Bringing the entire body back into the mind's eye,
Connecting with your body as a whole,
With yourself as a whole.
Again,
Breathing deep and asking the question,
What do I need right now?
Taking a brief moment to listen for the answer.
Acknowledging the answer amidst any background noise that you may hear,
Whether that's the reality of your environment or the chatter of your own mind,
Like a needle in the haystack.
What is that answer?
Knowing that it's just the answer for right now and that the answer in the future may be different.
And finally taking the last moment to explore and invite yourself to ask the question,
How can I give myself what I need right now?
Acknowledging again that maybe what I can give myself is not 100% of what I need.
It might only be 5%,
1%,
0.
005%.
But how can I give myself a little bit of what I need?
What does that look like?
What is my plan for putting it into action?
And while I know I cannot control the outcome,
What is my desired result?
Bringing the awareness slowly back into the body as a whole,
Wiggling the fingers and the toes,
Shifting a bit in your seat.
And when you're ready,
Gently opening your eyes,
Readjusting to your surroundings and going on with the rest of the day.
Thank you for joining Empower Mindful Minutes.
See you next time.
