Start by finding a comfortable position and settle in.
Make any adjustments you need.
Take off your glasses if you're wearing any.
Just begin to arrive in the present moment.
Close your eyes if that feels comfortable or just soften your gaze.
Let your body settle into this moment.
There's nowhere else you need to be right now.
Nothing else you need to do.
Just be here,
Now,
In this moment,
And in this one.
Inhale slowly through your nose,
Feeling the cool air enter.
Feel it fill your lungs and expand your belly.
And exhale slowly through your mouth or nose,
Just noticing the warmth of the air leaving,
Your body relaxing.
Just breathe in and breathe out.
Notice the contact between your body and the surface beneath you,
The weight of your legs against the chair,
Your back,
Your hands as they rest in your lap or by your sides.
Simply notice all of the places you're supported.
And as you breathe,
Allow your body to become heavier and heavier,
Letting go of tension,
Sinking into the support underneath you.
See if you can let yourself relax even 1% more.
Just notice any sensations as they arise.
Maybe there's warmth,
Coolness,
Pressure,
Stillness.
Whatever there is exactly what needs to be there.
There's no need to change anything.
On your next inhale,
Bring your awareness to your non-dominant hand.
For most of us,
That's the left.
And just notice the temperature of your palm,
The weight of your fingers,
Whether they're open or closed,
Tense or soft.
Just simply notice.
With your next inhale,
Imagine you're holding a stone in that hand.
Maybe you even want to bring your hand in front of your belly,
Palm up,
And gently make it into a fist,
Imagining the stone inside it with your mind's eye.
How does it feel?
Is it heavy,
Light,
Cool,
Warm?
Just notice.
Now imagine the stone represents a situation in your life that currently feels difficult,
Something where you might feel resistance,
Uncertainty,
Or a strong pull toward wanting things to be different than how they are,
Perhaps a need to know how things will turn out.
You don't need to dive into the story.
Just acknowledge it's there.
Bring your attention to how your body has responded while you think of the situation.
Do you feel tightness,
Maybe some tension or heaviness in your hand,
Your wrist,
Maybe your arm,
Your shoulder,
Or your jaw?
Has your fist tightened?
Simply notice what's coming up without needing to change anything.
Just feel the weight of this stone.
With some kindness and grace for yourself,
Sense how tightly you've been holding it,
And remember just how human that gripping is.
Just breathe and notice.
Ease doesn't come from control.
It comes from surrender.
On your next inhale,
Bring your attention to your thumb.
Notice how it's wrapped over the others,
Holding everything in place,
Holding that stone in your palm.
And as you exhale,
Softly guide it open,
Gently with your other hand or just in your mind's eye.
Whatever feels right,
No forcing,
Just offering yourself permission to let it relax.
Now as you breathe in,
Notice your index finger.
Feel the muscle start to soften,
The grip loosen,
The heaviness melting.
And as you exhale,
Gently guide it open.
This grip made sense once.
It's been trying to protect you,
And now you're ready to let it go.
On your next inhale,
Think of your middle finger.
As the grip loosens,
Feel the heaviness melting.
Sense the weight dissolving slowly,
Leaving space in your chest,
Your belly,
Your heart.
Exhale and guide your middle finger open.
Notice you're not dropping anything.
The stone is still there in your hand.
You're just not clutching it so tightly anymore.
On your next inhale,
Your ring finger.
As you gently open it,
Notice how much has already shifted,
Not because you forced anything to change,
But because you accepted it just as it is.
Exhale and let it relax.
On this last intentional inhale,
We come to your pinky,
The last point of grip.
Gently let it loosen.
Let it soften as you exhale.
And now just be here with your open palm.
And notice that the stone is still in your hand.
You haven't lost it.
You haven't thrown it away.
It's simply resting in your open palm.
Feel the difference between holding something and clutching it.
The weight is the same,
But something in you is different.
As you sit here and breathe,
Silently repeat,
I acknowledge my wish,
My feelings,
My attachments.
And as you breathe out,
Repeat to yourself,
I release my need for control and certainty.
Breathing in,
I acknowledge my wish,
My feelings,
My attachments.
Breathing out,
I release my need for control and certainty.
Simply notice what arises when you give yourself permission to not know the outcome,
Permission to let people and emotions and situations be just as they are,
And to trust that everything changes,
Everything is temporary,
Without us needing to force it.
Maybe there's a sense of lightness.
Maybe there's still some uncertainty.
Whatever comes,
Let it be welcome.
Simply breathe in and breathe out.
Now,
If it feels right to you in this moment,
Imagine slowly turning your hand over and setting the stone down on the surface beneath you.
You're not rejecting it.
You're not deciding you don't care.
You're not deciding that setting it down means anything.
You're simply letting it be somewhere other than in your grip for a moment.
And if you're not ready to set it down,
That's fine too.
Just notice.
An open palm is enough.
Everything exactly as it is right now,
In this moment,
Is enough.
Simply breathe in.
Feel the space that exists where the effort used to be,
In your fingers,
Your wrists,
Your shoulders,
Your chest.
You don't need to know what comes next.
You don't need to feel motivated or certain or ready.
You just need to be here with your heart open and trust that the next step will reveal itself in its own time,
Because it always has before.
When you're ready,
Start to deepen your breath.
Feel the surface beneath you again.
Steady.
Still holding you.
And as you come back to the room,
Back to the sound of my voice,
Wiggle your fingers,
Gently roll your hand in your wrist.
And when it feels right,
Open your eyes.
I encourage you to take some time now to journal about what you experienced.
Whatever feels right to you as a way to process what just happened for you and what feels right for you to do next because of it.
Namaste.
